RE: Is Islam more or less violent in Its teachings then other religions?
June 7, 2015 at 9:08 pm
(This post was last modified: June 7, 2015 at 9:10 pm by Dystopia.)
(June 7, 2015 at 8:27 pm)CapnAwesome Wrote: I wonder what you guys think about the importance of the founder of the religion though? For example, Christianity says that Jesus was this perfect God/Man and we should follow his example. Now I don't think that the Jesus Character was or said anything really special, but nor did he say anything particularly terrible.
On the other hand Islam says that Muhammad was a sinless prophet who's example should be followed. Now Muhammad personally killed people, owned slaves, married a 9 year old, started war, etc etc.
So when you have that as your example, I think it's easy for a group like Isis to say 'Hey, we are just acting the way Muhammad would have' where it would be hard for a similar Christian group to say the same thing.
First things first - Jesus was perfect, sinless and the son of god, so the intent is to take his words and actions as divinely inspired and a role model to mankind. In terms of perfection and divinity I think Jesus is above Muhammad because he wasn't just a prophet but a Messiah and the true son of god.
Regarding Mohammed - I think all of those things are bad, but at the time none were - Marrying 9 year old children, in particular, was considered normal in the middle east and during the middle ages in Christian countries (possibly later too) - If I was a muslim, I would probably think that Mohammed had some good teachings (oral ones) about the faith but did mistakes that were inevitable due to social circumstances. Obviously this is a bit subjective - Any muslim is a true one regardless of what he/she does, I'm no one to appoint who is a better or worse follower.
Honestly, I think books are overrated, including holy ones. One of the confusing things some atheists say is that Dawkins and other similar figures are harmless because all they do is write books - But aren't major religions based on books? So how does it work? Do books matter or not after all? Holy scriptures may have the word "holy" written on the cover but in the end it's just a piece of paper with some words. You can take everything literally, metaphorically, use it as an ashtray or toilet paper, read it for cultural reasons or take it merely as a moral guide.
If you look deep enough you can perfectly find justifications for Christian terrorism. If I wanted to be a Christian terrorist, regardless of what the bible says, I would argue that, since only those who believe go to Heaven and I'm a good person and thus want everyone to enter heaven - I am therefore using all means necessary to force people to believe to save as many souls as possible. Honestly, wasn't this the inquisition's excuse (purifying souls, etc.)? It isn't hard.
Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you