gogogadgetearl

comments

• okay, if there's one thing i've learned from my religious studies classes, it's this:
  muslims are justified in hating the americans.  quite a few years ago, jews went to the UN or something like that (i can't remember) saying that they should have jerusalem because it's divine will (or what-have-you).  america backed them.  the only problem was that people were already living in the area--muslims.  they had been there for a thousand years or so, but we (america and other countries) put up some muscle and kicked them out on the street (literally).  in essence we told them "tough luck, so long."  eversince then, the muslims have held a grudge against americans, and rightly so, because we were the main force.  to say that they are envious of us and that their envy is the cause for their attacks is simply wrong.  we were jerks, and just like the native americans and blacks have not received any true reparations, neither have the muslims.  we ourselves are the ones to blame.
  • posted by: casey
  • [ 2004.07.09 | 4:46:07pm ]
• i have to respectfully disagree with you casey. not that israel is always right, but the jews were there before there was even such a thing as a muslim and have been fighting for a country of their own pretty much their whole existance. i personally think the muslims only want israel to piss off the jews.
  • posted by: harris
  • [ 2004.07.09 | 11:23:29pm ]
• but, my thought is that it is like the indians taking back america.  technically, they're entitled to it, but we've been here for so long, if they actually did get it, we would be pissed and fight back.
  • posted by: casey
  • [ 2004.07.11 | 12:51:13am ]
• Garbage. Sorry, Earl. I love your site, but please keep politics out of this. I disagree with most of it, the author makes it sound like everyone who hates America is working on the same team, and that's not true.
  • posted by: Sulayman
  • [ 2004.07.11 | 8:15:15pm ]
• first off, i have to applaude earl for putting this on his site. people need to know what is at stake with the war on terror. second, casey, i, like harris, must disagree with what you are saying. my points are this: 1. if you go back and look at history, further back than the crusades, you will see a muslim attitude that is much the same as it is today. the muslims thought that they should rule the world and be in charge. to this end they took over, by force, all of southern europe, north africa, and much of asia. they took this land from the christians AND the jews, so to say that islam was there first is wrong. harris is right when he says that the jews were there first, take a look at exodus for proof of that. 2. to say that the situation with the muslims is our fault is wrong. you said we are the ones to blame. are we to blame for 9/11? are we to blame for the other horrible acts that have been carried out in the name of allah (little a)? of course not. evil always hates what is good, and this is illustrated with islam. whoa, did i just call islam evil? yes, i did. THAT is the real reason they hate us. now i know that we are far from perfect, but to them we represent Christianity, which they hate. 3. i know that back when israel was reformed, that there may have been some stuff done to piss off the muslims living in Jerusalem, even though it IS rightfully the Jews to begin with. we cant fix that now. its the same as with the native americans, we cannot take back what has been done, only try not to repeat mistakes. how you bring the blacks into this i have no idea. Casey, i hope your not mad, i do not mean to be a jerk and i do not say any of this out of anger. as for sulayman, please understand that the author of this letter is not trying to be political, he wants to weigh actions and consequences and show what will happen. it is not "garbage", it is truth. earl, once again, well done with this post. everyone go rent turnbuckle.
  • posted by: chad
  • [ 2004.07.12 | 12:50:39pm ]
• Did Chad just admit to liking Harris? umm?
  • posted by: Jailbait
  • [ 2004.07.13 | 6:41:53am ]
• [note: casey sent this in an e-mail and i thought it was worthy of posting. --earl]
  
  >>chad, below is your comment.  i did not feel like it was totally appropriate to post my response online, but rather, personally, let you know my thoughts.
  
  first off, i have to applaude earl for putting this on his site. people need to know what is at stake with the war on terror. second, casey, i, like harris, must disagree with what you are saying. my points are this:
  1. if you go back and look at history, further back than the crusades, you will see a muslim attitude that is much the same as it is today. the muslims thought that they should rule the world and be in charge. to this end they took over, by force, all of southern europe, north africa, and much of asia. they took this land from the christians AND the jews, so to say that islam was there first is wrong. harris is right when he says that the jews were there first, take a look at exodus for proof of that.
  
