2018-03-06 07:37:26

Light and peace to you!
My name is Constantine.
Please, sorry my english.
I can not say that I am a very religious person. But I believe in God. For nothing can be without a beginning.
I have studied many religions for a long time. In the end, my path came to Christianity and Islam.
Here, I'm confused. I do not know beyond the right path. And I ask you to help, to direct. Please help, for the sake of our creator, the true God I ask!
The fact is that Christianity has something that is close to me, and Islam has something that is close to me.
Let's take everything in order.
Since my childhood I can not say that I strongly believed in God. The church for me somehow had some sacred feeling, but maybe it's psychology.
Since childhood, I have problems with vision. At age 6 almost completely lost sight. But I do not blame God for this, I'm grateful to him. Why? Because I believe that my blindness helped me to avoid many of my peers' actions. Smoking, alcohol, etc.
Despite the blindness, until 12-13 I did not think much about life. Then God sent me anguish and pain. And I'm grateful to him for that.
Then I began to study the currents of Christianity. There were those things that I liked in Orthodoxy, such as saints and some other things, but there were also those that attracted Catholicism, for example, not greeting divorces, the requirement for the conscious commission of the Anointing, etc.
Then I moved on to other religions. And most of all, except for Christianity, I'm attracted to Islam.
I'm confused, I do not know the true way for me, I'm afraid of making a mistake.
Now I will explain in what I am repelled by Christianity, what attracts Islam, and what attracts Christianity.
In Christianity, such things as confession, acceptance into Christianity, occur through priests. I do not understand this. How can God forgive us through an intermediary who can be much more sinful than us? I believe that there should not be any intermediaries in communicating with God.
In Christianity, it is believed that heaven is good in the soul. How nervous in Buddhism. But why is peace of mind? For example, I'm interested in the physical. I want to feel, hear, see.
I don't understand the trinity. How can God be divided into three? Father, son, holy spirit, is not God 1?
I don't understand the bible. "God said," Let there be light, and there was light. " How so? Not from where? The stars - not the cosmos, heavenly holy? From this we presume that God himself created the inability of the world. But why?
The essence of people's lives. Mental suffering. The essence is to suffer. How so at all? What did Jesus redeem with his victim?
Reincarnation. Islam completely denies it. In Islam, we can say that parallel worlds, reincarnation, all the cunning and deceit of Shantai. In Christianity there is no transmigration of souls, but there is that when God himself brings us back to earth for a definite purpose.
In Christianity, God is like a father to us, because in fact he is a father, but in Islam, God is our master, we are his slaves. The statement about the God-father is closer to me.
In Islam, people are really kind. For every brother and sister. They do observe zakat, and often sacrifice very much. In Christianity, religion often outshines everything else, and there are really few religious ones. Muslims are mostly religious. Will you say about the Islamic state? I will answer. In the IS there are about 8 million Muslims. And there are about 1 billion of them in the world.
In Islam, God is truly one. No trinity.
In Christianity there is a blessed fire. Zoostation. These are the facts that confuse me in the choice of Islam.
And finally. I have an inexplicable sense of craving for Islam. When I read a book where the hero is a Muslim, and he turns to Allah with gratitude, I want to do the same. I want to pray with him. I do not know where this feeling comes from.
I am sincerely confused. I ask you to help me. Tell me the path.
Thank you in advance.
Glory to the true God!

