What A Republican Thinks Of Islam . . . .

[LensmanZ313]

JC Bowman is a Republican and he works for Jeb Bush. Here are some of his views. What do you think . . . ?

http://hometowncleveland.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=677

The theory of God and Allah being the same is not valid as most Judeo-Christian scholars will attest.

The Quran breeds contempt for anyone who is not a Muslim. Islam teaches that if you die in the Jihad or if you give your life to kill unbelievers, you go straight to heaven.

Does the Quran really breed contempt for non-Muslims? Could the same be said of the Bible?

[I, Brian]

Well...firstly, he's quite entitled to his views.

Secondly, Christianity is traditionally an exclusive religion, that emphasises that to be "saved" you need to accept the sacrifice of Jesus.

Therefore it's hardly any surprise if anyone with a traditional Christian viewpoint doesn't see much Divine favour with other religions.

Islam, however, is a little unusual in that it makes specific proscriptions supporting good treatment of "people of the book" - Jews and Christians - despite being a somewhat exclusive religion in itself.

[didymus]

I suggest you do some research on the crusades. in fact there is a movie out now called Kingdom of Heaven, this deals with one of the 3 crusades. they believed (the Christians) that if they died in battle that they found favor in God's eyes. Christianity has been very militant throughout its history.

I don't justify violence by this. I am opposed to suicide bombings and war in the name of God no matter who perpetrates it.

[I, Brian]

Originally Posted by didymus

Christianity has been very militant throughout its history.

Certainly mediaeval Europe was very militant - but Christianity has always hold very diverse approaches. Many monastic orders precede the crusades.

[Quahom1]

Originally Posted by didymus

I suggest you do some research on the crusades. in fact there is a movie out now called Kingdom of Heaven, this deals with one of the 3 crusades. they believed (the Christians) that if they died in battle that they found favor in God's eyes. Christianity has been very militant throughout its history.

I don't justify violence by this. I am opposed to suicide bombings and war in the name of God no matter who perpetrates it.

Forgive me but I couldn't resist. There were 9 crusades, and the Christians won only one of them (and that win is questionable).

v/r

Q

[Amica]

Christians are right when they say that Muslims and Christians do not believe in the same God. For Christians god is Jesus and for Muslims God is Only God, One, and not Jesus.
Jew and Musilms have a closer understanding of God in that both of the groups claim that God is One, He is incomprehensible, He says "Be!" and something is.
Jews and Muslims do not believe in the human god or an idol (or are not supposed to). So Christians do believe in a different God (some of them, I guess).

[StarshipEnterprise]

Quote:
The Quran breeds contempt for anyone who is not a Muslim. Islam teaches that if you die in the Jihad or if you give your life to kill unbelievers, you go straight to heaven. </FONT>

whoever said this obviously does not know much about Islam. A Jihad does not mean "holy war", it simply means "to strive" or "to struggle". Islam teaches of a "lesser Jihad" which is struggling to end social injustices, and a "greater Jihad" which is the struggle within ourselves to become more rightous.

Quote:
The theory of God and Allah being the same is not valid as most Judeo-Christian scholars will attest.

This is not right. Most people will say that Allah is just the arabic word for the same God, and saying that muslims worship a god called Allah is no diffrent from saying that spanish speakers worship a god called Dios. This is even taught in public schools.

[path_of_one]

Originally Posted by Amica

Christians are right when they say that Muslims and Christians do not believe in the same God. For Christians god is Jesus and for Muslims God is Only God, One, and not Jesus.
Jew and Musilms have a closer understanding of God in that both of the groups claim that God is One, He is incomprehensible, He says "Be!" and something is.
Jews and Muslims do not believe in the human god or an idol (or are not supposed to). So Christians do believe in a different God (some of them, I guess).

Not all of us who follow Christ believe that God is Jesus. There's a lot of diversity there. Personally, I believe God dwelt in Jesus. Essentially, that Jesus was a pure manifestation of God, and that He was a human that completely poured out His own will for God's. I do believe Jesus was created for a specific purpose and wasn't just your ordinary human. But I don't believe Jesus was an incarnation of God- for me that makes no sense when you read Jesus' teachings. But believing in teachings such as "I and my Father are One," doesn't mean for me that Jesus was saying He was the Father God, but rather that He was in union with God. I believe in the trinity in a symbolic, but not literal sense. The trinity points toward an experience with different aspects of God as a Christian for me, and isn't the definition of what God is. I'm with you in believing that God is One, incomprehensible and beyond human expression. Jesus' teachings, for me, point toward that mystery.

As for the history of Islam and Christianity, I agree with you all. Both religions have been misused by people to gain power, spread hatred and prejudice, and justify social problems. But this doesn't mean the religions are themselves at fault. I haven't read the entire Qu'ran, but as far as I can tell from what I have read, and the Muslims I know, it is a religion that loves peace, justice, and mercy. Unfortunately, just as Jesus' teachings (which were incredibly blatant about demanding selflessness, peace, and love) have been used to justify the horrors of crusades, the Inquisition, and slavery... so too has Islam been used by some to justify holy wars and intolerance. I imagine this is as frustrating to many Muslims as many of us Christians find our own history.

In Peace

[PersonaNonGrata]

Originally Posted by Quahom1

Forgive me but I couldn't resist. There were 9 crusades, and the Christians won only one of them (and that win is questionable).

v/r

Q

: lol: results shows that Christians are bad fighters huh Q?

Btw. republican's thoughts are nothing but blows to fire btw. what good are those said is a mystery... say i was using therefore technique when i was making my above comment however Q meant to say Christians are friendly i guess... now j/teasing

[Quahom1]

Originally Posted by PersonaNonGrata

: lol: results shows that Christians are bad fighters huh Q?

Btw. republican's thoughts are nothing but blows to fire btw. what good are those said is a mystery... say i was using therefore technique when i was making my above comment however Q meant to say Christians are friendly i guess... now j/teasing

Yeah, I guess 1000 years ago Christians were not good at fighting. Or else their heart was not in it. Either way they lost.



v/r

Q

[Silverbackman]

Christians and Muslims, as well as jews all believe in Yahweh, the supreme God. The difference being Christianity believes God represents himself in three forms. All are the same God, and if you were to elimnate one part of the trinity, the other two could not survive because all are the same (kinda like that anime show DBZ with the gaurdians of the earth kami and piccolo being one in the same, but two distint personalities.).