  >>i never said that the muslims were there first.  all i said was they had been there for about a thousand years. and i agree with you, they took it by force.  you can't argue with truth or history.  but much like they took the land by force so did we take our land from the native americans.
  
  2. to say that the situation with the muslims is our fault is wrong. you said we are the ones to blame. are we to blame for 9/11? are we to blame for the other horrible acts that have been carried out in the name of allah (little a)? of course not. evil always hates what is good, and this is illustrated with islam. whoa, did i just call islam evil? yes, i did. THAT is the real reason they hate us. now i know that we are far from perfect, but to them we represent Christianity, which they hate.
  
  >>yes, we are to blame for the situation with the muslims.  no we are not to blame for their reactions (ie 9-11), but as "Christians" we have done very little to correct the evils we have done against them.  previous to 9-11, we had not been very Christian, nor had the jews been very jewish, and likewise, starting with 9-11 the muslims have not been good muslims either.
  also, get your facts straight.  allah is God.  our God.  Christians in Jerusalem, Arabia, etc.  don't say "God." they say "Allah."  why?  because that is His name in Arabic, which they speak.
  to readily state that Muslims are evil is not wise.  Calling another religion evil (specifically one that spawns from the same roots as our own) does no good.  As Christians we are to be peacemakers, not instigators.  In my experience, saying a person, or that person's religion, is evil does not advance our efforts in this.  (Now a self-proclaimed Satanist would be a different story.  But not here in this instance.)  To say that Muslims hate Christians is like saying that Whites hate Blacks.  Some whites hate blacks.  Some Muslims hate Christians.  It is not all encompassing.  When Islam first started, one of the original Muslim beliefs, that still reigns true today, is that they saw Christianity as the closest to their religion, and therefore Christians should be seen as friends.  But they also recognized that our stories concerning Jesus could be threating to their faith.  They believed that we were misguided about his origins, and therefore, WE are the evil ones.  from this idea some sects grew off, mustering hate, not intentionally for Christians but for what they believe to be evil and false, which happened to be represented in Christianity.
  
  3. i know that back when israel was reformed, that there may have been some stuff done to piss off the muslims living in Jerusalem, even though it IS rightfully the Jews to begin with. we cant fix that now. its the same as with the native americans, we cannot take back what has been done, only try not to repeat mistakes.
  
  >>Who says we can't "fix that now?"  that's how that all started.  we tried to "fix" it by returning the land to the Jews.  but we also angered the muslims.  to simply say "whoops.  sorry you guys.  we screwed up. we'll TRY to not do it again" lets us off too easily.  the muslims (perhaps in a horrifying and inappropriate way) have called us out on our sins (i'm sure they'll have to answer for theirs too).  and now, we are in a war that will be a defining moment for all of us. Americans.  Christians.  Muslims.  Ronald Swann is noted as the one coining the phrase, "There are no winners in war."  When this war is over, we shall be measured by our actions taken afterwards.  Will we continue to hold a grudge against the Muslims?  Will they against us?  As Christians, what will others think of us? How will we handle our commission to spread the message and love?  This war has put us all in a fix.
  
  how you bring the blacks into this i have no idea. Casey, i hope your not mad, i do not mean to be a jerk and i do not say any of this out of anger. as for sulayman, please understand that the author of this letter is not trying to be political, he wants to weigh actions and consequences and show what will happen. it is not "garbage", it is truth. earl, once again, well done with this post. everyone go rent turnbuckle.
  