2018-03-06 10:48:05

Greetings Constantine.
You may know that I'm a christian; you may not. However, my job on this Earth is to tell the world of the magnificent love of Christ. I will not force you to agree with me; nor will I try to shove the bible down your throat. My job is simple; I want you to come to Christ, so I must inform you. "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:  Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen." (Matthew 28:19-20)
First off, who is God? The Bible, which is the complete and inerrant Word of God, says that God is  all-powerful and all-knowing, and God is  merciful and compassionate. God is  one being, but within the one God there are 3 persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Now, let's discuss Jesus. Most muslems believe that Jesus wasn't created before the formation of the universe, and that he was not begotten. They do not believe in the deity of Jesus, nor do they believe that he was crucified or resurrected. The bible says, however, that Jesus is the only begotten Son of God, and that he was crucified to forgive us of sin. (I'll talk about Sin and forgiveness later.) "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16)
Jesus says, in the 14th chapter of the Gospel of John, "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."
Also, the prophet Isaiah predicts Jesus' crucifiction in the old testament: "But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed."
Before I tell you about sin and forgiveness, let me tell you about the bible. The Bible is not only the Word of God, but is the ultimate record of the redemption of humanity. It's a perfectly written and inspired love leter, from God to you and I.
Now, on to forgiveness and sin. When Adam and Eve were created by God, they  dwelled in the garden of Eden without sin, death or disease. It was paradise on Earth, until the devil deceived them to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. This is called original sin. Nowadays, humans are born into sin. You and I are both sinners; we've both come short of the glorry of God. We sin on a daily basis; to restore peace between us and God, we need a savior in Jesus Christ.
The appostle Paul says, in his letter to the romans, "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." Peter, in the book of Acts, tells us that we must turn to Jesus for salvation. "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." And why do we need salvation from sin? Paul says, also in his letter to the roman church: "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."
I could continue to speak of the wonders of God's love; I could tell you of the wonderful counceler and comforter, the Holy Spirit; I could even discuss the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. All of this is important; but first, I ask of you. I ask you to turn from your sin, and turn to the Lord Jesus Christ, because in the words of John the baptist, the kingdom of God is at hand.

God bless you, and may God bring you peace.

“Can we be casual in the work of God — casual when the house is on fire, and people are in danger of being burned?” — Duncan Campbell
“There are four things that we ought to do with the Word of God – admit it as the Word of God, commit it to our hearts and minds, submit to it, and transmit it to the world.” — William Wilberforce

2018-03-06 11:00:38

If Christianity is the truth, tell me, Orthodoxy, Catholicism or one of the trends of Protestantism and why?
Tell me about the priests. How can a priest be a mediator between us and God?
The Bible describes heaven as a place of spiritual bliss. In Islam there is a paradise on earth. The second is closer to me.
Answer all my doubts, described in the first message.

2018-03-06 14:28:30

Hello there.
First, you may or may not know that I'm a muslim, I see Islam as "the" one and only religion of God "Allah" the Almighty, the one and only path to Him, but that's my own belief and I'm not into forcing anyone to believe in it. I even don't know if discussing religions is allowed on this forum and thus am not wishing to get myself into serious trouble smile
This website will, inshaa Allah, teach you some things about Islam that you probably don't know and may leave no room for doubt in either one of the two religions:
https://www.islamtomorrow.com/
If you have anything unclear about Islam, no matter what it is, feel free to ask and I'll be more than happy to answer you.
May Allah bless you and guide you through your choice.

2018-03-06 14:33:48

@post 1:
Am not going to raise a flame war, just going to comment this sentence.
In Islam, God is truly one. No trinity.
Infact the god is only one, but the religion is splitted in 2 factions. Like in christianity.
*** this sentence could appear a bit rude so I invite religious persons to don't read further ***
Actually, the victimes that were been made in paris, are from the true god that you are talking about.
PS,
If you found something that I missunderstood or what, don't esitate to tell.

Paul

2018-03-06 14:45:27

I, too, was going to reply, but as an atheist, to avoid flame wars, and to avoid being potentially banned, I feel as if it's best to remain silent. I obviously think differently, and that would just open up the gas canaster.

2018-03-06 14:48:29

You come on here all the time asking other people to make decisions for you, where to live, what programming languages to learn, etc. Now you're asking something that none of us can help you with, you're asking which path you should take to embrace your own spirituality. That is something we cannot do, and should not do. The reason for this is that you must do whatever resonates within you, and if nothing does, that's OK. There's nothing wrong with being atheist or agnostic. Maybe you will have some life changing event that will allow you to see things more clearly, and you will be able to make that choice. You know, one thing about always asking others to make decisions for you is that if you take the advice, you're living someone else's life. It's OK to ask for help, but really, anything that is said should be treated as points to consider. We cannot make your decisions for you, we can only help you weigh the points - good and bad- with each one. It is you who have to commit to a final decision.

