Society & Culture - 5 October 2007

I was lost in a field and it was growing colder, colder than I like, and then the tiniest spark saved my life. Surrounded suddenly by a storm of flame I was overwhelmed with joy. But gradually the flames ate all they could and I was left alone again in an open field of dirt and ash. Now what do I do? Should I sit here I play my khomuz, or should I get up and on out of here?


(this is analogy, for those who think that this isn't 'spiritual/religion' relative)

2007-10-05 15:22:38 · 16 answers · asked by Invisible_Flags 6 in Religion & Spirituality

im tired of hearing about how evolution is so true, there is no god, even tho im positive im not a monkey....first person to give me LEGITIMATE proof, will win 10 points and another evolutionist!

2007-10-05 15:22:28 · 25 answers · asked by Anonymous in Religion & Spirituality

The difference in mind between man and the higher animals, great as it is, certainly is one of degree and not of kind."

how many people find this to be true, and those who dont can you please explain why.

please make it a worthwhile explanation, that has been thought about for more than 5 sec.

2007-10-05 15:22:27 · 10 answers · asked by Fish&Rice 2 in Religion & Spirituality

Has anybody heard of Needs of Hope? They're a charitable organization that functions solely from donations and helps families of those with medical needs.

http://www.needsofhope.org

2007-10-05 15:21:54 · 1 answers · asked by Anonymous in Community Service

Are these two creationists statements
(from the past/ present day) equal?

2007-10-05 15:20:29 · 12 answers · asked by Future 5 in Religion & Spirituality

This being the internet and all... do the personal testimonials of someone you've never met, influence you at all?

Especially when it comes to religion?

2007-10-05 15:20:14 · 20 answers · asked by Anonymous in Religion & Spirituality

At least, that's what Mark 3:29 says. Here's what I don't get: to blaspheme the holy spirit is basically to doubt its existence. Given that the christian god is supposed to be a trinity (jesus is god, god is the holy spirit, the holy spirit is jesus), doesn't that mean that the unforgiveable sin is to doubt god? If you doubt the holy spirit, you are by extension doubting god, and vice versa. Right? Or have I missed something?

2007-10-05 15:18:42 · 20 answers · asked by Anonymous in Religion & Spirituality

2007-10-05 15:18:33 · 7 answers · asked by Anonymous in Other - Society & Culture

I do. Let's see what you can come up with.

2007-10-05 15:15:30 · 25 answers · asked by Enigma®Ragnarökin' 7 in Religion & Spirituality

1Cr 8:1 ¶ Now as touching things offered unto idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth.

What does it mean, "Knowledge puffeth up."?

2007-10-05 15:12:41 · 17 answers · asked by tas211 6 in Religion & Spirituality

Straight from the oven, gewy & hot..
I played he*# catchin' those darn things & gettin' them in the oven was no fun either, but they are baked to a turn now.

2007-10-05 15:12:35 · 17 answers · asked by dragon 5 in Senior Citizens

And why?

If you answer that losing a special someone would be unbearable, have you taken the time to let them know just what they mean to you?

If not, why haven't you done so?

And yes, I am just as guilty. I wonder why we do this.

2007-10-05 15:12:28 · 29 answers · asked by iamnoone 7 in Religion & Spirituality

2007-10-05 15:11:44 · 9 answers · asked by Anonymous in Other - Society & Culture

Can the effects of her bad prayer be reversed?
5 months ago my friend prayed to be biologically 24. (She didn't want to be that old- sometimes she feels forced to pray for things she doesn't want. She's crazy) The prayer came true- since then- she began to lose of the elastic of her skin and 2 months later- her arms and legs got flabby. So far she has lost a considerable amount of the elastic of her skin(on her face) already and she's alarmed. Now she thinks she's aging fast. If she prays to be biologically 16 or 18- (or if she prays to be younger again) will her prayer come true? And what can she do to stop herself from praying for things she doesn't want in the future? She wants to pray only for the things she wants- like to be younger again. She doesn't pray to anything in particular- she just prays. And her prayer always seems to come true. She used to believe in the God in the Bible but not anymore. We believe in another mysterious supernatural power.

2007-10-05 15:11:17 · 9 answers · asked by Anonymous in Religion & Spirituality

I don't knwo how to turn into them please answer.

2007-10-05 15:11:14 · 1 answers · asked by Anonymous in Halloween

Is it Gaelic for "Ireland" or for "Irish" ?