  >>i mentioned blacks only to allude to another indignation done to mankind that we, as in white american descendents, are to blame.
  also, i'm not mad. but like you, i cannot stand by idlely when truth is misconstrued.  for the most part, i agreed with what the author had to say.  but i felt the need to let others know that his statement that the muslims attacked out of jealously IS wrong.
  
  sincerely,
  -case
  • posted by: casey
  • [ 2004.07.13 | 8:36:52am ]
• bra-vo casey.  good stuff.  altho, i agree with chad in the sense that "he who is not with me is against me..." (Matt 12:30a).  so, yes that would make all of the nation of islam 'evil' – good muslims and bad – but, then again, that would also make a lot of the music/tv/movies we watch 'evil' also.  to pro casey now, that gives us no reason to hate them for what they did to us.  no matter how bad.  that doesn't even give us an excuse to not love them.  we have to love them – HAVE TO.  they might not deserve it, but we don't deserve the immeasurable love we are given everyday.  casey's right, calling them evil (in public, on the internet, to their faces...etc.) will do NO GOOD.  no matter how our emotions want to treat them, all we can do is show them love.  otherwise, WE are 'evil'.
  
  casey – chad wasn't talking about our Allah.  he was talking about the islamic allah (little-a).  while it has the same name as our Allah, they do not worship our God.  they worship another god (little-g).
  
  chad – casey isn't saying that the muslims deserve jerusalem.  he's only saying, "muslims are justified in hating the americans" (casey's actual quote).  while i personally don't believe that they are "justified", i do agree that they have a reason to hate us.  i know and agree that the jews had the land first, and that it's rightfully theirs, but here's the parallel casey was trying to make:  jews had land first, native americans had land first – muslims came and forcibly took it away, christians came and forcibly took it away – jews got it back, now, if the native americans got back their land, we'd be royally pissed.   this is why casey and i understand why the muslims have so much hate for those responsible for getting the land back to the jews.  we would be pretty pissed at whoever took our land from us and gave it back to the native americans.  follow?
  
  to sum up MY opinion.  i agree with both of you.  and disagree with both of you.  get it?
  
  >>
  
  <<
  
  >>
  
  !!
  • posted by: earl
  • [ 2004.07.13 | 8:47:38am ]
• dude, aren't you splitting hairs there--saying that the Muslims worship a different God?  I mean, that's like saying the Jews worship a different God than ours.  Yet that is impossible, for our God is the Jewish God. Just like the Muslim God is the Jewish God.  The Hebrews just don't recognize Christ as the fulfillment of God's Salvation nor His' Divinity.  Likewise, neither do the Muslims.  I admit that we have been a special relationship with God because of the revelation that has been bestowed upon us through Chirst.  But to mark the Muslims as having a totally different God is too far (for me).
  I'm sorry.  You may disagree with me.  But I find it offensive to say that Jews, Muslims, and Christians have a different God.
  all things aside.  I love you :-* .
  -case
  • posted by: casey
  • [ 2004.07.13 | 9:13:46am ]
• I can totally understand your comparrison with the naitive americans and muslims. You are right in saying that we would be way pissed if they tried to take their land back. In fact, they did try, but were beat back down. This is much the same as the terrorists attacks on Israel nowadays, just more advanced and modern. My arguement against islam is still the same though. I know that both of you have said that saying islam is evil will do no good, but it IS THE TRUTH, which makes it worthwhile to say. In a world of political correctness and everyone trying to not hurt feelings, sometimes we sugurcoat the issues, and I refuse to do that. Now, I also know that we as people are evil, we ALL are, and like earl said, we do not deserve the love that God has given us. But we, those who are true Christians, are redeemed by the blood of Christ, and therefore have been sanctified. We are the ones who must be "salt" and "light" to a dying world. Yes we should love the muslims. Yes we should be Christ to them. But, we also have to stand for what is right. Regardless if we did something to piss them off, there is no reason for them to react in such a violent way. And THAT is the reason for a war on terror, a war that must be fought. Finally, I cannot, CANNOT, agree with you on the whole allah thing. I do not worship allah. He does not exist. I worship Jehovah, God, the true God, the only God, the Great I AM. allah is a pitiful, false idol set up by some guy in fifth century. he is not God. Thank you for your comments Casey.
  
