A Bear by Any Other Name…

Ah... pride. Some people really take it too far. I have the impression that Mohammad being a basically decent guy might actually have appreciated a child naming something she loved in his name.

I think the dominant worldview of most extremists is: "God is watching you, look busy."

I think the dominant worldview of many religious extremists is: " God is watching, look busy!"

I think the dominant worldview of many religious extremists is: " God is watching, look busy!"

Vengence is strictly a man made trait that is at exact opposite end of the spectrum of God (Allah, or whatever name is appropriate to your religion--its all the same God). God does not get offended because he is perfect peace, you cannot be at perfect peace and offended at the same time. The goal of all major religions is to try to reflect the qualities of God in our physical lives. Islam can be a very Godly religion but so many of these fanatics are as Ungodly as it gets, and the proof is in their reactions -- very unGodly. I feel that the religion of Islam has let its people down by not upholding the qualities that help people become closer to God, instead too many have let their hatred lead their lives and they pretend to do it in the name of God. But let this be God's lesson: throughout the savage era of the crusades (Christian extremism), and throughout the current movement of misguided Islamic extremists, God still has complete faith in all of us--not judging us, not destroying us, because he has perfect peace, infinite patience and infinite tolerance. He only asks that we practice these things -- always, and in all ways. The Churches and Mosques all around the world need to do a better job of promoting these qualities of God in their people. Islam seems to be in a similar state now to what Christianity was in during the era of the crusades (just meaning there's too much extremism around), but Islam has a chance to learn from and not repeat Christianity's mistakes.

Just as an afterthought... a reminder for all... faith and fanaticism are often confused with one another. We should be careful and wary of the fine line.

You should be ashamed of yourselves. This is exaclty the stupid reasons why people go off to war and kill each other over nothing. It's a mystery to that people have been killing each other over who's God is better than who's for thousands of years and yet there is no proof that there are even more than one God to compare. It still doesn't occur to people that because there is more than one book, that doesn't mean that there is more than one God. Is it not possible that we come from the same God regardless of what we call Him. Can there not be more than one interpretation as there are no two of us the same? I do consider myself a christian and I say that Mummywrap is ignorant. Anyone who has studied Islam, and I have, know that Islam is a peaceful religion. It is unfortunate that so many terrorists have used it has their battlecry and tarnished it's history with so much bloodshed. But does anyone remember the Crusades, is Christianity any more innocent just because what is happening with Islam now happened so long ago for Christians? Yet again, it doesn't matter what you call him,... God, Allah, Dios, etc... God is God and no one should have to die or be killed over who's God is better. Pursecution is human, not Holy. All of the books, the Koran, Bible, Tora, etc... All say that we should care for one another and that the world need be filled with love and kindness. We are all children of the same father. The books also say that it's ok to be different. Peace is tolerance. Forgiveness is divine.

Also, che1040, it's spelled prophet, not profet. If you're going to insult one of the world's major religious figures, a least try to use spell check first so that you only come across as ignorant about world history, culture, and religion, and not about the basic rules of English as well. Its good there are people like ah7903 out there in all religions to balance things out with the hatemongers...

Sheesh! After reading this discussion, one consistent theme emerges: One overreation just leads to another. (Why am I not the least bit surprised?)

I am a Muslim, and I believe in Allah and Prophet Muhammad's teachings. I also do believe in Jesus, as Jesus is one of the Prophets too. Prophet Muhammad was the last prophet, while Jesus was one of those in between Prophet Adam(yes, as in Adam and Eve). We also believe in the bible(old testament), the torah(judaism) and the quran. All 3 religions were once interconnected(if you know your history well enough) and branched out from the same faith. It is only due to differences and disagreements between humans, jealousy and over-zealous faiths that different sectors started fighting.

This human disagreements can be seen now in the different religions itself. For example, the Christians: Roman Catholics, Protestants, etc. The Muslims, they have the Sunnis and Shiites. I dont have comments about Judaism as I think they are a little paranoid.

Whatever it is, as a Muslim, I condemn Jihad. These pple who champion Jihad have a distorted view of the real Islam. Islam condemns violence at any level, unless, provoked and only if provoked with violence. In no way that we are allowed to kill someone of another faith just because he/she e.g Mummywrap, said that Allah/Muhammad is ***.

The real meaning of Jihad(for those of you who are not educated enough to bother to read) is holy war, only to be executed when someone like the Prophet says so. Right now, there's no prophet and noone is perfect, hence, no Jihad is to be executed.

This wrong interpretation could also be a cultural thing. Countries like Saudi Arabia disallows women to show their faces. However, Muslims in other parts of the world are not even asked to cover their heads. I dont, and I am not one to ever denounce my faith.

Islam, if practised correctly and intepreted correctly, will never be in the news. We dont go door to door and ask people to convert. We dont preach, and we dont force using violence. Those people are Muslims by name, but they are practising a totally wrong version of Islam. And because of these people, majority of Muslims, like myself, are targetted. We are subjected to hatred and racism of the worst kind.

I have friends who are Christians, Buddhists, Hindus, Sikhs etc. I dont have Jewish friends cause not many people practise Judaism in Singapore.

I am studying English Literature and have read up on the Christian faith when I studied Chaucer. I have read some parts of the bible. I have no problems with other religions.

I've found this whole story very disturbing from the beginning. Obviously, the views of a handful of fanatics must not be construed to represent the perspective of Muslims worldwide, but I am a bit ashamed to admit that when I began following this story last week, I experienced some pretty powerful stirrings of religious hatred in my own heart. For a minute, there, I would have been glad to see Sudan bombed off the map for harboring such foolishness. How sad would that have been? That anyone could react so irrationally to such a small misunderstanding is still beyond me. Anyone who derives hatred from any religious belief is, simply, misguided. It's a sad thing, and these people, ironically, I think should be pitied. The saddest thing to me is that there are so many fanatics of all faiths who are so eager to make a self-fulfilling prophesy of armageddon, that they will incite bloodlust in their cohorts over so little. I'm also continually disappointed in so-called "Christian" Americans who simply respond in kind...Get a grip! Dosen't your bumpersticker say, "Jesus is Love," or something to that effect? I will say this, however; there couldn't be a more perfect posterchild for the wisdom of separation of church and state that a place like the Sudan...Muslim or otherwise.

I appreciate Brahimi Brahim's comments below. We still speak English in this country right?

In seriousness, I would have to agree with scifiblues, although would add the media's portrayal of faith groups and its tendency to entertain before educate does not help us in understanding.

I also have to comment that I don't see any direct proof of the inevitability of absolute death, but that isn't too important.