Cyprus-Forum.com

[wyoming cowboy]

I believe there is a God the problem is, is that very few choose to see him......

[Talisker]

And the problem with humans is that they take everything within, by its literal meaning, and that is why we have Jihad today, and have had crusades in the past. Those that believe in Creationism and believe in the literall meaning of ANY holy book, are Fundamentalists. There are Christian fundamentalists, Islamic fundamentalists and Jewish Fundamentalists.

Careful what you say about Jihad, and comparing it to past crusades.

The literal meaning of Jihad is struggle or effort, and it means much more than holy war. Muslims use the word Jihad to describe three different kinds of struggle:
- A believer's internal struggle to live out the Muslim faith as well as possible
- The struggle to build a good Muslim society
- Holy war: the struggle to defend Islam, with force if necessary
From: http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions ... ad_1.shtml

I'd have thought the first two reasons were those most Muslims acted upon, and really I have no issue with those - they are personal or sociological. Sure, Jihad (against 'The West') has been declared by some Muslims, but only a tiny minority, and most of these believe they are defending Islam, e.g. in Afghanistan and Iraq, through repelling the (Western, Christian) invader, who to their eyes is threatening their religion, but we know different - we are interfering in those countries not to 'attack' Islam but for geopolitical reasons including control of finite resources such as oil.

The link below has some interesting information on Christian and Muslim fundamentalists and fundamentalism.
http://www.religioustolerance.org/reac_ter9.htm

I am not one of those who considers 'the world would be a better place if there were no religions', as many folks state even within this forum. Sure, religion can cause disputes, even wars, but so can many other aspects of human society - greed, power, suppression, tribalism, control of resources. Seems to me that religious intolerance is a major problem. I celebrate human diversity - religious, racial, ethnic, regional, language, the tribalism of football supporters, whatever......... Let people have their beliefs without prejudice against them or their reasons for following that creed.

Here endeth the lesson!

[Paphitis]

And the problem with humans is that they take everything within, by its literal meaning, and that is why we have Jihad today, and have had crusades in the past. Those that believe in Creationism and believe in the literall meaning of ANY holy book, are Fundamentalists. There are Christian fundamentalists, Islamic fundamentalists and Jewish Fundamentalists.

Talisker wrote:

Careful what you say about Jihad, and comparing it to past crusades.

The literal meaning of Jihad is struggle or effort, and it means much more than holy war. Muslims use the word Jihad to describe three different kinds of struggle:
- A believer's internal struggle to live out the Muslim faith as well as possible
- The struggle to build a good Muslim society
- Holy war: the struggle to defend Islam, with force if necessary
From: http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions ... ad_1.shtml

I agree with all of the above, but fundamentalists according to me are probably those that subscribe to option 3 (Holy War) above. Not all Muslims are the same, and most are descent people and follow their faith according to their own moderate interpretation of the Quran. In other words, the Jihad, is only an internal struggle within themselves and not a Holy War of any sought.

The same can be said of Christians. Most are moderate in their faith, don't necessarily believe in creationism, very liberal and open minded towards stem cell research, abortion and homosexuality etc etc. Others are more strict and uncompromising, and unfortunately we can see this type of fundamentalism within certain sections of Catholicism, and Evangelical Churches in the United States, a country which is almost as theocratic as Saudi Arabia, Iran and Afghanistan.

There are many examples of fundamentalism in our modern era. Some countries practice Sharia Law, and some groups like Al Qaeda and Jamah Islamiyah have their 'anti west' crusade or 'Holy War'. Christian fundamentalists have their war against Stem Cell research, Abortion (even for rape victims), and euthanasia. Some fundamentalists have even (in their utter stupidity) used religion or 'God' to justify the Iraq War. So fundamentalism is not exclusive to Islam.

Talisker wrote:

I'd have thought the first two reasons were those most Muslims acted upon, and really I have no issue with them - they are personal or sociological. Sure, Jihad (against 'The West') has been declared by some Muslims, but only a tiny minority, and most of these believe they are defending Islam, e.g. in Afghanistan and Iraq, through repelling the (Western, Christian) invader, who to their eyes is threatening their religion, but we know different - we are interfering in those countries not to 'attack' Islam but for geopolitical reasons including control of finite resources such as oil.