  Soli Deo Gloria (To God Alone Be Glory),
  
                 -Chad
  • posted by: chad
  • [ 2004.07.13 | 9:22:06am ]
• Three children are playing a board game.  A Christian, a Muslim, and a Jew are playing "Monopoly" by Parker Bradley.  As the game plays out, the Christian takes most of the board and is on easy street.  The Jew takes some critical locations.  The Muslim takes what ever is left, but really wants "St. Charles Place".  The Jew takes it before the Muslim can.  The Muslim throws the board, curses the Jew, burns the Christian in effagy and goes home to make roadside bombs.  The Christian thinks "All the Jew was doing was playing the game.  That property isn't reserved for anybody.  Anybody can take it.  That's why there's a board and turns and dice.  Why does he hate me?  All I did was play my own game.  No, I didn't help him.  But, I didn't buy St. Charles.  Gees, I really don't want him to come back over here and blow up my house.  My dad will be really pissed.  Maybe I should go offer him "Boardwalk"...Nah, that's not right either.  I know I'll get our dads involved.  Yeah, that's it...wait, his dad got fired when he cooked the books on the last audit and my dad got the promotion that the Muslim kid's dad thought he deserved.  Nope, that won't work.  Maybe I'll tell his mom.  She seems like she rules that house.  She makes the rules and helps out when there's an arguement.  She'll help right.  But, wait,  the last time we played "Sorry"...when this exact thing happened, she said that we shouldn't play this game and that there are no winners or losers.  We should all share the game.  That's when we realized that mom's shoudn't play board games.  So what do we do?  Play nice?  Ask him over to play Halo? Can't do that...Chad would piss him off again and here we go with the splosions. > There he goes, making bombs with his other muslim friends.  We should either put up a fence or go punch him in the mouth and take his bombs...or both.  The Jew kid wants to make the fence so I guess I'll go punch him in the mouth and take his bomb stuff.  I really hope that he will play the game right next time.  It's to the point where I don't want to invite him over any more.  I'd rather go swimming than bloody my knuckles on his grill.  Oh well, there's no choice.  "Can Al Hadji come out to play?"  "Now, Al, the next time we play, why don't you play better? Or, at least control your jealous rage when you lose...otherwise, you'll have no friends except that other Muslim kid who's angry that he doesn't get to play.  Thanks, I hope you understand.  See ya next year at Columbine Elementary"
  • posted by: gary
  • [ 2004.07.13 | 9:53:56am ]
• ::riddled with metaphors::
  • posted by: earl
  • [ 2004.07.13 | 10:07:15am ]
• bravo gary, bravo. i can't believe earl has inspired more political commentary then me....READ MY THOUGHTS DARN IT! I'M BETTER THEN EARL! with that said i think this kind of discussion is healthy. if you can't argue your political views then you need to seriously consider if you even have political views. i usually can't stand people who disagree with me politically but i have the utmost respect for casey because he has views that differ from mine and can back them up. it's sad when people vote either democrat or republican and can't really state what they believe with any real authority. it makes out national elections a crap shoot which is not what they are supposed to be at all. people who think politics aren't important are ignorant. we as americans have granted authority to our government. the constitution says "We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America." and that makes all the difference in the world. if our government goes to crap then its our own fault because we give the government any power it has. if you don't have a clue what john kerry or george bush stand for then what kind of master are you?
  • posted by: harris
  • [ 2004.07.13 | 10:20:21am ]
• ok, so i got most of what gary was saying, but holy crap gary, how much drugs did you do to come up with that one? All i really got out of it was that we should let the muslims play me in halo? and that would solve the war? is that right? seriously though, i wouldnt worry too much about having religion and politics in the same post earl, the two go togather. In his farewell address, George Washington said, “You can’t have
  National morality apart from religious principle".
  The two subjects go togather. Now, to make sure not to get of the subject, muslims, jews, kerry, and how we should have a war on terror. discuss. long live t-grip.
  • posted by: chad
  • [ 2004.07.13 | 10:43:24am ]
• Armies: 1. Break Stuff  2. Take Stuff  3. Keep Stuff.  If land had names written on it like the elastic band in my underoos, we wouldn't need armies.  Every one would stay in thier own shorts.  As it is, there are armies.  Running on a parallel plane, is God's plan.  We know He has an endgame in process.  We know that he keeps His promises.  And, we know that he promised Cannan to Israel.  I don't know how the game is supposed to be played, and I can't figure it out, but we (as a nation) and as individuals need to stand "with Him, not against Him".  His promises are a part of His truth and thus, a part of Him.  If His promise is for Israel to occupy that land, then I stand with Him.  I don't care who's in the way.  If armies have to break stuff, take stuff, and keep stuff to help accomplish His goals, so be it!  That is what armies do.  Is it a coincidence that our military might has grown in alliance with Israel?  No?  Sounds like God is keeping His word. 
  