Now, I know next to nothing of Islam, I know a bit about Christianity, and let me tell you it has problems. I don't believe in God, never have, though I do believe in a sort of unity that I've felt in my life. This isn't traditional, you won't find it in books, but my beliefs revolve around the nature of the universe, and its clockwork and striving for balance. Religion to me has so many problems, and it breeds ignorance and hatred and violence. You also, like you said, have an intermediary standing between you and God. That intermediary might be honorable, might be a servant of God in every sense, might be good and all that is holy, if so, you're fortunate to be under their guidance. Some of these people though are quite corrupt. They drive around in very nice cars, they have multi-million dollar houses and so forth. There was a minister who in fact refused shelter to Hurricane Harvey sufferers earlier this year at first, until social media started catching up with him and shaming him publicly. Then the evil git started passing the collection plate around in his big mega church. When I saw that I was like what? Here these people are, without homes, without a clear plan forward, needing the mercy of their fellows, and this son of a bitch wants to act like they should be donating? No, in this time, the reason that churches take donations in part is to help people in their time of need, and that's what should have happened. Sure, churches need some of that money for maintenance, for hiring accountants, staff, etc. But, there is extra for going out and doing work in the community.

Then, you have the holy rollers as I like to call them, not original of course, but the term is an apt one. It describes these people who go around judging their fellow Christians, and holding them to an impossibly high standard, and when their brethren do not live up to this standard, they shame them, they belittle them. So instead of being uplifting, they're denigrating, demeaning, and rude. My grandmother on my dad's side is a very devout Christian. She has talked about her childhood, and the time between then and the late 90's when she lived in sin, because she turned away from Christ. She's told her story to her church about how she then felt empty and was able to reconnect with God again, and in time, prove her worthiness. She now walks with Christ, she is dedicated to God, to understanding the bible, etc. Yet her and her husband get attacked on facebook by these people sometimes, and for ridiculous things. That is not how to be, you're supposed to be supporting, to be helpful, to be there for your fellows, not looking down on them. These people are sinning by doing this and are so rapped up in crap that they don't even realize that they're sinning.

So, Christianity has problems. Yes denominations as well, I don't know, Catholics are rather strict etc. My mom's side of the family are Luthurin, which I think is part of Martin Luthur from the mid 1500's, not Doctor Martin Luthur King from 20th Century. You have Pentecostal, baptist, protestant, on and on and on.  I think the first thing and the most important thing though is if you want to become Christian that you develop that relationship with God first, though I cannot tell you how to do that.

Another thing is that you can't live by the bible every single word of it today. What I mean is that it says you can keep slaves for 7 years and beat them, and no punishment will befall you if you beat them and they don't die in 3 days. So, you could have the same slave, beat the shit out of them, but if they live, you're straight. You then have to give that slave up after 7 years, but what would they do after that time having been so treated. They wouldn't know how to live an independent life, and probably would choose to stay on. So this ever evolving thing where God is now a loving father, well he wasn't back then, he was essentially a war lord. So you have to separate out all that stuff, or well, you'll probably end up arrested if you start keeping slaves and all that. Now, here's a conundrum, if you have to take out some aspects of the bible to live in modern society, then how can you know what parts are OK and what parts you need to follow. But, if you ask someone at your church that type of question, oh now you've gone and done it. They will either gawk at you, or give some sort of vague answer, but you're not supposed to have questions, you're supposed to have blind faith. Well, that's just not something I'm capable of. There's a natural order of things, a logic to most situations, a reason for things.

SO as I've said, you have to find your own way in this, everybody that posts here will have their own opinions, their own views, will either have faith, or not, but even if you are convinced by someone else to follow a certain religion, you still made the choice to do that. Life is an endless stream of choices, some we make are good, some we make are bad, but we make them. We might ask parents, friends, partners for advice, but in the end, even if we choose to follow someone else, we made that choice. I don't believe in not having a choice, of course you have a choice, its just, do you want to accept the consequences if you make that choice. If you're a kid and you mom tells you to clean your room, you don't have to do it, now, not doing it means you'll probably get yelled at, spanked, grounded, etc. SO, you'll probably just muddle through to avoid that punishment, but you still had a choice. If someone grabs your partner as the two of you walk down the street and puts a gun to their head and tells you they'll kill them if you don't hand over your wallets, you don't have to, but you probably will to save their life, still, the choice was yours to make.

Growing up means that you peal away a layer of obscurity, one after another and you can then raise up to that new layer and see everything below it. It means that you can reflect back on choices you have made and realize which ones were mistakes. It's a process where you keep moving, keep trying to break through to that layer above you. It may never be finished, and for the most part, even at 21, you're still not done. So, if you really think about it, if you take time over it, if you talk with others and keep an open mind, and then go back and clear your mind and try to find a way forward, you might end up being able to figure out what to do next. But its not a decision any one of us should be making for you.

