Iran Progresses with Nuke Program

I am 100% convinced that the world's biggest problem lies in Saudi Arabia. Anyone who trusts them is trusting a snake. They are the richest non-democratic nation on the planet, and in my opinion wield much more power over other nations than we realize. And if you live in Saudi Arabia, you have to be muslim. Folks, that's not unlike communism Soviet style. Except instead of atheism they force and actual religion. Nothing wrong with religion being the basis for morals and laws, but when religion IS THE LAW then there is a serious problem somewhere.

I am Christian, I vote Christian values and hold my elected official to Christian values and standards. My atheist and muslim neighbors are welcome in my home anyday for a glass of tea. I may preach to them a bit, but they can still be atheist and muslim and I still love them as my nieghbor! That's what the Bible teaches, unlike some other religion(s) that teach "convert or kill".

I agree that the Saudis are more of a problem than our government wants to acknowledge. They have been proved to be funneling money to the Taliban.

I also agree with your other statement about the difference between Islam and Christianity is that the former preaches convert or kill. I don't as a rule inquire at to my neighbors religious beliefs, but I do wish the ones that are Jehovah's Witnesses wouldn't have their church friends out to try and convert the neighborhood periodically. Fortunately I have a big ferocious dog and they don't come in.

Joe, I find it interesting that we were so hot to go after Iraq for having weapons of mass destruction, but not Iran. Does everyone in Washington have amnesia? These were the people that held how many of our countryman hostage for how long?

That's interesting, because less than 900 years ago it was the christians who went to the middle east to kill the infidels.

Isn't it though?

I think the extremists of any religion are capable of such things. It's those who pick and choose the parts of the teachings that are most convenient for their own cause and fill in the rest as needed. I've never seen anything inherently more violent in the teachings of Islam than in any other major religion. These whackjobs are not the fault of the religion; they're exploiting it.

I'm still irritated by the implications I see here that Muslims are inherently violent- a third of the world's population is Muslim. If the bulk of them were truly intent on convert or kill, we'd be living in a much more violent world. Christians don't exactly have a sparkly white gentle history either- you've been peaceful for about 100 years tops- but I doubt if any of you would consider your dogma violent, or yourselves violent. In these countries it's largely a matter of frustrated people opressed by their own governments looking for a way out. When a government institutionalizes religion it's not a matter of furthering that religion- it's for absolute social control.

ash said:

I'm still irritated by the implications I see here that Muslims are inherently violent- a third of the world's population is Muslim. If the bulk of them were truly intent on convert or kill, we'd be living in a much more violent world. Christians don't exactly have a sparkly white gentle history either- you've been peaceful for about 100 years tops- but I doubt if any of you would consider your dogma violent, or yourselves violent. In these countries it's largely a matter of frustrated people opressed by their own governments looking for a way out. When a government institutionalizes religion it's not a matter of furthering that religion- it's for absolute social control.

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You make a good point that the governmental institutionalization of religion being the causitive factor in the violence. But what else do you call it when these people are raised in the culture of jihad and have the promise of eternal reward for killing infidels?
Christianity isn't without it's blemishes either. Not sure if you follow the news, but the guy they finally convicted for killing 3 civil rights workers in the 60's was a Baptist minister.

nursie said:

...But what else do you call it when these people are raised in the culture of jihad and have the promise of eternal reward for killing infidels?.

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I call it unfortunate and a problem. Unless I'm terribly mistaken though, those aren't part of the teachings of Islam. Am I misinformed?