  
  America gets an honorable mention for best supporting actor.  Muslims are considered but don't win for their fumbling portrayal of villans.  Christ wins for his protrayal in the role of "Savior".  Great movie! I can't wait for the sequel.
  • posted by: gary
  • [ 2004.07.13 | 10:53:06am ]
• Well done gary, couldnt have said it better myself. Much kudos to you.
  • posted by: chad
  • [ 2004.07.13 | 11:41:16am ]
• Chad, If I thought that the Muslims would play fair (not "quit out" and throw the controller laden with TNT) I would choose you for the final showdown winner take all game of Halo. Long live OOChad.     BTW--addition to our conversation yesterday...H2, vehicles take damage in two stages and sound enhanced to hear rockets and bullets whizzing by your head.
  • posted by: gary
  • [ 2004.07.13 | 12:24:15pm ]
• my political views exist...  i agree a lot with what Gary had to say... i really don't think that it matters if earl's site has politics on it... as long as they are left in place to where the comments have been made.  i mean, you post something about politics, you're going to get politic responses... at any rate, i'll try to keep my political responses in harris' zone, as he loves that stuff... i'll just say this though, it's probably not a good thing that i'm in charge.
  
  earl, i love the new header... not gogogadgetliz... hahahahaa...
  • posted by: parker
  • [ 2004.07.13 | 9:04:55pm ]
• You aren't a Christian without Christ. So you can say that muslims worship the same god as us all you want, but it's a lie. A lie from satan. You know how I know that? Because it's the opposite of the Truth found in God's word.
  • posted by: ryan
  • [ 2004.07.14 | 10:38:56am ]
• too much here to comment on at this point...but I'll say this...
  
