What are the top Ten Misconceptions About your religion?

Question

Ten Misconceptions About Islam

Misconception 1

Islam is `the religion of peace' because:

o the Arabic word Islam is derived from
the Arabic word "Al-Salaam" which means
peace.

Misconception 2

In Islam, denial of human rights is OK because:

o Islam is against pure democracy
o Islam tolerates slavery


Misconception 3

In Islam, women are inferior to men because:

o a man can marry up to 4 wives, a woman can marry only one man
o a man's share of inheritance is bigger than a woman's
o a man can marry a non-Muslim, a woman cannot
o women must wear the veil


Misconception 4

Islam is well-suited only to the Arabs because:

o most Muslims are Arabs
o the Qur'an is in Arabic


Misconception 5

Islam rejects Jesus because:

o Jesus is not accepted as `the Son of God'

Misconception 6

Islam orders the worship of a man because:

o Muslims are also `Muhammadans'


Misconception 7

Islam tolerates the killing of innocents because:

o Muslims can be terrorists
o Muslims engage in `holy wars' (jihad)
o Islam spread by the sword
o it has a harsh and cruel judicial system


Misconception 8

Islam is intolerant of other religions because

o the Qur'an condemns the other religions as false



Misconception 9

Islam is a racist, afro-centric cult because:

o Nation of Islam espouses the superiority of the black man
o The Nation of Islam recognizes God as a black man



Misconception 10

Islam produces a lazy, uneducated society because:

o all things come from God, and so fatalism is OK
o modern technology and science are condemned

http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/notislam/misconceptions.html#HEADING2

Answer 1

top 10 most common misconceptions of the Catholic Church are: 

1. Catholics worship Mary. No, we pray to Mary for her intercession, just as you would ask a friend or family member to pray for you. The traditional “Hail Mary” prayer recited by Catholics is a mirror of the words spoken by the Angel Gabriel in the first chapter of Luke.

2. Catholics think works get them to heaven. No, we believe, as it says in the Book of James, that faith without works is empty. We further believe that we are saved by the death and resurrection of Jesus and that He paid the debt for our sins. Our good works show that our faith has merit.

3. Catholics worship the Pope. No, we believe that the Pope is a human being, capable of sin, just like all the rest of us. We do believe that he is the successor of St Peter on earth as it says in the Gospel of Matthew and that when he speaks from the Chair of Peter, on a matter of faith or morals, he speaks without error. As a matter of point, Pope Benedict has never done this.

4. Catholics pay to get their loved ones out of purgatory. No, we ask that masses be said for our dead loved ones just as St Paul reminds us to pray for the living and the dead. A small donation ($5) might be made to pay for the card that we then send to the family to let them know that a mass was said in honor of the deceased.

5. Catholics do not read the Bible. Yes, we do. John Paul II declared the year 2000, the Year of the Bible, and Catholics around the world read the entire Bible during that year. Virtually all Catholic Church’s have a bible study program. At every Sunday Mass, there are three readings from the Bible. Catholics are required to attend Sunday and thereby hear the Word of the God.

6. Catholics think the Sacraments get them to heaven. No, we believe that only the death and resurrection of Jesus get us to heaven. We believe the Sacraments, such as the Eucharist Jesus instituted at the Last Supper, give us grace to help us follow God's will for us. 

7. Catholics belong to a cult. No, our church has been around for 2000 years, much longer than any other Christian church. At more than one billion members, the Catholic Church is the single largest Christian denomination. Many people join and some (sadly) leave the Catholic Church every day of their own free will. 

8. Catholics don't baptize. Yes, we do and our Church started baptism. Whether a person is immersed or sprinkled is a man-made technicality. It cannot be believed that Jesus would condemn someone to hell for all eternity because of the rite of Baptism they received. There are countless historical Christian texts, of reliable authorship, that speak of sprinkling in the very early Christian Church.

9. Catholics are not Christians. Yes, we are and we profess with our lips and believe in our hearts that Jesus is Lord, the Messiah, the Son of God come down from heaven to save men from their sins. We pray the Apostles Creed and the Lord’s Prayer. Jesus name is mentioned in some form more than 50 times at every Sunday mass. We strive to follow the two great commandments of Jesus to love God with our whole heart and our neighbor as ourselves. 

10. Catholics have a different Bible. No, we have the Bible approved by the Universal Christian Church since the year 380. During the Protestant reformation several books were taken out of the Bible in the late 1400s. Martin Luther even took the Book of James and Revelation out of the Bible as well, before they were restored. The Catholic Bible has been the most consistent of all translations for more than 1600 years.