Facts with Tom MacDonald, Adam Calhoun, and Dax
End racism
End division
Become united

2018-03-06 17:42:05

Hello,I agree with Riad. May Allah guide you through your choice.

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2018-03-06 18:44:51

hi, I'm not going to say I'm irreligious here. What I cannot do however is believe in the gods that religions like christianity and islam talk of, simply because the actions of this being don't make sense to me, and the information I get from reading into their holy books just seams very conflicting. Take the example of the christian god, who is described as all powerful, all knowing, all good and infinitely mursyful. How, however, can an all-knowing, all-good god allow all the suffering happening around the world right now, and all the horrible things done in his name such as the crusades and burnings on the stake of the middle ages? Any member of christian faith would tell you that god must allow these things to happen, because they are unavoidable in his grand plan he apparently has for all things. IN my eyes, a god that can find no solution to his problems other than causing a lot of death and misery is not an all-good god if he does it intentionally, nore would he be an all-powerful one if he could not go about the universe in a different way. If he does not know a better way to implement his plan, he can't be all-knowing either. Also, in the bible it says that god created mankind in his own immage. Why then do we sin? Why are murder, crime, and other such things happening, if we are all supposed to be created in god's immage? If god is mursyfull to all sins, why are we born with sin? If the bible is to be believed, adam and eav were cohersed to eat from the tree of knowledge 6000 years ago, which ment all future humans are born with sin. If god can forgive all sin however, why doesn't he forgive this act? To be blunt, why did he even allow other faiths to propigate? If he was all-powerful and wanted all of humankind to worship him, he could make it so that everyone does, but that's not what happened. I also can't follow christianity simply because it was responsible for a thousand years of theocracy and religious tyranny in almost all of europe. This basically haulted human advancements, we lost a lot of knowledge from the ages of antiquaty, and only started regaining it when the renaissance first started in italy. If a higher power does decide to show themselves to humanity, or simply to myself, I may follow them. Until that happens though, I can do nothing more than keep an open mind. Opinions are opinions, and far too many people have been put to death over the senturies because they believed in the wrong set of gods.

I used to be a knee like you, then I took an adventurer in the arrow.

2018-03-06 19:34:56

I must agree with posts 7 and 9 on this subject. I myself find the bible extremely conflicting on various subjects. Think about it. We don't know much about the bible: when it was first written, what it said in it's first publication, etc., etc. The issue with blindly following religious texts is that they've gone through so many translations (and even some mistranslations) and the languages that these texts have been translated (and mistranslated) into have changed so quickly and drastically that we have, I believe, lost the original meaning. I don't even think we follow any Gods "plan" any more, simply because we don't know what the original "plan" was in the first place, nor do we know what the hell the bible, or really any religious text was, ever said originally. This reminds me of a discussion my cousin had over Skype one day. My cousin said, and I truly wonder this too, "When we go to war, and when soldiers go out to battle, they always say, 'I hope god is with us today!' or some such." He goes on to say, "I imagine God, sitting in his throne, laughing evilly down at us as he watches us suffer." And I truly have to agree with that. As Ironcross32 asked: why do deities allow us to kill ourselves? Why do deities allow what as happened throughout the universes history? Why would any God allow us to create weapons like hydrogen bombs, biologic weapons, etc. that are so powerful they could wipe out the entire population of the planet in several months to several days, if not hours? For me at least, I'm nestled right in the middle between Science and Religion. Some of my family is religious, some aren't, and so I'm stuck right in the middle of it. And I'm beginning to lean towards science much more than religion for one particular reason: because unlike religion, which cannot explain many things, and cannot prove things that it says, Science can prove and disprove many things. Science can explain the possible logical progression of events under a particular set of circumstances; religion may be able to, but in very vague references that confuse the mind. Science can explain many mysteries about humanity and the universe; religion cannot. These issues, as well as others I and others have pointed out on this topic, are why I unfortunately cannot fully commit myself to a religious point of view.