  you people need to figure out if you are discussing religion or politics...if you think they are one and the same you are just being naive......additionally, anybody that thinks the war in Iraq was motivated by some divine sense of righteousness is also being naive...some individuals over there actually doing the fighting may have that sense of moral superiority spurring them on(another dangerous thing, don't get me started) but the people that truly perpetuated this war(the leaders of our respective nations) have anything but good and fair intentions...dig?
  • posted by: Lech…
  • [ 2004.07.14 | 1:23:34pm ]
• If you really want a good account of the creation of modern Isreal and the reactions of jews and muslims check out:
  "Oh, Jerusalem" by Collins & Lapierre. This is a historical account of the events leading up to, the creation of, and the war following.
  • posted by: Kris
  • [ 2004.07.14 | 2:08:46pm ]
• ok, to clear up the 'Allah' predicament:
  we, as christians, worship The God of the Holy Trinity.  which means that the christian God is The Father, The Son, and The Holy Ghost.  now muslims and jews don't believe that Christ is The Son.  so that means they don't believe in The God of The Holy Trinity.  so, there is NO WAY that our God is the same Allah as their allah.  they only hold the same name.
  • posted by: earl
  • [ 2004.07.15 | 7:45:19am ]
• hey lech...no i dont "dig". you think that politics and religion are two diffrent subjects, but what about when founding father patrick henry said "our country was founded on the gospel of Jesus Christ"? we cannot ignore that religion (or lack off) affects politics. regardless of WHAT you believe, whether Christian or whatever, it will affect what you decide to do. To say that that religon and politics should be seperated is naive. DIG???
  • posted by: chad
  • [ 2004.07.15 | 3:23:11pm ]
• well chad...as far as I understand it one of the main principles that was put forward when this country was established was the freedom of religion...if you let your religion rule politics you don't have a democracy...you have a theocracy....and I'm not at all interested in that...what's good for your religion isn't necessarily good for your country....but America(and well...almost all countries) has always exemplified this anyways...in their flagrant dismissal of their respective countries dominant religion's moral conventions...I never said religion didn't affect politics...I said you should figure out which you are discussing...because they are and should be regarded as separate things...you know...separation of church and state?
  • posted by: Lech…
  • [ 2004.07.15 | 3:33:40pm ]
• the constitution did not say that we should have separation of church and state, it just said the state will not get in the way of the church...the whole idea of having church and state completly separated is a relativly new idea, like around 1962 maybe? but of course, the liberals in this nation would have us believe that the founding fathers didnt want the nation to have anything to do with religion, when the truth is far from that. and not just any religion...(gasp, is he going to say it?) yes, Christianity is what started this nation, and if we dont turn back to Christ soon, this nation will fall.
  • posted by: chad
  • [ 2004.07.15 | 4:39:06pm ]
• you're right, chad: "freedom of religion" wasn't to keep religion out of politics, it's to keep politics out of religion.
  • posted by: liz
  • [ 2004.07.15 | 4:51:42pm ]
• amen liz. the last thing any of us should want is for government to tell us where to worship, how to worship and--most importantly--who to worship.
  • posted by: casey
  • [ 2004.07.16 | 7:07:04am ]
• i really think it's funny that people try to do 'separation of church and state' when they will NEVER be able to separate it out of the military.  many official functions have chaplains who pray at the beginning and for things like the 13 flag-fold ceremony, a majority of the folds signify religious concepts:
  "The twelfth fold, in the eyes of a Christian citizen, represents an emblem of eternity and glorifies, in their eyes, God the Father, the Son, and Holy Spirit.
  
  When the flag is completely folded, the stars are uppermost reminding us of our nation's motto, "In God We Trust"."
  and of course there is more before that, but that's the major ones...
  • posted by: parker
  • [ 2004.07.17 | 6:03:54pm ]
• Good heavens you people frighten me.
  
  1. Muslims worship the Same God as the Christians and Jews and Zoroastrians. Muslims believe in the God who created Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Jesus, peace be upon them all. In Arabic, the word for God is Allah. Al-Lah = "The God." Arab Christians and Arabic-speaking Jews refer to God as "Allah." Even the Arabic translation of the Bible use the word Allah. It's very close to the Hebrew word for God, "Eloh." I don't hear anybody say Spanish people pray to a different god because they pray to "Dios." The Quran even specifically mentions how Jews and Christians pray to the same God who created Abraham. Even the Pope believes that Muslims worship the same God, the one Christians refer to as "the father." Muslims don't pray to Jesus, they pray to the one Christians refer to as "the father" ie the One who created Jesus, so if you insist Muslims don't pray to the same God as Christians you will have to make your case that way, though I think you would have to say the same for Jews then.
  
  2. Islam preaches peace. Yes, there are terrorists in the world who try to commit crimes and say it's in the name of religion, but they are a minority AND Muslim scholars from all over the world condemn them. The terrorists have their own adgenda, then seek to justify it through religion after the fact. Every country except Iraq condemned the 9/11 attack. The actions of a few terrorists do Not represent the beliefs of billions of human beings. Islam, like Christianity and Judaism, also says Murder is a sin, and the Quran even references a phrase from the Old Testament saying that killing one innocent person is as if the person killed all of mankind.
  
  3. I don't see why people are suddenly labeling Islam as the cause of these world problems. Bush and the Pope both said Islam is peaceful, and Bush repeatedly insists it's not a war on Islam. All the scholars I know of have condemned terrorist attacks. They condemned the mutilation of American bodies in Fallujah, the murder of civillians in Iraq and Saudi Arabia, etc. The Israeli-Palestinian struggle is a Political one, it just has religious overtones.
  
