(October 17, 2012 at 2:48 am)Doubting_Thomas Wrote: If you had been born in Pakistan to Muslim parents, would you hold the Muslim faith with the same conviction that you hold the Christian faith?
Hoptoad occasional visitor, here today gone tomorrow.
I've not read the thread, so I don't know what anyone else has said.
But if you don't mind I would just like to stick my oar in on this one.
If I hade been born in Pakistan would I have become a Muslim, possibly, probably. When I packed in Atheism all them years ago and started on this path, all religions where open to me and looked at, studied. I just picked at that time what I thought was the easiest one, truth is I was led to it.
Wherever I had started I would still be where I am now, think as I do now. There might have been some inconsequential differences, dietary etc, but the same place.
How do I explain this, churches Christian or not are just a group of people who share a like idea of God. Even then within that church not all agree. Those disagreements sometimes leads to them leaving that church and going to another or forming one.
WHY! A easy question to answer, once you have done the hard part, the hard part is really understanding that the world is not how people think it is. In a lot of ways, but I will concentrate on the relevant one. Groups, the world is not made up of groups, just individuals. Groups are what we create in our minds to make things easy for us, usually so we can like or hate them. No races, no nations, no right or wrong church, just one God working with individuals. Each individual sharing some characteristics with others but unique. Each being led and taught by God, as an individual and each at a different pace, the pace to suit them.
A church, a bible, Koran whatever, is just a starting place. God teaches you, if you want to learn and sometimes even if you don't want to learn. The lessons continue your whole life, everyday a school day. They all lead to the same place in the end.
Before someone starts in on the only in the name of Jesus Christ bit. What is Jesus Christ name, Christ is a title and there is no J in Aramaic or as far as I know Hebrew. Gods a lot smarter than we are, If you want to know Christ you have to study the man and his ways, you will be surprised what you will find out. What I believed when I started this road, has changed so much, some surprisingly obvious conclusions. Your going to laugh at this but, it all fits science, religion, philosophy all of it, it fits together like a superb pattern.