"On two occasions I have been asked [by members of Parliament!]: 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out ?' I am not able rightly to apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question."    — Charles Babbage.
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2018-03-06 20:15:29

To be honest, I believe religion is just a web of differing opinions of how our existence started, and not much more than that. I don't think anyone can really tell you or anyone else what to believe. People can help you by giving you knowledge, helping to talk out the things you're unsure about, but nobody can decide for you, and should not be pushing you to a decision.

As an example of what I mean by pushing, a friend of mine in fifth grade came on the bus one morning, and was incessantly talking about why I should prey to God and be a Christian. When I told her I didn't do that, she was visibly upset. "Why not?" she asked. "That's a sin, you know." She told me how God created the world, he did this and did that, and I should talk to him and love him, and try to read the Bible.

I felt guilty after hearing her words, like I had committed sins for the 11 years I had been on this planet, and perhaps it was too late to fix them. Religion was never a topic I really discussed much at home, so I wasn't prepared to defend or discuss the views I did have, so the conversation on the bus made me feel trapped. I was now more afraid than ever to discuss it at home because I was afraid I'd get yelled at for not doing the things I was supposed to do, and should've been doing without being told.

What I described above is a conversation which, under most circumstances, you should never allow someone to start with you. I hope you didn't post this topic hoping for someone to do that, because it's not a healthy way to find your true soul and its beliefs. I myself am agnostic, but I won't go into that here.

Please do not expect people to make your decisions for you. I made that mistake multiple times during childhood and it's something I'm working on even now, and it's not a fun position to be in when you're an adult.

Make more of less, that way you won't make less of more!
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2018-03-06 20:19:34

I'm afraid personally I agree with Ironcross here.

Any person who is actually religious, and I mean really follows and believes in a religious creed rather than just  someone who runs along with something for status or a sense of belonging or something else is part of a religion because they've made a deep personal commitment  a God they have an actual sense of, a commitment that they're prepared to put work into, and a commitment which is not just a one way thing, not just a matter of saying some words or getting pent up with emotions.

this is why the atheist will not understand a religious commitment, since a religious commitment is not based entirely on rationality, or on things which are  perceptible but is a matter off personal exploration, prayer and meditation.

A very nice muslim fellow I once had a chat with said he had to meditate on the Koran each day, and even so he didn't feel he knew much of God as yet.

This isn't to say religion is entirely irrational either, since there are definitely things which are not! part of most religions when practiced properly, e.g  killing people, indeed my muslim friend was most irritated at so called Muslim terrorists for this reason, he actually said "do they know better than God?"

What religion and what path to God you actually choose has to be a personal decision and one which others can't help you with, since it's very much between you and God and whatever way you approach god.

With our dreaming and singing, Ceaseless and sorrowless we! The glory about us clinging Of the glorious futures we see,
Our souls with high music ringing; O men! It must ever be
That we dwell in our dreaming and singing, A little apart from ye. (Arthur O'Shaughnessy 1873.)

2018-03-06 20:38:39 (edited by blindncool 2018-03-06 20:40:30)

Greetings Constantine, I'd be pleased to help you with this. In Catholicism and some other denominations, priests are those who claim to be a mediator between us and God. However, Jesus said that by accepting Him, we would become kings and priests ourselves. "John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne;
And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,
And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen." (Revelation 1:4-6)
You see, when we accept Christ into our hearts and lives, we need no mediator or priest; we can boldly come before the throne of grace. "Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." (Hebrews 4:16)
When Jesus was crucified, the temple veil was torn in two, which symbolizes that we have continuous access to God through prayer. In the temple or tabernacle, there were several areas: the inner and outer courts where the worshipers were, the holy place where only the priests were allowed (which contained the lamps, the incense altar and such), and finally the most holy place (or the holy of holies) where the presence of God and the arc of the covenant were. Only the high priest was allowed in the most holy place once a year, to make sacrifices unto God. When Christ was crucified, the veil separating the holy place and the most holy place was torn; thus, we now have direct access to God, through Jesus Christ: the divine Son of the living God. Therefore, according to the bible, we no longer require a priest; Jesus Christ is our mediator, but remember---he is also 100% God!
God bless.

“Can we be casual in the work of God — casual when the house is on fire, and people are in danger of being burned?” — Duncan Campbell
“There are four things that we ought to do with the Word of God – admit it as the Word of God, commit it to our hearts and minds, submit to it, and transmit it to the world.” — William Wilberforce

2018-03-06 21:09:03

I agree that out of the two religions you ar leaning towards, Christianity strikes me as the more logical option.