Answer 2

1. islam teaches convert or die
2. suicide bombers get 72 virgins in heaven
3. the 72 virgins are the women that go to heaven
4. jihad means holy war
5. we worship the kaaba
6. Muhammad (Pbuh) is the only Prophet we follow
7. non-muslims are not seen as human
8. Allah is a moon god
9. islam doesn't give women equal rights
10. it is ok to beat your wife in islam
11. women must wear the veil
12. women must wear black
13. men are allowed to marry more than 1 wife for pleasure
14. women are not supposed to be educated
15. islam was spread by the sword
16. all muslims are arab
17. muslims are not allowed to enjoy life
18. women must stay at home
19. islam began slavery in arabia
20. killing of innocents is allowed in islam
21. suicide is allowed in islam
22. muslims worship a different God
23. all muslims are terrorists
24. we worship Muhammad (Pbuh)
25. islam promotes violence
26. all muslims must learn arabic
27. all muslims hate jews
28. muslims want to take over the world
29. female genital mutilation is part of islam
30. fatwahs are definite islamic laws
31. the word of the hadith is equal to the word of the Quran
32. the punishment for adultery is being stoned to death
33. apostates should be killed
34. the extremist muslims in the middle east are representative of islam.

I'm sure I could keep on coming up with more if I had time but I really need to study *sigh*

I know you said 10 but there are just so many :(

Answer 3

There are alot of misconceptions about Christianity.
Some that really frost my cupcakes are:
That Christians must, by definition, be anti-science. After all, God invented science.
That Christians think they are better than other people. If we were so perfect, why would we need a Savior in the first place?
That Christians force their belief on people. How in the heck can you "force" anyone to believe anything?
That Christians are uneducated.
That Christians have low IQs.
That Christians spread hatred.
I'm tired of hearing about how Christians began the Crusades, when the truth is that the Crusades were in answer to Muslim conquest. It was not Christians who burned the library at Alexandria, but Muslims.
I am tired of hearing about the Inquisition. In that case, Catholics tortured Christians who did not believe the way they dictated.
I am tired of hearing about the witch burnings in Salem. Stupid people took the word of angry young women and over reacted... Perhaps the "witches" in question should have kept a better eye on their own daughters.
Mostly, I am tired of hearing how Christians like to be victimized. I, personally, don't like it a bit.

Answer 4

Hmmm, Christanity...
1. Were all hypocrytical goody-goodys who take thre bible to literally and seriously and think rock music is "of the d.evil"

2. We all beleive in creationism and genesis as literal

3. ALL of our preists m.olest small children (this one makes me really really mad)

4. We all think the earth is flat because the bible says "corners of the earth" twice.

5. We all try to convert every atheist we see and muslims. Islam and Judaisim work well with Christianity. Not all of them want to blow us up.

6. Were all white, conservative, republicans who vote for other white, conservative, republicans.

7. Communism is evil.

8. We make really lame music.
Okay, this one is true. So sue me.

9. We are all close minded to any opposing beleif and do not even consider what it says.

10. If any of us sees a w.iccan or s.atanist, we burn them at the stake. Same rule applies to Harry Potter books.

All of these are common misconceptions about Crhistianity, except for 7, which is a joke. To be fair, some Christian music is ok.

Answer 5

1) All Christians believe 'x.' There are 30,000+ different kinds of Christianity, each with their own beliefs.

2) Christians believe in original sin. That was a late doctrine, and is rejected by nearly half of all Christians.

3) All Christians believe in an eternal hell. That is a Medieval invention, and is rejected by some of the world's largest denominations, as well as most of the early Church Fathers.

4) The Bible is the Word of God, and Christianity is based on the Bible. These ideas are relatively modern, and date to the Reformation and Counter-Reformation.

5) Christianity must be original in order to be valid. On the contrary, Christianity was as much an extension of paganism as it was Judaism, and this fact has no bearing on the validity of the Christian faith.

6) Christians traditionally maintain a literal interpretation of the Bible. Actually, modern Christians interpret the Bible more literally now than at any other time in the history of Christianity. The early Church actually rejected a literal reading of the Bible, and many foundational theologians in the ancient world insisted that a literal reading of Scripture made a mockery of God and the Christian faith.

7) The Bible is full of miraculous events. A careful reading of Scripture in the original languages reveals a narrative that is almost completely void of supernatural events. There are less miraculous occurences in Scripture than in many ancient historical texts.

