Christians & Muslims: I have an honest (respectful) question.?

Question

Both of your religions claim that they are the only true religion and all those who don’t adhere to it will be damned for eternity. How does this worldview make any sense? Your religion would damn good people of a different faith. Why would you even want to adhere to religion that would condemn good people and would put more emphasis on your beliefs rather then your actions (not as a whole, but in this regard). Furthermore, since both of your religions offer no room for alternate worldviews they will consistently be points of contention and conflict with others and will detract from ever obtaining a peaceful world. I acknowledge all the good things religion can do on a personal level, but as a whole I think both of these religions detract from the world rather than add to it.

This is an honest question. Please no quotes from the Bible or Koran, or any blanket statements without support. I would honestly like to know how you reconcile these things with your beliefs.

Answer 1

both religeons are originaly from the same source ,the God or Allah.why they r different, this is the question!
an entity called the religeon of god has been present since the begining of humanity.in contrast to man made religeons.
the religeon of god had been sent to humanity through prophets as a god messege.
all the previous messages were lost or get corrupted after the death of prophets,including christianity.however,Islam is the exception as god promised to preserve it since it is the last and the end of the god messeges.
Islam remains the only pure god religeon.
it's basic principles are thos present in all previous original non-corrupted god messeges.
although islam consideres itself as the only true religeon,there r principles of dealing with people of other religeons including:
-every non-muslim is free to follow islam or not ,since islam consideres itself a gift .
-other people r free with thier beliefs and worships.
-calling for islam is by wisdom and good conversation and not by force.
-non-muslims living in the muslim state have the all the rights of citizenship.
-in war occasions then muslim war ethics predominates on muslim behavior and this includes:
-to fight only fighters and not to kill civilians,women or children.
-not to kill animals or cut trees.
-not to destroy temples.
-to be good to war prisoneres.
islam as the religeon of god ,it solves the problems of the world if it came into practice.
ofcourse islam is the religeon of peace and muslims r ordered not to initiate wars.islam is the religeon of conversation and wisdom.

Answer 2

There is major emphasis on action not only belief. You can bellieve something but if you don't back it up with your actions how is this true? There is also no room for worldviews because there is no other REAL view and religion isn't obtaining from a peaceful world, people are, no one is forcing you to be this or that. And from this post I feel pretty bad that you think that religoins detract form the world rather than add to it. What do you personally belive will happen when you die? Do you think that the world and the universe were perfectly alligned because of a "big boom" or out of mere chance? I really hope that you ask yourself those questions and come up with an answer..get plugged into a local church..

Answer 3

Not all Christian religions........
1.) believe their religion is the only religion
2.) believe those who don't adhere to their religion will be damned for eternity
3.) damn good people of a different faith
4.) emphasize beliefs over actions
5.) offer no room for alternative views

Don't blame religions for the actions/beliefs of the people who practice it. For the most religion isn't the problem, it's the people who practice the religion. Some people, for whatever reason, take it too far and hold too strict beliefs/actions that don't make sense. I stay with my Christian religion because it doesn't do any of the above things (IE- believe that their religion is the only religion or damn good people of other faiths and etc).

I disagree that religion only does good on a personal level. Many Christian religions step in when the government doesn't. For example....preschool. Except for Headstart, there aren't any public preschools. Preschools are either run by churches or other non government groups, no? What about Katrina? Many religious organizations sent money, supplies, volunteers. My Christian churches feed and house the homeless regularly. My church does a lot for my community. Members of my church help build houses with Habitat for Humanity. They also tutor, give books, feed a poor public school down the street. They also do various fundraisers for non-profit organizations in my city (and other parts of the U.S. and World). They also worship with other Christian and Non Christian groups four or five times a year. There are many other Christian churchs that do the same.

Answer 4

I LOVE this question! The truth is, only the extremists of both religions truly think non-believers are damned to Hell. I am a Christian, and I feel (as many here do) that God is loving and forgiving and judges us by our actions. I do not believe good people are condemned, regardless of their religious beliefs or the lack thereof. And I agree that stressing the differences between us only causes strife. We're all people, we have that in common. If we could see others as people and not "Christians" or "Muslims" or "Jews" or "Atheists" we'd be much more peaceful. Remember the Dr. Seuss story about the Sneetches? In the end "...neither the Plain nor the Star-Bellies knew / Whether this one was that one or that one was this one. / Or which one was what one or what one was who." That's what Heaven is like. Once we get there, we'll all be the same.

Can't believe I just made a religious point by quoting Dr. Seuss...

Answer 5

Unfortunately EVERY religion believes that they are the true religion. From Christians, Jews, Muslims, Moonies, Buddist, and so on and so forth. The bad part of it all is that the people who claim to be so religious are the ones that are hippocrites and do the worst, and give thier own religion a bad name. I don't see an end to this ever. These conflicts between religions and their individual divisional sects have been going on for years and years. More examples of this are the problems between the Catholics and Protestants in Ireland and Scotland, and how about the problems in Iraq between the Sunnis, the Shiites, and the Kurds. Best of luck to you........

Answer 6

Bobby W - That's a long and respectfully posed question. I will try to break it down and answer it bit by bit.

"Both of your religions claim that they are the only true religion and all those who don’t adhere to it will be damned for eternity."

