If you have any questions.

3447655 I may be a Christian, but I am willing to talk about finding things that both have in common.

3447678 And I will do the same thing. Do you have any questions?

3447685 Does the Karan (sorry if I spelled it wrong) actually call for the killing of those of us that do not follow it?
Just wondering.

3447689 It says to kill aggressors. However, in practice, we have historically let other religions live in peace.

“Fight in the cause of Allah those who fight you, but do not transgress limits; for Allah loves not transgressors. And kill them wherever you catch them and drive them out from whence they drove you out, for terrorism is worse than killing. But do not engage in combat with them at the sacred mosque unless they engage you in combat there. But if they combat against you, kill them. Such is the reward of those who suppress faith. But if they cease, Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful. And combat them on until there is no more terrorism or oppression and there prevail justice and faith in Allah. But if they cease, don't let there be hostility except to those who practice oppression.”
(Surah al-Baqarah: 190-193)

3447714 sounds like the New Testament.
Islam, a peace religion.
Christianity, Old Testament did approve of killing, but the new preached forgiveness.
That is something that both have in common right there. (if you go with the New Testament for me.)

3447720 Fair enough. And did you know Jesus is a Prophet, like Mohammad?

3447728 I know. To us, he is God in human flesh.
The words, For God so loved the world, that he gave his own Son for us.

I don't know of a greater sacrifice than that.

3447714 This is the kind of thing I was hoping to see as I know very little about Islam. So, if I am reading this right, Allah does allow for war or fighting but only if another fights first? A kind of "self defense" teaching? If I am misunderstanding this, then I see how others can view Islam as violent. Am I wrong in this? Is the idea to maintain peace unless someone else breaks that peace and to return to peace when the other stops fighting?

3447863 That is correct. True Muslims will choose war only when it is forced upon them, and will only continue as long as the aggressor does. For Allah is the most merciful.

3447871 Good to hear that I understand. If more people understood that, then you would have fewer people believe that Muslims are nothing but violent people commanded to kill anyone who doesn't believe what they believe. I have heard about the jihad (correct?) and the that the reason you have extremist groups like al-Qaeda is out of their own misuse of the text, but I was never sure.

3447893 Jihad both means a personal struggle and warfare against the Infidel, both physical or spiritual. I cannot speak for groups like Al-Qaeda, but groups like Hamas fight a more holy cause.

3447904 groups like Al-Qaeda seem to give others a bad name.

3447655 Is this true?

Muslims are told that Muhammad - a slave-owner, sexual glutton, thief and killer - is the most "beautiful pattern of conduct" and "example" for mankind to follow (Qur'an 33:21), as well as the "exalted standard of character" (Qur'an 68:4).

3447904 Just more reason to discuss this. I never actually knew what jihad was or even if it was part of Islamic teaching (liberal media bias I tell you, even Hamas does not have the best reputation thanks to it). I do see how this would be used to allow the Muslims to defend themselves during times like the Crusades in the 1100-1300s but would not allow acts of terrorism without first being engaged by an aggressor.
Christians are taught that our warfare is spiritual rather than physical. Although the world will try to cause us physical harm we are not taught to fight against them.

3447925 Yes they do.

3447928 And those are ALL lies! Those verses are not even what it says!

"There has certainly been for you in the Messenger of Allah an excellent pattern for anyone whose hope is in Allah and the Last Day and [who] remembers Allah often." (Qur'an 33:21)

"And indeed, you are of a great moral character." (Qur'an 68:4)

3447937 the Crusaders were close to peace with Saladin during the Third Crusade

3447937 We are taught in all forms of warfare in the Bible, all of which are in the cases of self-defense.

One thing to keep is that not every war Islam has been in has been because of self-defense though.

3447938 This is why we need discussion. We want to remove lies and misunderstanding about other religions, even if we may have our differences. We should seek understanding about one another. What does one person actually believe in? That is what this is all about.

3447960 This is all very true!

3447655
Do you believe in flying magic horses?

3447655 If you were born to a Christian family and all your neighbours were Christians, would you find islam despite your Christian upbringing and would go against your family and friends by converting to islam?

3447678 If you were born to an Islamic family and all your neighbours were Islam, would you find Christianity despite your Islamic upbringing and would go against your family and friends by converting to Christianity?

3448859 I did hear of a story about a Muslim that came to the southern states to try and convert them to his religion, but when he was in an accident, Christians came and preached for him to recover, and he turned to Christianity.

For me, I don't know.

3448859 A good question but it can happen. I have heard stories and know a couple of examples of people who grew up Christian and became atheists and vise-versa. So it would not surprise me to see Muslims become Christians or Christians become Muslim. Each person is allowed to make their choice on what they believe.

3448934 3449256 I've heard of a man getting hit by lightning 6 times and surviving. Maybe this means that lightnings aren't that dangerous.