  4. You know, in many parts of the world, Muslims are victims. How about the Muslims massacred by Hindu extremists in Gudjarat? Or the muslims suffering in Kashmir? Or the ones oppressed and tortured in China? How about the Muslims suffering in Chechnya? You already mentioned the ones who lost their homes in Palestine, and now the 10,000+ civillians dead in Iraq.
  
  5. Muslims don't hate America. They hate the government, sure, but that doesn't stop them from waiting years for an Immigration visa here. They like the freedom here. Don't let a ridiculously small number of terrorists in the world make you jump to conclusions and stereotype all the Muslims out theąō¨h3C/p>
  • posted by: Sulayman
  • [ 2004.07.21 | 3:33:21am ]
• sulayman, your just wrong about the whole allah-God thing. allah and God are not the same thing. I dont care if in arabic they are close to the same name, in practice they are two diffrent things. first off, God exists and allah does not. that seperates them right there. muslims believe that there is no trinity. Christians believe in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, all in the same God. Therefore, if just by this simple example we can conclude allah and God are not the same. The jews worshiped the real God, they just do not have the whole story. Also, it is absurd to say that islam is peaceful, if you have ever read the koran you would know that allah commands jihad, their holy wars. only the most willfully igorant people can say that islam and Christianity worship the same diety. If the pope says that they are the same, then the pope is wrong. he is human, it happens. as for the suffering that muslims expierence, stuff like that happens. it happens to every race of people in the world. if you want to talk about religious persecution, lets talk about the fact that more Christians are killed today than throughout the entire reign of the roman empire. im not saying that we shouldnt try to help the muslims that are suffering, in fact i think we should. oh wait, we did do that didnt we? we went in and destroyed an evil regime that was perpetuating evil in iraq and are trying to help these people build their county. we did all that, and liberals like you pissed and moaned about it. john kerry sucks, vote for bush. rent turnbuckle.
  • posted by: chad
  • [ 2004.07.22 | 11:17:03am ]
• Chad is dead on.  The fact that the Arabic word for God translates as "The God" means virtually nothing.  I could dub a $.29 burger from McDonalds as "The God" if I wanted to, and even worship it with fervor and passion.  But simply dubbing it as "The God" neither deifies it nor makes me less of a fool.  If you study the entire Bible, not just snippets of it out of context, you will see that the Old Testament is a major prophetic work, or a "pointing forward" to Jesus coming and that the New Testament is simply a fulfilling of that prophecy.  If you take Jesus out of the picture, which Muslims do by denying who he really was, then you simply cannot know the true God of the Bible.  Chad phrased it well and said that the Jews are partly right. 
  The New Testament, over and over again, states that God is love.  But this love is found through the work of what Christ did on the cross.  Apart from his atoning work of Christ, we would find ourselves simply standing in front of a God who has not had his "just wrath" answered or fulfilled.  Jesus is the truth to truly knowing God.  The God of the Bible, through the work of Christ on the cross, is a very different person than the god that you see described in the Koran.  They are not the same person!
  • posted by: Matt
  • [ 2004.07.22 | 3:21:07pm ]
• Look, arguing about words is just silly now. My great-uncle is an Arab Christian, and he uses the word "Allah" in Arabic as the word for God. There is no other word. Look at Genesis 1 of the Arabic Bible, the word used is Allah. Even in that movie "The Passion of the Christ" the Aramaic-speaking people used the word "Allaha" because that's the word for God in that language. I find it bizarre that people curse "Allah" and not God, as you're cursing the same name in another language.
  
  Chad and Matt, I'm at a loss to explain this, after my previous lengthy post. If Jews worship the same God as Muslims, and nobody on either side denies that point, and Jews worship the real God, as you said, then how can you say that Muslims don't worship the same God as the Christians? You're getting hung up on simple language.
  
  Muslims, believe it or not, have similar beliefs to the Arian and Nazarene Christian sects. Muslims believe in the Torah and Gospel, as that is a requirement of faith in Islam. To be a Muslim, one must also believe in Jesus and Moses. Muslims see themselves as followers of Jesus and Moses and Muhammad, peace be upon them all. After looking at the Arabic New Testament and probing the links of Christianity to Judaism and Islam, can you still argue that Muslims and Christians don't worship the same God? Muslims also acknowledge that Christians and Jews pray to the same God that they do.
  
