I'm disgusted by this email

[Tubby & Peanut's Mom]

Originally posted by ramanth
That kind of crap goes straight to my trash.

Mine too. And the thing that gets me is that I have a friend who is - what I would call - really religious. They go to church faithfully, the kids went to (I believe they're Lutheran) Lutheran school and will go to Lutheran colleges, etc. The only emails I get from her are religious type ones....and ones like this. Now, I'm Catholic so I'm no expert on what the Lutherans believe, but I'm pretty sure they preach tolerance and love of all mankind like the Catholics do - as most religions do - so I'm always surprised - and hurt - when I see this type of intolerance from her.

You made some very good points PCB, and I'm actually very glad you're on this board because you teach those of us who know so little about Muslims - which catergory most Americans fall into unfortunately.

I've also noticed EID cards at Hallmark and thought it was wonderful, then heard a story about it on Public radio and it turns out Muslims have had their own EID cards for ages and the majority of people buying the cards at Hallmark are non-Muslims buying them for their Muslim friends - which I think is great - but they need to go to Hallmark because they don't know of the sources to buy them that the Muslims have been using for years.

I actually thought it was a good thing because it shows that at least some of us are trying to understand a culture we know very little about. And with more understanding comes acceptance and tolerance. It may be a long process, I believe we Americans are learning....slow but sure.

[Kfamr]

Originally posted by popcornbird
I mean going against the Quran.....the Muslim Holy Book which is God's words. The *so-called* Muslims that commit all those crimes are going against their own religion, or what we believe to be God's words. What I'm trying to say with that is they may *call* themselves Muslims, but when they go against the religion, they're actually *not*.

Oh, ok. Thank You.

I was hoping it wasn't how I read it, and i'm glad it's not.

[KYS]

posted by popcornbird: There is good and bad in every race/religion/nationality. >>>>>

This has been true all through out time.
Sometimes I think that fear, ignorance, power and not having
tolerance of others, is the cause of hate.
G-d, loves ALL his children, as long
as they are good and decent.
It's a shame what some people, do in the name of
their religion. Sometimes I wonder how sad G-d must
feel, when he see's what some us have done
in his name.

[2kitties]

Prejudice is nothing more than an ugly fear of what we don't understand. It is human nature to fight against what we fear. Unfortunatly, the result is often hateful things like this kind of thinking and propoganda.

Not one of us can claim to never have felt prejudice caused by fear or lack of understanding. You wouldn't be a flesh and blood, imperfect human if you did not. The ability to rise above that fear and reach out to learn and understand and accept each other is the thing that secures our futures.

It is our Responsibility and Duty to look beyond what we think we know and learn the truth to eliminate hate. Many people of all nationalities and all faiths were affected by 9/11. We should use it as an opportunity to learn, however. To forward this type of email is to be derelict of that responsiblity and duty.

I admit that, after the attacks, I would've been nervous had my plan been boarded by several young Middle Eastern men. I'm not proud of that, but I believe it is a natural fear. But my responsibility is not to run or hate, but to accept that it was only fear of what I don't understand. Not something based in fact. Just irrational fear.

My personal feeling about God's words- no matter the book you're looking at, is that they are all books written by men, translated by men and interpreted by men. Whether they were once the true word of God or not, the centuries have brought the interpretations and translations of men with political agendas. They're still great books and wonderful guidelines for life and worship, but to believe and follow word for word is naive.

Clearly, there are those who believe the Quran tells them to kill infedels. The Old Testament of the Christian Bible portrays an extremely violent God who'd have us beating our slaves with a particular type of stick and beating our wives. Same for most religious books. To read and follow them word for word is to take them completely out of context and time. To see the results of that kind of thinking, you just have to look around us.

In my personal opinion, religion is a personal thing which should be practiced and followed on a personal level. It has no business in government and public law. It is just too passionate an issue and results in war and strife and stuggle.

[Prairie Purrs]

I second 2kitties. Well said!

[Dogz]

What a stupid email. There's another forward that would go straight to the recycle bin.

[Cheshirekatt]

I never open anything forwarded to me. It's just easier that way.

Frankly, you have no idea if there's a virus or something in there.

[mahayana]

Again, I'm glad this subject- religious prejudice- is being discussed.

Most people get their religious beliefs from growing up and being trained in the practices of their parents' faith. They are taught from childhood that other religions are wrong and fundamentally flawed, whereas their own is superior and "true."

Like not opening an e-mail that might contain a virus, they don't open the Holy Books of other religions. Or if they do, it only confirms their belief that others are wrong.

I agree with those who call for tolerance and understanding. It is heartening to see that the Koran(Quran) is now a best-seller in America, despite what I said above. Life is for learning.

[2kitties]

Originally posted by popcornbird
While this is true for other holy books, which were compiled years after the Prophets whom they were revealed upon had left this world, its not true about the Quran. Prophet Muhammad was an illiterate. He could NOT read or write, and it was totally impossible for him to write the Quran. Also, if you read it, there is no way, absolutely no way that its written by a human being. There is so much in there that man wasn't even aware of at the time. God promised in the Quran that He would protect this book until the end of time, and He has. Not a single letter in the Quran has been altered since its revelation. The Arabic text remains exactly the same as God sent it. I don't think we should argue on this though, but I just had to say that we do believe that the Quran is the word of God.........not written by ANY human being. We believe God used to send the verses down with Angel Gabriel to Prophet Muhammad, as a guidance for all of mankind. The other books were all revealed in the same way, but as you said, man had altered them bit by bit over the centuries. That isn't the case with the Quran. It was also compiled during the Prophet's lifetime, and remains as it was then, to this day.

Anyway, back to topic.............that email sucks. He he he

PCB, regardless of anyone's feeling on the validity of their book, I think the next part of my post is valid no matter what your faith. Even if a book IS the complete work of God- the Bible, or the Torah, or the Quran, or the complete Works of Shakespeare- the point is that we, men, human beings, -- we are left with the responsiblity to interpret the words or people long gone. And words written thousands of years ago taken literally and without introspection, will lead to terrible consequences. Every individual will read them differently and see different meaning.