Why should we judge Islam by the theory instead of the actions of its followers?

Question

I live in a nation where the largest majority people group is Muslim, and I have absolutely nothing against them. I have really good friends and confidantes even, who are Muslims and I am not against them.

My point is, every religion and teaching needs to be judged and weighed in order to reason out its legitimacy as a real religion of God.

And how should we judge a religion other by the works and deeds of its followers? I mean, theory can say ANYTHING it wants to, but it is the actions and the deeds of the followers that are the accurate benchmark for weighing the bottomline of a faith.

Answer 1

We judge them by their actions.....The murders of abortion doctors that claim to be Christian we arrested by Christian policemen, Tried in Christian courts, before a jury of Christians, and now resided in prison guarded by Christian guards.....The muslims need to follow the same example with their "radical" element.
Christians judged based on action because Jesus said "a good tree brings forth good fruit" Matt. 7:17; meaning if a man claims to be peaceful yet murders civilians, blows up marketplaces, beheads innocent captives, forces conversion at gunpoint, etc. his words aren't verified by his actions.

To the misguided tehabwa.......
Tim McVeigh was tried, convicted and executed for his crimes....
A muslim will KILL you for being an aethiest....A Christian will not.

Answer 2

Why should we judge Baptist by they way they act? Or Methodist or Catholics or anyone else.

Most Muslims are persecuted by the general public. Aside from asinine rednecks most people understand that the Muslim faith is about peace and good will towards others. Only a very small majority of the followers have mistakenly interpreted a single verse that aludes to dying in a holy war and receiving a great eternity.

Answer 3

Well, interesting question. For many years I had nothing against Islam and was curious about it's tenets. I guessed I judged the religion by it's followers or it's actions.

Now, I am completely disgusted with the actions of the followers of Islam.

I guess I have always judged Islam by the actions of it's followers. May they all rot in hell..... a Christian hell.

Answer 4

If you're going to judge an entire religion by what "its followers do" then, first, you have to pick which followers you're going to use to judge.

If you're going to pick a sub-set of followers to use to judge the whole religion, then you have to use the same criteria for all religions.

As an atheist, I'll take the very worst followers of all religions, and so say, no religion is Godly, since in every religion there are inhuman adherents.

Or, I could say they're all equal, since in every religion there are humane, compassionate, rational, far-sighted adherents.

So, do I take those fine Christians who murder children they consider "gay" to be the yardstick of Christianity? Better still, that upstanding Christian Tim McVeigh. That's who I chose to judge Christians by.

No, wait, I've got it. Those darling people we saw in the Abu Graib photos. They're the REAL Christians by which Christianity itself should be judged.

Or maybe the idea of judging religions as a whole (religions which are huge and complex and have billions of adherents) is wrong-headed.

Again, which of the 1.5 BILLION Muslims are you going to choose to justify condemning Islam?

And what gives you the right?

Answer 5

theory n practice both r important.
keeping a theory of religion in mind,n then going for analysis of actions representing that religion is the right way.
as there r bad eggs as well as good eggs belonging to every society,every religion.
if u r ignorant of the theory, or the teachings of the religion,n only base ur observation on actions,then u can be misguided,if for example u r surrounded by the ppl not representing, or practicing it in a right manner bringing a bad name to religion.

so i believe,ignorant person has no right to make conclusion.

Answer 6

Judge the theory on its merits. Judge individuals based on their actions. As far as the "nuts who fly planes into buildings" I've never met one. But I have met dozens of Muslims who haven't done any evil thing.

Answer 7

You realize, of course, that to most Americans, the actions of muslims can be summed up as "9/11".

Answer 8

Don't judge an entire group based upon the actions of a minority.

Answer 9

Yes, but it's the nuts who fly planes into buildings that we get a lot of. we juddge based onwhat we see, and we see a lot of the nuts who fly planes into buildings.

Answer 10

And how well do "many" Christians live their lives ????