So, for years and years now, I've thought that the worst thing that can happen to this world, as a whole, as an extended group of human beings, is a crisis of faith
( Read more... )
Re: part two of my responseproudlyfallenApril 9 2007, 03:10:52 UTC
Alright... yes, that was a lot. I'm not sure I understand all of it, but I'll try to reply to what I do understand.
For the house thing... well, someone had to originally say "hey, we need shelter!" It didn't need to be the concept of a "house" persay... but there still needed to be the idea "we need shelter" and "let's build shelter away from caves."
Also, I never said it was a desire to leave Islam -- it's a split inside Islam. The Sunnis and the Shi'ites both profess to believe in Islam -- that is, that the Torah, New Testement, and Qua'ran are all books written by God, and that the Qua'ran is the latest and most pure, that the prophets including Abraham, Jesus, and Mohommed (peace be upon them) spoke the word of God, etc. I'm sure you're familiar with the 5 pillars of Islam. However, the two main sects of Islam cannot agree on interpretations of the religion, which was exactly what the Qua'ran was supposed to avoid. The Qua'ran is the law, and that law is the religion. For this reason, it's not allowed to be translated from the original Arabic. (side note -- I wonder which version of Arabic the Qua'ran is written in?)
Oh, and the jihad thing. I'm sure you know (I bow before your immense stores of knowledge, and hope some day to know half of what you do) but jihad refers to any fight for God. I wasn't sure that I wanted to go back to school, but it was the morally and socially correct thing to do; therefore, me going back to school can be considered a jihad. The theocratic thinking is not what gets mislabelled as a jihad, rather, it's the fight against Westernization (and by extension, the big bad USA), which is in direct opposition to the Qua'ran, and therefore, not a "true" jihad.
For the second part of your response... they're all good points. There's nothing I can say against any of that, except that I wasn't trying to imply that Catholics should stay good Catholics. If it works for someone, good, they should stay with that, because everyone needs a faith of some kind. Faith in the growth of knowledge? That works. It could be said that knowledge, as a collective entity, is what make the world go 'round, so to speak. Open source software I would have issues with, because it's not a higher power -- it's a tool, by the people, for the people. It's a brilliant idea, and something I think more people should use (I'm in love with AbiWord, and even have my mother using it) but it's not a faith.
You lost me with Christ's death being a vengeance. Could you explain that more?
I need to convince the people who claim "Christianity is bullshit, you're all idiots, you're believing in a fairy tale and only good Pagan religions are right." Christ rising from the dead is the same as any Pagan god growing -- that's where Easter came from. Ostara, the celebration of spring, and the growing ("rising" in power) God who was born again during Yule/Christmas. There is nothing bad about not believing in Christ, but you believe the spring is coming again, right? There is not a soul on this earth who honestly, truly, year after year, believes that eternal winter will cover the earth forever, that the tempurature will never rise above the freezing point again in the life of this world. If there was, canned and frozen goods would be much more in demand during the fall -- after all, by that belief, you'd need to store enough food to feed yourself, your family, and your future family, for all eternity.
For the house thing... well, someone had to originally say "hey, we need shelter!" It didn't need to be the concept of a "house" persay... but there still needed to be the idea "we need shelter" and "let's build shelter away from caves."
Also, I never said it was a desire to leave Islam -- it's a split inside Islam. The Sunnis and the Shi'ites both profess to believe in Islam -- that is, that the Torah, New Testement, and Qua'ran are all books written by God, and that the Qua'ran is the latest and most pure, that the prophets including Abraham, Jesus, and Mohommed (peace be upon them) spoke the word of God, etc. I'm sure you're familiar with the 5 pillars of Islam. However, the two main sects of Islam cannot agree on interpretations of the religion, which was exactly what the Qua'ran was supposed to avoid. The Qua'ran is the law, and that law is the religion. For this reason, it's not allowed to be translated from the original Arabic. (side note -- I wonder which version of Arabic the Qua'ran is written in?)
Oh, and the jihad thing. I'm sure you know (I bow before your immense stores of knowledge, and hope some day to know half of what you do) but jihad refers to any fight for God. I wasn't sure that I wanted to go back to school, but it was the morally and socially correct thing to do; therefore, me going back to school can be considered a jihad. The theocratic thinking is not what gets mislabelled as a jihad, rather, it's the fight against Westernization (and by extension, the big bad USA), which is in direct opposition to the Qua'ran, and therefore, not a "true" jihad.
For the second part of your response... they're all good points. There's nothing I can say against any of that, except that I wasn't trying to imply that Catholics should stay good Catholics. If it works for someone, good, they should stay with that, because everyone needs a faith of some kind. Faith in the growth of knowledge? That works. It could be said that knowledge, as a collective entity, is what make the world go 'round, so to speak. Open source software I would have issues with, because it's not a higher power -- it's a tool, by the people, for the people. It's a brilliant idea, and something I think more people should use (I'm in love with AbiWord, and even have my mother using it) but it's not a faith.
You lost me with Christ's death being a vengeance. Could you explain that more?
I need to convince the people who claim "Christianity is bullshit, you're all idiots, you're believing in a fairy tale and only good Pagan religions are right." Christ rising from the dead is the same as any Pagan god growing -- that's where Easter came from. Ostara, the celebration of spring, and the growing ("rising" in power) God who was born again during Yule/Christmas. There is nothing bad about not believing in Christ, but you believe the spring is coming again, right? There is not a soul on this earth who honestly, truly, year after year, believes that eternal winter will cover the earth forever, that the tempurature will never rise above the freezing point again in the life of this world. If there was, canned and frozen goods would be much more in demand during the fall -- after all, by that belief, you'd need to store enough food to feed yourself, your family, and your future family, for all eternity.
Reply
Leave a comment