  Islam is peaceful, and I challenge you to show me any verse that forces violence before any other course of peaceful action. The Old and New Testaments also have verses calling for violence, but I don't see people calling Christianity violent. I don't quite see how you can say that God is that different based on the Bible and Quran. In both, Adam and Eve were the first humans, Moses parts the sea, Noah builds the Ark, Sodom and Gomorrah are destroyed, and Jesus is born to a virgin named Mary.
  
  Jihad doesn't mean "holy war," the word itself translates to struggle.  Yes, more Christians are dying than in the time of the Roman Empire, because now there are Billions of Christians. I'm not surprised. And I'm not mixing politics into religion here.
  • posted by: Sulayman
  • [ 2004.07.24 | 1:31:24am ]
• It's amazing how Christians treat Arabs differently, even Christian Arabs. Arab Christians use the word "Allah" but people in the US insult the word "Allah" constantly. There are over a million Palestinian Christians, but the Christian right constantly demonizes Palestinians, which includes their Christian bretheren. Palestinian Christians also get discriminated against and are subjected to hate crimes as well.
  • posted by: James
  • [ 2004.07.24 | 1:35:28am ]
• I think it was chad that said "the jews worship the same god, just dont have the whole story," Well the same would be with Muslims. The Jews believe that their "Masiah" has yet to come, the Christians believe that Jesus is their masiah, and the Muslims believe that Mohammed is thiers. It is all in the same god, they have just had different followings in who they believe thier Savior is to be...
  • posted by: Jesse
  • [ 2004.11.04 | 12:10:27pm ]
• of course I do know how to spell "Messiah"...
  • posted by: Jesse
  • [ 2004.11.04 | 12:24:56pm ]
• see earlier post about this jesse. God and allah are NOT THE SAME! mohammed was just some idiot who convinced and is still convincing more idiots to follow him. saying that the god of mohammed is the same as the God of Christianity is pure ignorance and idioticy. Look at the facts before you talk.
  • posted by: chad
  • [ 2004.11.04 | 1:14:52pm ]
• Chad, maybe you should do a little more research before you knock people...Ignorance would be your belief, and for some absurdity not wanting to admit that just because you are Christian that it is a totally different "God" or diety. If you want a different "God" look into Hinduism. Here is a quote from a website i found:
  
  "The "Bible" is a central feature in the religious beliefs and devotions of most Christians - and a major portion of it, known as the "Old Testament," is important to Jews. Muslims, whose holy scriptures are collected in the Qur'an, also revere the Bible."
  
  And yes...that would be "THE BIBLE"
  • posted by: Jesse
  • [ 2004.11.05 | 6:53:32pm ]
• first off, i dont know why i would want to look to hinduism for a diffrent god. I've got the one true God. Second, you cant just take part of the Bible, i.e., the old testament, and make it work like you want to. The Old Testament is a series of books pointing to the New Testament. They go with each other, you cant just use one. Yes, other religions use parts of the Bible, but they pervert its sayings to suit themselves. I have plenty of examples of this, email me if you want them. Third,I dont care if other scriptures refer to the Bible. I could say "the Bible says there is no God", and its true, it does say that. The problem is im not saying all of what it says. The whole verse reads "the fool has said in his heart, there is no God". See what im saying? And for your information, the koran does not recognize any other teachings as inspired except for the koran and the sayings of mohammad. that includes the Bible. And yes, that would be "THE BIBLE", the inspired work of the one true God, the God of Christianity.
  • posted by: chad
  • [ 2004.11.24 | 12:46:36pm ]
• just to reply to the very first post (i read the rest)... when the idea of "israel" was tossed around in the UN, the united states of america did not back israel. they voted not to allow it. i don't know where you got your facts...
  • posted by: alon
  • [ 2004.12.28 | 3:16:08am ]

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