I am neither a Christian nor a Moslem but I have studied, and continue to study both religions extensively for my own personal improvement. I am agnostic, though I feel that there is only one god and that if there is a God it is good, powerful, and wants us to behave justly and ethically and I see atheism as an untennible position.

The problems I have with Islam is that the scriptures although they  have a multitude of good proverbs, sayings, and ways for living your life, there is quite a bit of sensuality in the descriptions of paradise I don't think should be part of a religious view of purity, especially since such sensual descriptions tend to objectify women. That said, the message of patience, resignation to what God has in store for you (which you seem to really resonate with.) and the concept of charity and keeping one's eye on God alone are to its credit. And despite the polygamy and such it was the first religion to declare the spiritual equality of men and women, something the Christian scriptures never do. though as a book that is said ot have come literally directly from God, there are some definite things in it I don't think sound like reasonable things for God to say. The Christian scriptures are largely allowed to be inspired by god, but recorded by man, which explains the places where the descriptions of historical events and some other stuff could be off as many admit and still have it be a holy book while the Quoran doesn't allow for such things as it was written by the hand of God originally.

Jesus is even given words of rather harsh criticism and mesagyny to women in the later portions of the Gospel of John, and the Christian tradition actually has a tradition of treating women like garbage as long and dark as that usually attributed to th eMoslem faith. Also Islam often considers other religions such as Hinduism, Zoroastrianism, Judiasm, and Christianity as deserving of going to heaven as well. When Jesus says that he is the way to God and it is interpreted that he is the only way, I don't buy it. To act thusly, especially if he is supposed to be one with God would make god petty, a trait contemptable even in meager human beings. If we argue that going to Jesus is more of a state of one's soul rather than simply surrendering directly to Jesus in name, it is more viable.

Christianity did not resort to violence to spread itself immediately as Islam did, though we now know that Christians were persecuting Jews while the apostles were still alive. I also have an issue with Christianity trying to convince me that 3=1. The way previously described as to how the trinity works in the previous post did not arise until the 4th century, and it was mostly formulated out of mixing scripture with neo-platonic philosophy that was very popular and was actually a sort of rival religion to Christianity in the 3rd and 4th centuries. There had always been an idea of the trinity, but how it works didn't get forumulated without the neo-platonic works of Plotinus and Porphery (the second was rampantly anti-Christian.)

That said, Christianity has a concept of love, peace, and the brotherhood of all mankind far stronger than I have seen in any other religion. If the logical problems I have with Christianity are not logical problems for you, and I admit I could be wrong about what I think does and does not make sense, I think Christianity would be a better choice. It has less sensuality, a more charitable spirit, and a concept of forgiveness and love of everyone that I think is a gift to this world whether Jesus was divine or not. I think he is worth following in example, even though I personally think he was simply a human being as both Jews and Moslems believe.

2018-03-06 21:29:54

Hello.
@Dark totally agree with your post, +1!
@pauliyobo Islam is split into mainly two big factions, that's true, but a true Muslim has just to follow what Allah has revealed unto His messenger as well as the words of that latter. But hey, are you serious? Are ISIS Muslims at the first place? They're only meant to do things destroying Islam's reputation, killing all those who oppose them along the way while Allah's words are too clear: "There is no compulsion in religion. The right direction is henceforth distinct from error. And he who rejecteth false deities and believeth in Allah hath grasped a firm handhold which will never break. Allah is Hearer, Knower."
@jonikster I'm not here to dictate what to choose and what not because you're the only one responsible for your actions. I'm just trying to show my point of view.
If you really want to get a clear idea about both religions, you could possibly listen to some debates done by scholars like the late Sheikh Ahmed Didat and Sheikh Thakir Naik who used to hold long discussions with preests and people from all religions to rationally compare them with Islam. As for the issue about being sons of God ant the like, there's a clear Quranic verse about that: "The Jews and Christians say: We are sons of Allah and His loved ones. Say: Why then doth He chastise you for your sins ? Nay, ye are but mortals of His creating. He forgiveth whom He will, and chastiseth whom He will. Allah's is the Sovereignty of the heavens and the earth and all that is between them, and unto Him is the journeying."
Hope this helps!

