This might sound kind of abstract, so let me give you an example.
Yesterday, I asked a question about Islam. Basically all answerers - to the man - said: "Don't worry about it, Islam is the religion of peace, suicide is strictly prohibited, so is killing people. Hence killing people is not possible within Islam"
Today, I turn on the news and see a couple of people who call themselves muslims aimed at killing as many people as possible in the name of allah (soldiers in this case).
So - which one is it and what is more important? What the book says or what the self-proclaimed believers actually do?
2007-05-08 13:09:04 · 12 answers · asked by Ejsenstejn 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
I'm not making this up.
See here:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Ah5Po0txD3Um5HEwUhxBq6zsy6IX?qid=20070507212502AAWWaA4
2007-05-08 13:17:52 · update #1
All religion has some truth in it. I am not Islam, but it is my understanding that you can't follow what you don't know. Therefore in order to follow a religion you must have read the books of that religion that are published of that religion.
2007-05-08 13:14:14 · answer #1 · answered by David Flournoy 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Both.
If you read the 'book' for the three main religions (Christianity, Islam, Judaism) you will find plenty of violence directed at anyone who is not a member of their group. In Christianity, this violent intent is even extended to include 'eternal hellfire' for any who have the termerity to avoid belonging to the 'one, true faith.'
The leading practitioners of all three faiths are as violent, exclusionary, and cruel as their revered writings, with greed and vindictiveness added in for good measure.
It may well be time for humans to move beyond organized religion as a psychological palliative. It is too counterproductive and may end up causing the extinction of the species.
2007-05-08 20:15:37 · answer #2 · answered by nora22000 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No good answers, huh?
For some reason, I came up with this:
James 3:18 And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.
That doesn't sound like Islam, does it?
2007-05-08 21:42:31 · answer #3 · answered by Nels 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Books don't matter. What people take from books and do with the information matters.
Of course, when books written by zealots claim to be inspired by a god, you can pretty much guess there's nothing much to take away from it. That won't stop religious superstitious nuts from making more of it than there is.
The quality of what you take from a book depends on the quality of the information in the book. Garbage in, garbage out.
2007-05-08 20:11:51 · answer #4 · answered by nondescript 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
In most cases I would say people should be judged on an individual basis.
But considering that nearly every armed conflict today involves muslims,... well you decide.
2007-05-08 20:12:46 · answer #5 · answered by Dark-River 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
That's the problem with religion! It can be easily manipulated for all occasions... And of course History is full of atrocious examples!
2007-05-08 20:15:08 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Read the Koran.
You'll see that your doubts, concerns and questions are justified.
2007-05-08 20:14:32 · answer #7 · answered by Boomer Wisdom 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
At least for Christianity, the Bible is our instruction manual, and it is to be followed.
2007-05-08 20:15:55 · answer #8 · answered by RB 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
People judge themselves by their intentions but everyone else judges them by their actions.
2007-05-08 20:13:29 · answer #9 · answered by Scott B 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
clearly you are wrong
think muslims dont
they did
thus were only pretend christians [if you get my drift]
were the priests who molest children really christians?
by thier works [deeds ] will we know them
2007-05-08 20:15:16 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