Additional info, added Wednesday April 29 2015, 4:49 am: In what contempt the Muslims are held by certain Christian circles! I experienced this when I tried to start an exchange of ideas arising from a comparative analysis of Biblical and Qur'anic stories on the same theme. I noted a systematic refusal, even for the purposes of simple reflection, to take any account of what the Qur'an had to say on the subject in hand. It is as if a quote from the Qur'an were a reference to the Devil!
-The Office for Non-Christian Affairs at the Vatican has produced a document result. from the Second Vatican Council under the French title Orientations pour un dialogue entre Chrétiens et Musulmans (Orientations for a Dialogue between Christians and Muslims),
Such preliminary steps towards a closer relationship between the Roman Catholic Curia and Islam have been followed by various manifestations and consolidated by encounters between the two. There has been, however, little publicity accorded to events of such great importance in the western world, where they took place and where there are ample means of communication in the form of press, radio and television. It is on account of this that they remain totally ignorant of what Islam is in reality, and retain notions about the Islamic Revelation which are entirely mistaken.
Before proceeding with our task, we must ask a fundamental question: How authentic are today's texts? It is a question which entails an examination of the circumstances surrounding their composition and the way in which they have come down to us.
In the West the critical study of the Scriptures is something quite recent. For hundreds of years people were content to accept the Bible -both Old and New Testaments- as it was. A reading produced nothing more than remarks vindicating it. It would have been a sin to level the slightest criticism at it. The clergy were privileged in that they were easily able to have a comprehensive knowledge of the Bible, while the majority of laymen heard only selected readings as part of a sermon or the liturgy.
-Raised to the level of a specialized study, textual criticism has been valuable in uncovering and disseminating problems which are often very serious. How disappointing it is therefore to read works of a so-called critical nature which, when faced with very real problems of interpretation, merely provide passages of an apologetical nature by means of which the author contrives to hide his dilemma. Whoever retains his objective judgment and power of thought at such a moment will not find the improbabilities and contradictions any the less persistent. One can only regret an attitude which, in the face of all logical reason, upholds certain passages in the Biblical Scriptures even though they are riddled with errors.
-It can exercise an extremely damaging influence upon the cultivated mind with regard to belief in God. Experience shows however that even if the few are able to distinguish fallacies of this kind, the vast majority of Christians have never taken any account of such incompatibilities with their secular knowledge, even though they are often very elementary.. Want to answer more questions in the Miscellaneous category? Maybe give some free advice about: Spirituality? rainhorse68 answered Thursday April 30 2015, 10:51 am: You can sum it up by the fact that religious belief systems are by nature mutually exclusive. If there is a supreme being and creator there can only be one, or your own belief system becomes invalidated. Or at best seriously compromised. If the Qur'an is the only & true divine body of work, then the Old & New Testaments of the Bible must necessarily be wrong and merely the writings of mortal men. And vice versa. There may be motifs, doctrine or concepts which are, prima facie similar. Or they may converge to the same idea. For example, all religious belief systems incorporate some form of eternal life after physical death, which may be earned or granted when we die. Sometimes through reincarnation. I'd imagine that any which claimed physical, age-independent immortality would be discredited very quickly. Namely when it's oldest living committed adherent snuffed it. Evil, and sin are punished...but only after death. Again, any which promised good things for the just and punishment for the wicked in THIS life would collapse in the light of a the first happy, healthy and wealthy villain. Of which you'll find many! [ rainhorse68's advice column | Ask rainhorse68 A Question ]
adviceman49 answered Thursday April 30 2015, 10:26 am: Razhie made a strong and true statement though she left out on salient point. At the moment many people of all religions, other than the Muslim Religion, and from all walks of life are very untrusting of the Muslim people. Mostly because of organizations such as ISIS. As I understand the Qur'an and the Muslim religion it is a very peaceful and peaceful teaching religion.
The biggest problem many non-Muslims have with the Muslim people is how they are not assimilating into their adopted countries well. In the United States as a legal resident the constitution guarantees to everyone the right to freely practice their religion. This does not mean you can demand that others change so that you can adhere to your practices. In some cases because of laws that are for safety of others you may have change some of your ways.
An example of this would be women who want to drive a car. Driving is a privilege not a guaranteed right. Therefore in order to obtain a license one must adhere to the laws to posses one. In all states this means they must submit to having a full face photo taken that can be affixed to the license. When driving you can not wear anything that impedes your vision such as the Baraka Muslims are demanding these laws be changed. They can't be they are safety issues.
The same is true with any other demand that would infringe on the rights of other to enjoy their inalienable rights under the Constitution.
While I applaud and support what you are trying to do for it is through education that we will truly understand one another. There are a great many things that have to be overcome, many outside any one individual control, before others will set aside the biases you are seeing.
The Muslims I know I have found to warm friendly and giving people. Through them I have learned a lot about their ways, the Muslim religion and most importantly to them and my family the exchange of traditional foods. You can't be an enemy when you sit across a table from each other and break bread. [ adviceman49's advice column | Ask adviceman49 A Question ]
Razhie answered Wednesday April 29 2015, 3:10 pm: Why is there a systematic refusal by certain Christian circles to take any account of what the Bible had to say on the subject in hand?
Why is there a systematic refusal by certain Muslim circles to take any account of what the Qur'an had to say on the subject in hand?
I'm not sure entirely what it argument you are trying to make here, but if you really believe that Christians are any worse than any other religion when it comes to ignoring the inconstancies, irrational claims or obviously immoral acts presented in their holy text, then you aren't paying much attention.
Every religion does that. Frankly, Muslims and Christians are two of the groups with historically significant sections of sometimes violent individuals, who are completely unwilling to reconcile their personal religious belief with a contextual or critical reading of their scripture, or with basic rational thought.
What your are describing isn't unique to Christians.
Lots of people are bigots and/or just unwilling to have their faith challenged in even the smallest ways.
All Christians are people.
So it follows that lost of Christians bigots and/or just unwilling to have their faith challenged in even the smallest ways.
You could substitute the word 'Christian' above for nearly any religion, and say the exact same thing.
Most people will never examine, or take into account the most obvious ways in which their scriptures are clearly, and utterly wrong. That isn't a Christian problem. That's a human problem.
You aren't going to make that problem any better by pretending it's a Christian VS Muslim thing. It's not. Both religions have evil, hateful bigots among them. Both the Bible and Qu'arn have plenty of nonsense in them which can be - and has been - used to justify stupid, violent, hateful acts, or just plain old irrational thinking.
That's not a uniquely Christian problem. That's a human problem. Unless you approach it as a human problem, you aren't going to be able to solve it, because you'll just be reinforcing your own biases and bigotry rather than addressing the problem about how humans, by and large, engage with faith and holy texts in really irrational ways.
The reasons Muslims currently face a great deal of discrimination are another subject entirely, but the fact that religious people of all stripes are generally unwilling to have the facts challenge their feelings and beliefs when it comes to their faith is a separate issue, and much more long-standing. [ Razhie's advice column | Ask Razhie A Question ]
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