2007-10-05 15:10:09 · 9 answers · asked by zweiundzwanzig 2 in Languages

alright so we can agree if you dont believe in jesus you go to hell. BUT.....in this verse
(John 14:6 and Matt 10:32-33). If he denies Jesus, then Jesus will deny him."
but do people necessarily deny him when they have never experienced or learned about him.
isnt hell just for people who say outloud "I deny jesus."
keep in mind there is middle ground between denial and accepting.

2007-10-05 15:09:37 · 22 answers · asked by Anonymous in Religion & Spirituality

I'm trying to find a soup kitchen to volunteer for in Long Island. Does anyone know of any soup kitchens that are open this sunday that you can just show up and say "I want to volunteer"? I'm sure there are many of them open on sunday, and everyday, but how do I find one?

2007-10-05 15:09:30 · 0 answers · asked by Karan K 2 in Community Service

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJ5f8N2zlQ0&watch_response

2007-10-05 15:05:57 · 8 answers · asked by Sincere-Advisor 6 in Religion & Spirituality

How do you ask someone if they like something or how do you say "do you want to"?

2007-10-05 15:05:25 · 3 answers · asked by Starsky 2 in Languages

I love prank calling, lol. Way long time I don't do it. in January me and my brother got the police called at us because of it (by my cousin in law) heheh... **shame on us**

What is your favorite prank to make?

2007-10-05 15:02:58 · 9 answers · asked by Love Yahoo!!! wannabe a princess 3 in Religion & Spirituality

2007-10-05 14:58:18 · 45 answers · asked by Anonymous in Religion & Spirituality

2/3 of this world's populatoin is dying from starvation. people die from diseases in thjird world countries every single day. and then we worry about little things like, "omg! i have nothing to wear tomorrow! i am going to DIE!" or "ugh! i hope andrew asks me out." and we dont value anything we have in america(assuming you live here.) we have so many freedoms. half the ppl in this world are told what religion to practice and how. and if this world was made up of a 100 people, ony one would get college education. we have clean water. and im not talking about ozarka or dasani either. im talking about freshwater to drink. only a third of the world has access to it. and we dont realize how lucky we are that we can say what we think and not be affraid of going to jail; we have food to eat. ppl in africa and places like these cant even fathom too much food would be a problem. its only america that has a problem with obesity

i just wanted to share that.

2007-10-05 14:58:07 · 24 answers · asked by yahooanswers 2 in Other - Society & Culture

http://www.christianpost.com/upload_static/2007/05/education_27466_2.jpg

http://pranks.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/03/evolutionbillboard425.jpg

http://www.americanvision.org/images2/evolution_billboard.jpg

http://pig.sty.nu/Pictures/south_inch/half_creationist_billboard.jpg

http://advancethekingdom.org/images/billboard_small.jpg

Guess evolution doesn't need support through propaganda.

2007-10-05 14:57:39 · 5 answers · asked by Anonymous in Religion & Spirituality

In other words, how much do you personally strive to be genuine and authentic and desire that in others? To what extent would you expect (as opposed to desire) that in others?

2007-10-05 14:57:14 · 11 answers · asked by Pansy 4 in Religion & Spirituality

What are the main dynamics of the rapid spread of Islam?
During the tenth century, Islam was the predominant religion of an area covering more than half of the then-known world. Its adherents inhabited three continents: from the Pyrenees and Siberia up to China and New Guinea, and from Morocco to the southern tip of Africa.

One of history’s most striking facts is that Islam spread over such a vast area within 3 centuries. Most striking of all, within 50 years after the Hijra, all of North Africa (from Egypt to Morocco) and the Middle East (from Yemen to Caucasia, and from Egypt to the lands beyond Transoxiana) had come under the sway of Islam. During ‘Uthman’s reign (644-56), Muslim envoys reached the Chinese royal court and were welcomed enthusiastically. According to historians, this important event marks the beginning of Islam’s presence in China.

How did Islam spread?
Peoples of all eras have been ready to embrace Islam for a wide variety of reasons. But perhaps the foremost one, as pointed out by Muhammad Asad, a Jewish convert to Islam, is that:

Islam appears to me like a perfect work of architecture. All its parts are harmoniously conceived to complement and support each other, nothing lacking, with the result of an absolute balance and solid composure. Everything in the teaching and postulate of Islam is in its proper place. [1]

Most Western writers continue to accuse Islam of spreading by the sword. One major cause of this prejudice is that Islam often spread at the expense of Christianity. For hundreds of years Christians have converted to Islam without much effort or organized missionary activity. Muslims, however, almost never convert to Christianity despite sophisticated means and well-organized missionary activities. Furthermore, Christianity has always been at a disadvantage when competing with Islam. This has caused its missionaries and most Orientalists to present Islam as a regressive and vulgar religion of uncivilized peoples [2]. Such negative attitudes also color their accounts of the Prophet. Some unbiased Western writers have admitted this:

Muslims, according to the principles of their faith, are under an obligation to use force for the purpose of bringing other religions to ruin (probably he means Jihad, which is unfortunately misinterpreted and not for the purpose he claims, as will be explained in the next chapter); yet, in spite of that, they have been tolerating other religions for some centuries past. The Christians have not been given orders to do anything but preach and instruct, yet, despite this, from time immemorial they have been exterminating by fire and sword all those who are not of their religion… We may feel certain that if Western Christians, instead of the Saracens and the Turks, had won the dominion over Asia, there would be today not a trace left of the Greek Church, and that they would never have tolerated Muhammadanism as the ‘infidels’ have tolerated Christianity there. We (Christians) enjoy the fine advantage of being far better versed than others in the art of killing, bombarding and exterminating the Human Race. [3]

Why did Islam spread so rapidly?
Islam’s rapid expansion, unequaled by any other religion, was due to its religious content and values, as many unbiased Western intellectuals state:

Many have sought to answer the questions of why the triumph of Islam was so speedy and complete? Why have so many millions embraced the religion of Islam and scarcely a hundred ever recanted?.. Some have attempted to explain the first overwhelming success of Islam by the argument of the Sword. They forget Carlyle’s laconic reply. First get your sword. You must win men’s hearts before you can induce them to imperil their lives for you; and the first conquerors of Islam must have been made Muslims before they were made fighters on the Path of God. Others allege the low morality of the religion and the sensual paradise it promises as a sufficient cause for the zeal of its followers: but even were these admitted to the full, no religion has ever gained a lasting hold upon the souls of men by the force of its sensual permissions and fleshy promises...

In all these explanations the religion itself is left out of the question. Decidedly, Islam itself was the main cause for its triumph. Islam not only was at once accepted (by many peoples and races) by Arabia, Syria, Persia, Egypt, Northern Africa and Spain, at its first outburst; but, with the exception of Spain, it has never lost its vantage ground; it has been spreading ever since it came into being. Admitting the mixed causes that contributed to the rapidity of the first swift spread of Islam, they do not account for the duration of Islam. There must be something in the religion itself to explain its persistence and spread, and to account for its present hold over so large of a proportion of the dwellers on the earth... Islam has stirred an enthusiasm that has never been surpassed. Islam has had its martyrs, its recluses, who have renounced all that life offered and have accepted death with a smile for the sake of the faith that was in them. [4]

A. J. Arberry holds the same view:

The rapidity of the spread of Islam is a crucial fact of history... The sublime rhetoric of the Qur’an, that inimitable symphony, the very sounds of which move men to tears and ecstasy. (M. Pickthall, The Meaning of the Glorious Qur’an, p.vii) ...

This, and the urgency of the simple message carried, holds the key to the mystery of one of the greatest cataclysms in the history of religion. When all military, political and economic factors have been exhausted, the religious impulse must still be recognized as the most vital and enduring. [5]

Brockelman, usually very unsympathetic and partial, also recognizes Islam’s religious values as the main factor for its spread [6]. Rosenthal writes: “The more important factor for the spread of Islam is religious law of Islam (Sharia which is an inclusive, all-embracing, all-comprehensive way of thinking and living) which was designed to cover all manifestations of life.” [7]

Along with many other reasons, Islam spread because of its followers’ exemplary lifestyle and unceasing efforts to transmit its message throughout the world. These lie at the root of Islam’s conquest of hearts. Islamic universalism is closely associated with the principle of amr bi al-ma‘ruf (enjoining the good), for this is how Muslims are to spread Islam. This principle seeks to convey Islam’s message to everyone, without exception, and to establish a model community that displays Islam to the world: Thus We have made of you an Ummah justly balanced, that you might be witnesses (models) for the peoples, and the Messenger has been a witness for you (2:143).

Muslims, both as individuals and as a community, therefore have certain goals to achieve: communicating Islam to others, conveying the truth to everyone, striving to prevent oppression and tyranny, and establishing justice. To do this, they must live an exemplary life. Thus Islam’s moral and ethical values usually have played an important part in its spread.