3448590 No Rainbow Dash, we dont ....

3448859 Of course, anyone can convert!

3449562 How come you don't believe in it? It's written in Quran.

Then he [Gabriel] brought the Buraq, handsome-faced and bridled, a tall, white beast, bigger than the donkey but smaller than the mule. He could place his hooves at the farthest boundary of his gaze. He had long ears. Whenever he faced a mountain his hind legs would extend, and whenever he went downhill his front legs would extend. He had two wings on his thighs which lent strength to his legs. He bucked when Muhammad came to mount him. The angel Jibril (Gabriel) put his hand on his mane and said: "Are you not ashamed, O Buraq? By Allah, no-one has ridden you in all creation more dear to Allah than he is." Hearing this he was so ashamed that he sweated until he became soaked, and he stood still so that the Prophet mounted him.

Of course, anyone can convert!

Just like anyone can survive the lightning. Though, it doesn't happen very often for some reason.

3449631

... What verse?

And as far as conversion. Islam is the largest growing religion in the world.

3449637 Link to the quote that I pasted.

It's funny how everyone would find their 'true' religion, even if they were brought up in a different religious environment, and yet, you rarely see this happening in practice. Did you even give Christianity a chance? Would you give Islam a chance if you were Christian?

Islam is growing more because Islam children stay Islamic than because of some few Christians converting to Islam. The fact of the matter is, that Islam people reproduce more than Christian people. Not sure if procreation is the measurement of the rightness of one's religion, though.

Either way, even if the whole world was Islam or Christian, it wouldn't change the truth, whatever that truth may be. There was a time when all people in the world believed that the Earth was flat. They were all wrong.

3449689 Well of course all of that is true, but I still would not not apostate. We do also convert more people then any other religion.

3449707 The rising of Islam numbers is a thrend. But thrends change. If they wouldn't, we'd all be Islamic by now.

If entire world was Christian and there wouldn't be a single Islamic person on the planet, would that make Christianity right and Islam wrong?

3449742 Not really.

3449745 If Islam takes over the world and every single person on the planet believes in Alah, would that make Islam right?

3449749 Well, I believe its right in the first place.

3449751 You were making a point that the number of people believing in Islam reflects the rightness of that religion. As I have demonstrated, it does not. The amount of people believing in one religion is a weak argument. I'm glad you’re not relying on it and have more arguments under your sleeves.

3449787 Wait, I was?

3449798 Well, you did bring it up, for some reason, so I took it as an argument for your case.

3449825 Oh, not at all. I mean, we are second place right now.

3449751
How can you believe it is right when you don't even understand what it is?

3449922 What do you mean? I do.

3449927
You said you don't believe in flying magic horses.

Let me guess, you also think it would be wrong for an adult man to marry and have sex with a 9yr old girl too, right?

3449950 It is what the profit willed for himself. I dont need to justify his actions.

STAND DOWN!!! This is starting to get out of hand.
First of all, anyone can convert to any religion or become atheist. It is their choice, their decision. I believe that Christianity is right but it is not my choice on what religion a person believes in. You make that choice for yourself. I am taught to preach the Word not and let the person chose.
Second, the Bible mentions dragons, dinosaurs (or something similar), and giants. All of which are considered mythical or extinct (in the case of dinosaurs). So what was the point of bringing up flying horses?
Third, popularity or strength of numbers does not equal rightness. Even if I believe that Christianity is right, my interpretation of the Bible is actually in the minority. Again, everyone is entitled to their free will, regardless of what is right.
The point of this group is not to argue one religion against another or religion against atheism. It is to gain knowledge and understanding about one another. Debate on who is right and who is wrong is for another place and time, like the private message. Regardless, please avoid building up to hate or attacking one another.

3450067 agreed.

3449991
You do need to justify why you believe in these things that are factually wrong and amoral. If you're willing to accept that the most important human in your religion is allowed to do disgusting things like bang a little kid, then you do need to justify your acceptance of that. Just because some people decided to make it legal doesn't mean it is morally right. You'd think that anyone remotely rational would openly condemn such blatant pedophilia. Your response is, "Nope. Prophet is right." That is sick.

3450067
Stand down? Out of hand? Just because this troll isn't smart enough to defend the false position he/she claims is right?

Funny you seem to be bringing in your own beliefs when no one asked you. If you feel like preaching, you should make a thread to invite people to hear your word. I'd also suggest you brush up on your reading comprehension skills if you can't see the blatantly obvious line of logic Dragor or myself are laying out.

3450147 You would question my belief in something? Yes? You should censor your slander, this is your formal warning.

3450147 *cracks knuckles*
Did you just insult mine and other people's religions.
You are just like those terrorists. All you want to do is cause trouble.

Just because this troll isn't smart enough to defend the false position he/she claims is right?

By the way you act, you're the troll.
It's ones like you that give religions a bad name.

3450158 I'm on your side. Each religion is different, and I'm willing to accept that.
We all have our own leaders, but they have some things in common.
I do believe that Islam and Christianity, along with the others can live in peace, if others will stop bashing what we believe.

3450241 I am glad you agree.

I also made a thread about the relationship between the two.

3450251 and Judaism. I saw it. I don't know much on how they are connected, and I am pretty sure there are things in the Old Testament that you would not like, such as the Book of Exodus.