Your use of the word "adhere" here sounds like you think that you need to follow a list of rules so that you qualify somehow for heaven. Muslims believe that getting to paradise requires 5 things. (See source below). Alternatively, Christians don't believe that you can earn your way to heaven by following rules. They believe that entrance into heaven is a free gift from God that is delivered by Jesus. They obey these rules out of love for God, not in an effort to earn their way in.

"How does this worldview make any sense?"

I think it makes sense because both religions make a claim to absolute Truth. They are mutually exclusive ways of viewing life, so it makes logical sense that one must be right and one wrong. Because of their exclusive truth claims, you can say that they are both wrong, but not that they are both right.

"Your religion would damn good people of a different faith."

For both of these faiths the answer to the question of who is good comes from their supreme deity, either God or Allah. The assessment of goodness is not for people to decide. That's why they both rely on their holy scriptures, the Bible and the Koran, because they believe that those books contain God's answer to this question.

"Why would you even want to adhere to religion that would condemn good people..."

Assuming a person thinks about it before joining a religion (a big assumption), then the person has decided that the truth claims of that religion make sense to them. In this case, the Muslim believes that performing those five acts makes sense for entrance into heaven. The Christian believes that it makes sense that he or she can never be "good enough" to earn their way into heaven. They must be ok with the implications fo their belief (i.e., that people of other faiths are wrong.)

"and would put more emphasis on your beliefs rather then your actions (not as a whole, but in this regard)."

I'm a little confused by this part of the question. I think here you are assuming that your definition of "good people" is the right one, and that "good people" perform certain kinds of acts, like giving to the poor, not lying, not murdering, etc. As I mentioned above, for both the Muslim and the Christian the question of who is good and what constitutes the good life is answered by God.

"Furthermore, since both of your religions offer no room for alternate worldviews they will consistently be points of contention and conflict with others and will detract from ever obtaining a peaceful world. I acknowledge all the good things religion can do on a personal level, but as a whole I think both of these religions detract from the world rather than add to it."

I get your point here. You're not really asking a question though, but offering your opinion. The only thing I would add here is with regard to the last bit about these religions detracting from the world rather than adding to it. I'll grant that you that from a purely practical perspective you can make a pretty good argument that the good from hospitals, orphanages, prison ministiries, etc. established by Muslims and Christians is outweighed by the Crusades, the Inquisition, and Jihad. However, from an ethical perspective, the ability to appeal to a supreme being to arbitrate what is right and what is wrong is indispensable. What I'm getting at, is that if everyone can decide for him or herself what is right or wrong, and we view all beliefs as equally "right", then you have to say that Hitler's view on right and wrong is as equally valid as Mother Teresa's. I think that everyone knows deep in their bones that this cannot be so. At the end of the day, every person has to decide what they think is True. Christians and Muslims have both made that decision. Best, LSB

Answer 7

I'm catholic and I don't think that people that believes in other religions will go to hell automatically. I'm not an expert but right now I can't remember a bible passage that really states the unicity of religion or the punishments to believers of other religions. Furthermore you will see that the values of many religions define "good people" in a very similar way. For example Jesus said "love the other as yourself" as a main direction and that doesn't contravenes values of other religions.
I think that the idea of a unique true religion is an ancient heritage to justify political ambitions, but in a modern point of view, priest recognize the existence of other religions and may try to turn you to their religion but with tolerance

Answer 8

>>>Both of your religions claim that they are the only true religion and all those who don’t adhere to it will be damned for eternity.<<<

My brand of Christianity, Roman Catholicism, doesn't teach any such thing. It teaches that it is entirely possible for someone who's not Catholic, or even someone who's not Christian, to go to Heaven.

There are people who never hear of Jesus Christ and so, obviously, never have a chance to get to know Him in order to believe in Him.

There are people who do hear of Jesus Christ, but for one reason or another do not formally profess belief in Him as the Son of God -- out of family pressure, or cultural influences, or because they practice another religion that they sincerely believe is true.

And there are others who believe in Christ but, instead of the Roman Catholic Church, express that belief through a Protestant denomination or other form of Christianity.

Catholicism teaches that these people can still have a shot at Heaven, provided that they truly and sincerely seek God and live a reasonably Christ-like and Christ-inspired life. Even if they don't realize that they are living such a life.

Answer 9

It's not a matter of "wanting to adhere to a religion that would condemn good people." It's a matter of faith - one is right and the other is wrong. No reasonable person wants to condemn good people. But, sooner or later people must make a choice. The choice of the two requires a condemnation not from the people but from God.

Answer 10

I will answer from my own faith as a Christian.

Hell is a concept that has been grossly misunderstood. The term is usually used to translate words that basically mean the place where dead people are hidden...i.e., their grave.

I don't believe there is any such thing as "eternal torment". My faith leaves room for "good people" to be judged for their "goodness". Christians have already had their sins judged and paid for by Jesus Christ. Part of His mission was to redeem us from the eternal consequences of sin, which is the second death.

I can't speak for other Christians, but I believe the concept of "everlasting punishment" is a human invention, and a very hateful one at that.

Answer 11

I beleive that all religions are the same root. There is a "high" god, demi gods (angels) and statures that are very similar. If I could say it without getting into trouble, I think all religions are basicly the same, Christian, Pagan or otherwise. As long as you are a good and honest person and can make up for wrongs pasted, you should be able to get to the utopia that most call "Heaven".