I agree with everything you state above.

Talisker wrote:

The link below has some interesting information on Christian and Muslim fundamentalists and fundamentalism.
http://www.religioustolerance.org/reac_ter9.htm

I am not one of those who considers 'the world would be a better place if there were no religions', as many folks state even within this forum. Sure, religion can cause disputes, even wars, but so can many other aspects of human society - greed, power, suppression, tribalism, control of resources. Seems to me that religious intolerance is a major problem. I celebrate human diversity - religious, racial, ethnic, regional, language, the tribalism of football supporters, whatever......... Let people have their beliefs without prejudice against them or their reasons for following that creed.

Here endeth the lesson!

Diversity is an old chest nut used by those for a variety of reasons, but I think those that preach social diversity have really taken it to the extreme and allowed things to get out of control. A watered down version of Sharia Law is being practiced in the UK, in the name of 'human diversity'. The world has gone mad...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7232661.stm

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/ ... in-UK.html

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/commen ... 749183.ece

Also, human diversity means that adults are free to raise their children in accordance with their own faith, which does not seem so bad, but when you consider that infants are often labeled as either a Muslim, Catholic, Orthodox or Protestant child, when they have not even had a chance to to to make up their own mind by analyzing and comparing all faiths, creationism and evolution, we all turn a blind eye saying "how wonderful it is that our society is so diverse and rich". However, if someone was to label their infant child as a Communist, Fascist, Marxist or Socialist, then we would be disgusted and yet the 2 are similar when you think about it.

And yes, I do believe that the world would be a better place if there were no religions, and I believe religiosity will diminish over time....

Now that's what I call evolution...

Anyway, thanks for the links and the lesson....

Oh and btw...which of the above 7 options best fits your view about the existence of the omnipotent almighty deity?

[fig head]

if there is god then why he/she with all his/her great powers reveal him self to us.. so we can all follow him /her and believe..! may be there is no god ! may be our whole existance doesnt mean anything and there is no point trying hard to understand, seek the truth and the meaning behind our existance! may be there is no meaning ! may be we just wasting our time because the idea of believing in something is comforting, to be able to pray knowing that your not alone and god is listining to you.. and if there is no god or the ultimate power what ever you wanna call it then who made us, or who made the materials that we are made from!! and if there was god did god came out of no where, doesnt god have a creator!!!! ,, i was tought that Allah is the only god, he is the answers for our questions and Allah wants us not to question him and just follow him but... Allah is just another name for that so called power... !! and we as intelligance race question the unknown to get answers!! after years of blind believing i figured out its not worth it! believing it doesnt change a thing in the world and it doesnt effect my life..!!

[T_C]

Theres too much design involved in the universe for there not to be a God. It's like finding a watch on the floor and claiming it just ''happened'' out of nowhere.

[Paphitis]

Theres too much design involved in the universe for there not to be a God. It's like finding a watch on the floor and claiming it just ''happened'' out of nowhere.

So who designed the designer?

[Get Real!]

Theres too much design involved in the universe for there not to be a God. It's like finding a watch on the floor and claiming it just ''happened'' out of nowhere.

Good post TC...

[Get Real!]

Theres too much design involved in the universe for there not to be a God. It's like finding a watch on the floor and claiming it just ''happened'' out of nowhere.

So who designed the designer?

We’re not privy to heavenly knowledge for the time being…

[Paphitis]

Theres too much design involved in the universe for there not to be a God. It's like finding a watch on the floor and claiming it just ''happened'' out of nowhere.

So who designed the designer?

We’re not privy to heavenly knowledge for the time being…

Heard of Charles Darwin? He explains all?

So why do you need to console yourself with the omnipotent almighty?

[Get Real!]

Theres too much design involved in the universe for there not to be a God. It's like finding a watch on the floor and claiming it just ''happened'' out of nowhere.

So who designed the designer?

We’re not privy to heavenly knowledge for the time being…

Heard of Charles Darwin? He explains all?

So why do you need to console yourself with the omnipotent almighty?

A few months ago I gave you all the perfect opportunity in a dedicated thread to prove your theories but you all failed miserably!

I can’t search for the thread right now because CYTA is playing up after the storm so maybe later…