Are Muslims and the Quran a threat to our society?

[Isaac]

I recall the killing of about 6,000,000 Jews in Europe by people who were at least nominally Christian. Are we allowed to talk about that?

I'm sure you're allowed, and in fact I'm interested, as it's the first time in my entire lifetime that I've heard someone assert the people who killed the Jews were Christians. If you're rabidly anti-christian, though, it's definitely worth a try I suppose!

what does "nominally Christian" mean?

 

[The_Doc_Man]

@Isaac: The German army wore belt buckles that said "Gott mit uns" (God with us). That includes the guards at the death camps. Hitler and many (or maybe even most) of his soldiers were one form of Christian or another. Statistics are available if you really wanted to look them up. If I recall, 54% were Protestant, the next most common denomination was Catholic.

Calling them "nominally Christian" is like what some conservatives call RINOs - Republican In Name Only. Anyone who could perform a massacre of such magnitude might call himself a Christian but it would seem to be against Christian doctrine. And we cannot forget the Pope's admonition to Papa Joe, who claimed to be a Catholic, but the Pope said "If you are pro-choice you are not a good Catholic" or words to that effect.

 

[Isaac]

@Isaac: The German army wore belt buckles that said "Gott mit uns" (God with us). That includes the guards at the death camps. Hitler and many (or maybe even most) of his soldiers were one form of Christian or another. Statistics are available if you really wanted to look them up. If I recall, 54% were Protestant, the next most common denomination was Catholic.

Calling them "nominally Christian" is like what some conservatives call RINOs - Republican In Name Only. Anyone who could perform a massacre of such magnitude might call himself a Christian but it would seem to be against Christian doctrine. And we cannot forget the Pope's admonition to Papa Joe, who claimed to be a Catholic, but the Pope said "If you are pro-choice you are not a good Catholic" or words to that effect.

Yeah not really Christian .. people have invoked the name of God at seemingly random times and for random reasons throughout history and it pretty much means nothing.

That's like I could take any massacre that occurred in South America throughout history and I could claim that Catholics promoted it since almost everyone there is Catholic. I didn't realize this was all you had, this is meaningless.

I'm not sure why any of this matters to begin with or what exactly the point is?

With any big religion you're going to have people who claim to be a part of it and then do bad things, but Jesus never said follow my followers, he said follow me.

Don't worry about what other people do, you just do what's right

 

[RogerCooper]

Yeah not really Christian .. people have invoked the name of God at seemingly random times and for random reasons throughout history and it pretty much means nothing.

That's like I could take any massacre that occurred in South America throughout history and I could claim that Catholics promoted it since almost everyone there is Catholic. I didn't realize this was all you had, this is meaningless.

I'm not sure why any of this matters to begin with or what exactly the point is?

With any big religion you're going to have people who claim to be a part of it and then do bad things, but Jesus never said follow my followers, he said follow me.

Don't worry about what other people do, you just do what's right

You are classifying every massacre committed by Moslems as religious but giving a pass to Christians who did they same thing. Why the double standard?

 

[Isaac]

What double standard? There is a violent aspect to modern Islam, but there isn't to Christianity. It's not a double standard, it's a difference.

And bad people throughout the history of time have claimed God is on their side - that's not news, athough it is a shame.

 

[RogerCooper]

Some Muslims espouse violence, but most do not.

 

[ColinEssex]

Just wondering. Is a religion a cult? Or another way, what is the difference between a religion and a cult, or are they the same?
Col

 

[Isaac]

Some Muslims espouse violence, but most do not.

Big difference though between a religion with a holy book that espouses current violence and one that does not.

 

[Isaac]

Some Muslims espouse violence, but most do not.

Or you could just look at all the nations that are majority Islam and decide if you'd want to live in such a place.

 

[Steve R.]

Some Muslims espouse violence, but most do not.

Consider this aspect. When Muslims assume political control, they create Islamic republics, they impose religious (Sharia) laws, and non-believers are regulated to 2'nd class status. Syria's new leaders turn to Islamic law in effort to rebuild Assad's police. Do you know of any countries where their official country name includes the phrase Christian republic?

Unfortunately, the Christian West is committing cultural and political suicide in the name of "tolerance". The Islamic Community will never display similar "tolerance" to Christian and other religious communities. Erdogan demonstrated extreme disrespect against Christians, the Hagia Sophia should be a Christian church.