2018-03-06 22:00:13

Sadly Isis claims to be Islamic and that does overshadow so many good things in Islam. I had a ton of Moslem friends growing up and they were among the nicest people you could ever meet and still are some of the best men and women I have ever known, also sadly my best experience in a house of worship was in one of the local Mosques even when I was a Christian as I literally was pushed out of every Christian church in town. I came into some money and then when I missed a sermon when I was still a Christian because I was recovering from surgery and couldn't walk much without bleeding all over the place, the pastor called and asked my Mom "Are you too busy counting your son's money?"

I have had similar expriences with other churches in my town. That hasn't turned me off to Christianity just shows how Christians can vary from Christianity just as those Isis monsters are not actually anywhere in the realm of Islam other than hijacking what it is about.

Also, even in the modern day, there are more
than enough horrible groups in other religions to destroy their reputation if we made the same analogies we make between Isis and Islam in the media. The Pacific northwest, particularly Idaho and Montana are the HQs of some nasty neo-Nazi groups that take a lot of religious fundamentalist stuff into their beliefs and they are hardly representative of Christianity.

There are similar Jewish groups acting out of Israel that are nothing like what Judaism really is supposed to be, and there are splinter groups of Christians and Hindus in China and India that are disgraces to the religions they profess and are nothing like in truth.

I heard a great quote that I think all people professing religion need to keep in mind.

"You know you've built god in your own image when he hates everyone you do."

I don't believe god can hate anyone or anything, except maybe the act of wrongdoing, as hate is a weakness, which an all-powerful God could not logically have.

Also, there are actually over 70 kinds of Islam and it is as diverse as Christianity in its outlook for those looking above. It is true there are primarily Sunni and Shii faiths, but there's a lot of wiggle room in there.

Anyway, I have been critical of both religions in my posts but I honestly think religion most of the time makes people better in the long run, and I include both Islam and Christianity in there, as well as most others.

2018-03-06 23:33:46

OK, let me try and construct a proper, meaningful response. 1) if you're not sure which path to take, are you sure those are the right path? are you even willing to join a religion? that's basically where I was hinting with post 6, to show, that there are other paths out there, some that don't involve religion at all. 2) I must, agree with posts 7 and 9, in particular. personally, people have tried convincing me to become a christian, and that god has a plan for me, I'm almost certain he doesn't. someone else mentioned about how the bible lost it's originality. exactly. how can I believe something that is there in writing? to the deeply religious, my question is this. where was god during the 9/11, for example? we can't decide what to dedicate your life to. we can only give you ideas, personal experiences, and reasons for why. personally, I'm an atheist, as mentioned above. why? well partly because I'm not from a religious background. but mainly because it has no evidence, and to be honest, the entire thing makes no sense to me. true, I haven't read the entire bible, but I just can't bring myself to do it. since there is only one god, and 1 right religion, what about the others? if there is only 1 god, why are there multiple religions? not to mention the way jesus was born. the sad reality is, I'm probs one of the worse to speak about this. the fact that I have no sight, for me, proves it all. I just hope you won't dedicate your life to something that you will regret later. while I have regreted many things in my life, (most likely this post included as well) I have never regreted for not being religious. interestingly, I believe in ghosts, which many people find weird, as I'm not religious. I do believe in an after life. I know, this is going a little outside of this topic, but I wanted to put it out there. I also want to speak about freedom. I know that some religions forbid you to do this and that, till this and that age. I can do whatever and whenever I want. I don't need to pray, I have no holy book, nothing. in fact, I'm looking into being a complete vegetarian in the near future. and why? I honestly don't agree with the idea of maintaining animals, only to then kill them. and that's nothing to do with my religion either. please, do not ever think that not having a religion will make you a bad person, ever.

2018-03-06 23:55:22

@post 15:
@pauliyobo Islam is split into mainly two big factions, that's true, but a true Muslim has just to follow what Allah has revealed unto His messenger as well as the words of that latter.
This, is what your religion says, but the other faction might say the opposite.
But hey, are you serious? Are ISIS Muslims at the first place? They are, they are simply of an other faction, this doesn't mean that they are not.
They're only meant to do things destroying Islam's reputation, killing all those who oppose them along the way.
What ever you say, they are still muslims, this is what they claim to be. This is what they believe and this is the other islamic faction.
You think that they're trying to destroy the islamic reputation. But who says that in their believing they don't think that the other faction is trying to do so?