One Nineteenth-Century European writer recorded his impressions on how Islamic ethics influenced black Africans as follows:

As to the effects of Islam when first embraced by a ***** tribe, can there, when viewed as a whole, be any reasonable doubt? Polytheism disappears almost instantaneously; sorcery, with its attendant evils, gradually dies away; human sacrifice becomes a thing of the past. The general moral elevation is most marked; the natives begin for the first time in their history to dress, and that neatly. Squalid filth is replaced by some approach to personal cleanliness; hospitality becomes a religious duty; drunkenness, instead of the rule, becomes a comparatively rare exception... chastity is looked upon as one of the highest, and becomes, in fact, one of the commoner virtues. It is idleness that henceforward degrades, and industry that elevates, instead of the reverse. Offences are henceforward measured by a written code instead of the arbitrary caprice of a chieftain—a step, as everyone will admit, of vast importance in the progress of a tribe. The Mosque gives an idea of architecture at all events higher than any the ***** has yet had. A thirst for literature is created and that for works of science and philosophy as well as for commentaries on the Qur’an. [8]

Islam also spread rapidly because of its tolerance. Toynbee praises the Muslims’ tolerance toward the Peoples of the Book after comparing it with the Christians’ attitude toward Muslims in their lands [9]. Link attributes Islam’s spread to its credible principles and tolerance, persuasion, and other attractions [10]. Makarios, a Seventeenth-century Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch, compared the Poles’ harsh treatment of the Russian Orthodox to the Ottomans’ tolerant attitude toward Orthodox Christians and prayed for the sultans [11].

This is not the only example of non-Muslims’ preference for Muslim rule over that of their own coreligionists. Byzantium’s Orthodox Christians openly expressed their preference for the Ottoman turban in Istanbul to the hats of the Catholic cardinals. Elisee Reclus, a Nineteenth-century French traveler, wrote that the Muslim Turks allowed all non-Muslims to observe their religious duties and rituals, and that the sultan’s Christian subjects were freer to live their own lives than those Christians whose lands were ruled by a member of a rival Christian sect [12]. Popescu Ciocanel pays tribute to the Muslim Turks by stating that the Romanians were lucky to have Turkish, instead of Russian and Austrian, rulers. Otherwise, he points out, “no trace of the Romanian nation would have remained.” [13].

The Muslims’ attitude toward the people they conquered is quite clear in the instructions given by the Rightly-Guided Caliphs: [14]

Always keep fear of God in your mind; remember that you cannot afford to do anything without His grace. Do not forget that Islam is a mission of peace and love. Keep the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) before you as a model of bravery and piety. Do not destroy fruit trees or fertile fields in your paths. Be just, and spare the feelings of the vanquished. Respect all religious persons who live in hermitages or convents and spare their edifices. Do not kill civilians. Do not outrage the chastity of women and the honor of the conquered. Do not harm old people and children. Do not accept any gifts from the civil population of any place. Do not billet your soldiers or officers in the houses of civilians. Do not forget to perform your daily prayers. Fear God. Remember that death will inevitably come to everyone of you at some time or other, even if you are thousands of miles away from a battlefield; therefore be always ready to face death. [15]

An historical episode, recorded by the famous Muslim historian Baladhuri in his Futuh al-Buldan, tells how pleased the indigenous peoples were with their Muslim conquerors and is of great significance:

When Heraclius, Emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire (610-41), massed his troops against the Muslims, and the Muslims heard that they were coming to meet them, they refunded the tribute they had taken from the inhabitants of Hims, saying: “We are too busy to support and protect you. Take care of yourselves.” But the people of Hims replied: “We like your rule and justice far better than our former state of oppression and tyranny. We shall indeed, with your help, repulse Heraclius’ army from the city.” The Jews rose and said: “We swear by the Torah, no governor of Heraclius shall enter Hims unless we are first vanquished and exhausted.” Saying this, they closed and guarded the city gates. The Christians and Jews of cities that had capitulated did the same. When, by God’s help, Heraclius’ army was defeated and the Muslims won, they opened the gates of their cities, went out with singers and musicians, and paid the tribute.

2007-10-05 14:56:21 · 10 answers · asked by Anonymous in Religion & Spirituality

Liberia was created by ex slaves just like we are!!! we should go there and be with our brothers and stuff.

2007-10-05 14:56:12 · 11 answers · asked by Anonymous in Other - Society & Culture

2007-10-05 14:52:15 · 4 answers · asked by Chalie M 4 in Mythology & Folklore

If some who is a very good hearted, nearly perfect person one days decides that a god exists. Than goes on personal journey to find god, studying religious text and praying, but dies in the process would that person go to hell?
christians say if u die without jesus you will. explain.

2007-10-05 14:50:43 · 21 answers · asked by Anonymous in Religion & Spirituality

does any one know what toxicatio means??? i think it is spanish. but i cant find it in spanish dictionaries

2007-10-05 14:49:54 · 4 answers · asked by steve 1 in Languages