Hagia Sophia: Turkey turns iconic Istanbul museum into mosque

President Erdogan reopens Istanbul's Hagia Sophia to Muslim worship, after a court ruling.

www.bbc.com

 

[The_Doc_Man]

Just wondering. Is a religion a cult? Or another way, what is the difference between a religion and a cult, or are they the same?
Col

I thought I knew, but I look this one up to be sure. (I did know it, but wanted to not mislead you, Col.)

A cult doesn't have to be religious, though its adherents will firmly believe in whatever that cult believes, usually to the point of excessive zeal and a near-violent or totally violent reluctance to abandon the ways of the cult. I remember the old Windows/Mac cult-like behavior from 40 years ago, and I look at Android/Apple phones these days as near cult-like. Musicians sometimes take their musical beliefs to an extreme as well. But technically, none of the last three examples count as a formal religion.

In the specific case of religion, a "cult" is a matter of degree, not kind. If there is a scale for this kind of thing, the more extreme end of the scale would be a cult and the less extreme part of the scale would be an "ordinary" religion. Think back to Jim Jones and the Guyana (cyanide in the grape Kool Aid) suicide pact, or David Koresh and the Branch Davidians and their fatal shoot-out in Waco, Texas from some years back. If you can discuss religious dogma with a person and not immediately get condemned to eternity in Hell (or punched out) just because you are of a different denomination, the odds are that the other person in the discussion is not a cult member.

Scientology is an example of something that includes cult-like behavior and they CLAIM their beliefs are religious. Everyone knows that the founder of Scientology, L. Ron Hubbard, only started the religion so he could get a tax break, but these days nobody seems to care. There are some really severe shenanigans going on with their leadership, including the mystery surrounding the wife of their leader, David Miscavige. Mrs. Miscavige hasn't been seen in public since 2007. Many people have left Scientology after claiming various kinds of abuse.

With regard to Islam, there are denominations with different degrees of interpretation. The one to avoid is the Wahhabi sect, which is where the militant branch seems to congregate. The Sunni Muslims are less strict than the Shia (Shiite) groups, which are in turn less violent than Wahhabi.

 

[Isaac]

An example of cultish behavior is the terrified conformist stuff on the leftwing these days - do or die kind of conform.
Where everybody has to pledge their support for this or that (even if they have reservations)

 

[moke123]

An example of cultish behavior is the terrified conformist stuff on the leftwing these days - do or die kind of conform.
Where everybody has to pledge their support for this or that (even if they have reservations)

Sounds like our current congress.

 

[AccessBlaster]

Sounds like our current congress.

couldn't agree more, cult!

 

[Isaac]

Sounds like our current congress.

And I do believe that unthinking and radical level loyalty to Trump is actually not a good thing. Interspersed in that we need the ingredient of people being able to speak their mind. His savage response to any disagreement is one of his stupidities, as that actually prevents a person from personal growth - and professional ideals.

 

[The_Doc_Man]

And I do believe that unthinking and radical level loyalty to Trump is actually not a good thing.

And Trump Derangement Syndrome WAS a good thing - including while he was still in office as #45?

 

[Isaac]

And Trump Derangement Syndrome WAS a good thing - including while he was still in office as #45?

Both extremes signal an unwillingness to bear the burden/weight of independent thinking - TDS and its polar opposite.

 

[pbaldy]

Are these x-ray goggles or something?

 

[Pat Hartman]

I recall the killing of about 6,000,000 Jews in Europe by people who were at least nominally Christian. Are we allowed to talk about that?

Only if you blame it on Trump. I have a number of acquaintances who think of themselves as good Catholics but I wouldn't stoop to calling them Christians given given their support for late term abortions, Catholic Charities which is in the business of importing illegal aliens, and judgmental attitude toward others. There is nothing Christ-like in their deeply held beliefs.

Some Muslims espouse violence, but most do not.

And yet they all, as one of the five pillars of Islam, donate to "charities" that support terrorism and give pensions to the families of people who kill themselves in order to kill others and to "madrasas (schools)" that teach children to count by counting dead jews and to memorize the Qu'ran in favor of reading, writing and arithmetic. That is why the suras of the Qu'ran are organized by length. The shorter suras are easier to memorize for young children.

@pbaldy
That photo looks like "my" Congresswoman - Rosa DeLauro.