8) The Bible is entirely unsubstantiated. While the actions of individuals are largely speculative, the overall historical narrative of the Bible reflects a strong basis in confirmed historical fact. Most of kings, nations, and national interactions described in Scripture actually existed.

9) Belief in God is irrational or illogical. Theistic philosophers actually make a strong case for the logical necessity of God. But logical necessity does not imply that God is a personal being, as maintained by most religions. So, while a belief in God is not necessarily illogical, it is illogical to insist that our opinions regarded his attributes are logical or rational.

10) Christians do not believe in evolution, or are opposed to science. While this may be true for some denominations, the overwhelming majority of Christians actually believe in evolution.

Answer 6

Some Misconceptions about Catholicism:

1. Mary is worshipped - False, she is honored as the Mother of God, not worshipped
2. The Trinity is polytheisitc - False, God is one in three persons, but still one God
3. Celibacy is forced on priests - False, priests voluntarily choose to be celibate as a sacrifice, and so they might be focused on spiritual, not fleshly, things
4. One day women will be priests - False, the Church can never change this teaching because Christ didn't give it the authority to do that (anymore than the church could suddenly declare rape was ok)
5. All priests are pedophiles - False, there are more sexual predators in the general population than in the Catholic Church. Less than 1% of Catholic priests were found guilty when the scandels broke.
6. Catholics priests believe they can forgive sins - False, A priest hears the confession but it is Christ who forgives
7. The Reformation was needed because the Church had perverted doctrine - False, there were certainly abuses in the Church, but NO doctrine had been changed or invented. In fact, the Reformers invented new concepts like Sola Scriptura and Sola Fide.

Many others..........hope this is enlightening to some

Viva Christo Rey!

Answer 7

I'm Catholic, and the fallacies/accusations that we usually hear about our beliefs are:

1) We worship Mary.
2) We worship statues.
3) We think the Pope is sinless.
4) All priests are child molesters.
5) Our Bible is false because it has more books than the Protestant version, and you're not supposed to "add to the Bible."
6) We think all non-Catholics are going to Hell.
7) We worship a piece of bread in the Tabernacle.
8) The Rosary is nothing but "vain repetitions" instead of real prayer.
9) Priests re-crucify Christ every time they say a Mass.
10) And the number one fallacy: Catholics aren't Christians because we don't believe in Sola Scriptura. We place more importance on our traditions than we do on salvation in Christ and the Bible.

In case you're wondering where I'm getting these, they are all accusations that have been leveled at Catholics in this forum since I've been participating here. And every single one of them is false.

Answer 8

As one of Jehovah's Witnesses I can tell you there are MANY misconceptions about what we believe.

I have heard we can't eat pizza on Wednesday.
And we aren't allowed to play chess.
Both of those things are totally NOT true. I play chess all the time and I eat pizza almost every Wed.

People think we don't believe in Christ Jesus, again false. We don't believe that Jesus is God, but that he is God's son.
He also came to the earth to give his life as a ransom for ours.

I think I read somewhere someone thinks we aren't allowed to go to college, my son-in-law is entering a university this fall. He is also a Jehovah's Witness.

People think we have our own Bible. But our Bible is the Translation (word for word) of the original texts of the Bible. Not a VERSION of it.

The best way to find out what we believe is to ask the next JW that knocks on your door, they would be glad to explain. And what they tell you is the same thing I would tell you. You can't say that for any other religions.

Answer 9

i'm an Eclectic Pagan, so misconceptions abound... #one million... i'm a neo-pagan, yet not neccessarily a Wiccan. #2... i don't worship devil. #3... i don't "scouse borrow" my non secular practices from different faiths. extremely, I respectfully borrow the particularly some issues that artwork. #4... i'm not a hippie. #5... I do persist with a ethical code, regardless of the undeniable fact that it is not a strict doctrine interior my non secular practices. #6... i don't ought to outline myself as a strict monotheist, dualtheist, pantheist, or polytheist, and so forth. that is all i will think of of, incredibly.

Answer 10

1. No we do not believe Jesus is a prophet
2. Blood sacrifice is not needed for atonement.
3. Yes I do believe in a Heaven and Hell, but is nothing like yours.
4. Not accepting Jesus had nothing to do with the fact he was not a warrior. It had to do with the fact he died before doing the tasks the messiah is required to do.
5. Yes it is possible for someone born outside to convert, we just dont actively try to get them.
6. Their were never any genealogical records in the Temple, I have never heard anything more moronic in my life (who would be so stupid to keep all the records in one place)

Thats enough for now.