Paul

2018-03-07 00:24:40

ironcross32, I don't need other people's solutions. I ask to hear opinions

2018-03-07 00:38:14

braille0109, for me, any religion is good and true. Why? Because the truth is for everyone.

2018-03-07 00:47:41

For atheists.
Think who created the world? It could not have happened at random that the land, people, etc. appeared.
If you believe that our creator is a universe, this is also a religion.
For atheists.
Look at your meaning of life. If God gives us the meaning of life, what is the meaning of the life of atheism?
I can answer this question. The meaning of life atheism is death. Eternal death. Listen to this. Eternal death.
Why do we develop politics and economics? If the meaning of life is eternal death?
It's very difficult for me to talk about this. The essence of atheism is very well described by Professor of the Moscow Theological Seminary Osipov, but this is a lecture in Russian.

2018-03-07 00:52:35

For Christians.
After reading the book "The Chronicles of Narnia", I really like Christianity.
But in my country there are more Orthodox Christians, but I do not know what the truth is. Orthodox or Catholics.
Professor Osipov correctly I think said. I do not know how in English, but in Russian there is such a saying:
Tell me who your friends are, and I'll tell you who you are.
Professor Osipov remade this as follows:
Tell me who your saints are, and I'll tell you what your church is like.
When I looked at the holy Catholicism and why they became holy, I was terrified.

2018-03-07 00:59:07

For Muslims.
I'm terrified of many things from Islam.
Required five times a day. The so-called prayer.
What happens, we love God not through the heart, through tradition? Through obligatory ceremonies?
In Islam, you can only pray in Arabic. Listen, only in Arabic. If God is all-seeing and omniscient, then why can not I pray in another language.
In Islam, God is like a lord, we are his slaves. I understand that he created us, we are slaves for him. But the opinion of Christianity is closer to me. God is not master, God is father. I can talk to God, in any language, I can trust him, because I can trust my father, I'm afraid of the master.
In Islam, women can not be touched. I love to cuddle, I like some other things that Islam forbids.

2018-03-07 01:39:49

@19-23, none of this even makes sense. Let's see...
I'll let Ironcross32 answer that one (post 19). smile
You wrote in post 21:

For atheists.
Think who created the world? It could not have happened at random that the land, people, etc. appeared.

Um... science would say otherwise, in that yes, the universe was born from a massively condensed cloud of atoms, which then exploded outward. The debris left behind from that explosion created the stars, planets, etc. As for the land and people, yes, both appears, at random, over a very, very long period of time (think a few million to a few hundred million years, if not a few billion). It takes Nature a very, very long time to work its magic, but when its magic works, it creates brilliant things. Sometimes I think we don't appreciate nature as much as we should, but then again I'm not a naturalist or environmentalist, so...

If you believe that our creator is a universe, this is also a religion.

No, this is not. Science is not a religion. Science is a systematic approach to organizing information about everything, including -- you guessed it -- the universe. But it sure as hell isn't a religion (the word "science" is derived from the Latin word "sciencia", meaning "knowledge").

For atheists.
Look at your meaning of life. If God gives us the meaning of life, what is the meaning of the life of atheism?
I can answer this question. The meaning of life atheism is death. Eternal death. Listen to this. Eternal death.
Why do we develop politics and economics? If the meaning of life is eternal death?
It's very difficult for me to talk about this. The essence of atheism is very well described by Professor of the Moscow Theological Seminary Osipov, but this is a lecture in Russian.

First, the meaning of life is not known. Not to anyone. Humans are not meant to know the 'meaning of life'. You do not know the answer to this question, that scientist two doors down from your house doesn't know the answer either. (The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy jokes that it's "42". But then again, the scientists who were building that computer weren't being very specific anyway.) The meaning of life is most likely not "eternal death" though. There's no way to know. Now, as for question of why we develop things like economics, politics, etc. That, I'm afraid, I can't answer.

"On two occasions I have been asked [by members of Parliament!]: 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out ?' I am not able rightly to apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question."    — Charles Babbage.
My Github

2018-03-07 02:51:23

Well, of course you were looking for solutions, or you wouldn't have posted this topic here. Also, it does seem to me that you identify more with Christianity, so go join a church. One more thing, you can't form thoughts into paragraphs, you really had to post 4 times?

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