Breaking Ground

With all said and done regarding my first 'blog argument' I think that maybe, just maybe, my point was seen. The below is a continuation from my last Blog entitled "Why you Hatin" that should be read first to fully grasp this blog post:

Steve Says: September 5th, 2007 at 5:58 pm
Interesting comment. I guess we will have to agree to disagree.One question?When was Jesus tolerant of sin? You said “As Christians, we should try to practice what Jesus preached, live like him with his tolerance, his understanding, his forgiveness”.As I recall from what my Bible says, Jesus called sinners “a brood of vipers”. He never was “tolerant” or endorsed sin. He would have seen Islam as a false religion and I assure you, He would not have endorsed it.But again, we agree to disagree on this topic.Good Luck and God Bless!!

Anonymous (me) Says: September 6th, 2007 at 8:30 am
Steve,
Thank you for you comments. I would like to re-iterate that I DO believe that the extreme Islamic groups all over the world are horrendous, they act of the side of evil and break God’s Covenant - in His name (a double whammy).
I also believe that Islam (as a whole) can not and should not be bucketed into one overall judgment, as many Muslims themselves vehemently renounce what these extremist do and feel even more anger than we do about it- because these extreme, ill-willed people are misrepresenting their faith and creating so much hatred towards those within Islam that follow (what they feel) is the true path.
I personally know Muslims that feel hatred every day from people (and I am sorry to say this) like you, who have already judged them without even knowing them. They feel separate and outcaste from society, when they are trying to live good lives, trying to forgive the people that are giving them a bad name, praying to God five times a day (see below on that) The people of true Islam are struggling.
I do not think that Jesus would want good people, to feel outcaste. Do you know that Muslims believe in Jesus, believe he was born of the Virgin Mary and believe he is the Messiah? They believe that He will walk at the end of the world and only those that know Him, will be saved?
Muslims pray 5 times a day- do you know why?
Their prayers are broken up five times throughout the day, to try to prevent one from any wrong doing. The idea is- if they have to pray to God every few hours, they are less likely to commit a sin, God is always at the top of their minds. Isn’t that in some way, beautiful?
I am a defender of Islam, but only to the extent that we shouldn’t judge good people on the acts of those that are clearly doing wrong. It is always the bad that ruin it for the overall good.
Jesus was compassionate, forgiving, and non-judgmental and as you say, he was not tolerant of sin. Judgment and hatred towards fellow-man kind, defamation of one’s character- these are sins that we should all do our best to stay away from.
God Bless you too

Why You Hatin'?

I recently found myself in a blog argument, my first blog argument in history...it was interesting. Being that I am a lover of words and express myself best on paper- it was great.

It allowed me to process what these people were saying...and give me a chance to (calmly, which is an exception for me when I am angry) provide my argments where needed. It was diplomatic.

Setting the stage:

Here we go, the basis of this 'argument' was of course- religion! Stemming from a topic on a blog regarding the opposition of some public schools teaching Arabic history and language. I read some posts from fundamental Christians which felt it was the Board of Education's way of teaching our youth to become extreme jihadist...and that by teaching Arabic history and language, we are perpetuating terrorism within our own nation. Needless to say, their point was so narrow and absurd, it hurt my head.

In the name of the fifth ammendment, I just had to post my thoughts and I was called many names and was met with every Surah in the Qua'ran that quoted anything relating to waging war ..but one great thing that came from this, is that I have found a positive, functional way to paraphrase my defense of Islam as a whole and my personal Christianity (which in this particular blog discussion was being bashed)

This was my last entry on that blog (Beth and Steve were the ones hatin' on me)

Here we go:

"I am a Christian, does it matter what denomination? It seems that both Beth and Steve are focused on separating people, where my focus is to bring a better understanding on what religion(s) actually represent to the faithful people that follow them (or as you interpret this Beth, my ‘adamant defense of Islam’).

I think only through understanding and acceptance, comes tolerance. I never claimed to be both Christian and Muslim, or that I want to be a bishop! I am saying (without any offense or ill-will) that your views are narrow and uneducated.

My point in bringing up the Crusades at all, is to demonstrate that at one very long, point in time, en mass, Christians aggressively killed, viciously and without remorse in the name of Christendom…doesn’t that sound familiar to the Islam extremist of today? They were fighting in honor of their faith and supporting their actions with passages from the Holy Bible, just as these Islamic extremists are doing now. That was the point. Look at Christianity and minus 600 years and you are amidst Christian extremism, killing, hating, and fighting all non-Christians.

Here are a few things to think about…I hope that you both take the below information and do some objective research and analyze all sides:

 Islam is not a homogenous religion. It is divided into many subgroups, including Sunni, Shi’ite, and Sufi. A very small, radical, hate-filled, extremist, Fundamentalist, terrorist wing does exist. So too does a much larger peaceful, moderate wing. Unfortunately, the former seem to capture all the media’s attention, while the latter is rarely heard from.

 It obvious that no one individual speaks for all Muslims. Islam has no single central authority, comparable to the pope and Vatican for the Roman Catholic Church, or to various General Assemblies and the Lambeth Conferences for the Anglican Communion. Rather, it is divided into many traditions and schools.

 This phenomenon is true of most religions. Consider the over 1,000 Christian groups in North America. They include some hate-filled groups as well:
- The Christian Identity movement.- Various white supremacist organizations which usually consider they to be Christians.- The terrorists who blew up the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City.

 The spread of terrorism within Islam appears to be due to the presence and interaction of a number of factors:
- A general renaissance of the religion of Islam throughout North Africa, the Middle East and parts of Asia.
- The after-effects of previous colonial oppression of Muslim countries
- Authoritarian dictatorships in the Middle East, many of which are artificially propped up with American foreign policy, with their depressing record of corruption, civil rights violations, and low standard of living. This results in a loss of hope among their public.
- The lack of separation between religion and the state in Muslim countries.
- Two main conflicts: One of overwhelming importance in Palestine between Jews and Muslims; one in Kashmir between Hindus and Muslims.

I could go on and on paraphrasing many brilliant pieces I have read, but enough for now...I am closing my side of this conversation with this:

As Christians, we should try to practice what Jesus preached, live like him with his tolerance, his understanding, his forgiveness…your world views and generalizations towards others simply strikes me as opposite of what Christ taught.

Would Christ the teacher himself deny education? Would Jesus stereo-type all people into one bucket? I wouldn’t want war or hate taught in any school- but that’s not “The Religion of Islam” as a whole and that is my point here. It is only with tolerance and education that future generations and this generation, will ever begin to make peace, it is only through education and acceptance that radical Islam will ever cease.

God Bless this country, this world, because it is the extremists of all religions, hand-in-hand with some of your narrow thoughts displayed here, that will continue to break down man kind.
Hate (so easily) breeds hate and it’s hard to resist that easy path of hating back…"