Posts by Merry Magdalene

31

What's up with Islam?

by Tyrone van leyen in

this is a religion i am not too familiar with.

so forgive me where i err.

it seems that this religion accepts jesus, but only as a minor prophet.

Merry Magdalene

Is there an actual, factual historical view of the spead of Islam? (My book list for this coming year is growing by leaps and bounds!)

Historian De Lacy O'Leary wrote in Islam at the Crossroads (1923):

History makes it clear, however, that the legend of fanatical Muslims, sweeping through the world and forcing Islam at the point of sword upon conquered races is one of the most fantastically absurd myths that historians have ever repeated.

James Michener wrote in Islam: The Misunderstood Religion (May 1955 Reader's Digest):

No other religion in history spread so rapidly as Islam. The West has widely believed that this surge of religion was made possible by the sword. But no modern scholar accepts this idea, and the Qur'an is explicit in the support of the freedom of conscience.

Mahatma Gandhi said (1924):

I wanted to know the best of the life of one who holds today an undisputed sway over the hearts of millions of mankind...I became more than ever convinced that it was not the sword that won a place for Islam in those days in the scheme of life. It was the rigid simplicity, the utter self-effacement of the Prophet, the scrupulous regard for pledges, his intense devotion to his friends and followers, his intrepidity, his fearlessness, his absolute trust in God and in his own mission. These and not the sword carried everything before them and surmounted every obstacle.

Although not dismissing the battles that were fought internally and externally, Encyclopedia of Politics and Religion also made this comment:

From the end of the effective power of the caliphs in the tenth century to the beginning of the sixteenth, the size of the Muslim world almost doubled. The vehicles for expansion were not conquering armies so much as traveling merchants and itinerant teachers.

I thought it interesting that the Qur'an Ellison used was Thomas Jefferson's.

~Merry

19

Has the Internet changed your life?

by Fisherman in

information at my finger tips.

no one can have the upper hand on me beccause of information.

medicine.

Merry Magdalene

Yes, it HAS changed my life...in SO many ways.

I love libraries and book stores, but I grew up in a very small town and live in another very small town now, both of which have NO bookstores and VERY small libraries. And with the books I was always special ordering through the library there was a very high rate of unavailability. I love researching on-line now. Such treasures I have found! Definitely a wading through and weeding out process though

Growing up, I enjoyed having penpals in other countries, but usually had to wait quite a while for letters. Now I can Instant Message so many different people in so many different countries and even see them or speak with them with a simple click. (Also a weeding out process)

I found my soul-mate onlineI converted onlinetwiceI am finding great stores (Did I mention there isn't even a clothing store where I live? let alone any specialty shops.) I am beginning to learn Turkish and Arabic and SpanishI can find great recipes just that quickAnd JWDF has been simply amazing

~Merry

31

What's up with Islam?

by Tyrone van leyen in

this is a religion i am not too familiar with.

so forgive me where i err.

it seems that this religion accepts jesus, but only as a minor prophet.

Merry Magdalene

Cool

~Merry

3

True religion my A@#$%^%^

by Woodsman in

jw
friends

i said something to my wife.

i've been really tolerant for two years but am ready to enter a new phase of saying it like it is.

she is ready.. a friend of hers came in from out of town and they caught up on all the gossip.

Merry Magdalene

Keep feeding her mind insightful tidbits, but take care...if it has been fed for very long by the "slave" it may be near starvation and we all know it's important not to overfeed the starving right at first, their systems can't handle it

Much luck and good will your way! Hope to see your wife here some day

~Merry

31

What's up with Islam?

by Tyrone van leyen in

this is a religion i am not too familiar with.

so forgive me where i err.

it seems that this religion accepts jesus, but only as a minor prophet.

Merry Magdalene

Deputy Dog makes a telling point by the quotation from the Koran: intolerance is bred into this religion on the most fundamental levels.

CONTEXT (<clickable link)

Historical Background
Now let us consider the historical background of the Surah. The series of events that have been discussed in this Surah took place after the Peace Treaty of Hudaibiyah. By that time, one-third of Arabia had come under the sway of Islam which had established itself as a powerful, well organized and civilized Islamic State. This Treaty afforded further opportunities to Islam to spread its influence in the comparatively peaceful atmosphere created by it. After this Treaty, two events took place, which led to very important results:
...for more click above

Also from the Qur'an:

God forbids you not, with regards to those you not for [your] faith nor drive you out of your homes, from dealing kindly and justly with them; for God loveth those who are just. 60:8

Fight in the cause of God against those who fight you, but do not transgress limits. God does not love transgressors. 2:190

If they seek peace, then seek you peace. 8:61

O mankind! We created you from a single soul, male and female, and made you into nations and tribes, so that you may come to know one another. 49:13

...take not life, which God hath made sacred, except by way of justice and law... 6:151

Let there be no compulsion in religion. Truth stands out clear from Error. 2:256

To you be your Way, and to me mine. 109:6

And from the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him):

Powerful is not he who knocks the other down, indeed powerful is he who controls himself in a fit of anger.

An Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab nor a non-Arab has any superiority over an Arab; also a black has no superiority over white, nor a white has any superiority over black, except by piety and good action.

I have read the Qur'an and some Hadith and have not learned intolerance from any of it it at all. I am truly sorry to hear of any Muslims displaying intolerance to others or when following their consciences seems intolerant to others. But I think the obstacles to understanding and acceptance of each other are not insurmountable. http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?pagename=IslamOnline-English-Ask_Scholar/FatwaE/FatwaE&cid=1119503544482

~Merry

2

Curious George

by IP_SEC in

hhahahhah <<<<clicky>>>>>

Merry Magdalene

LOL

31

What's up with Islam?

by Tyrone van leyen in

this is a religion i am not too familiar with.

so forgive me where i err.

it seems that this religion accepts jesus, but only as a minor prophet.

Merry Magdalene

This is a religion I am not too familiar with. So forgive me where I err.

Same here. I also had lots of questions, triggered by my growing friendship with a Muslim and by what I was seeing in the news and on this forum. So I took my questions to both pro-Islamic and anti-Islamic websites and did some searching. Very interesting! Here are a few I found helpful-- http://www.islamonline.net/english/index.shtml http://www.islamicity.com/education/understandingislamandmuslims/ http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/quran/ http://whyislam.org/877/ (The "anti" sites are easy enough to find all by yourself, and while I recommend looking at them as well, there are none I recommend specifically. They tend to take certain verses of the Qur'an way out of context, like Deputy Dog did, and as do some Muslims for their own purposes, which can be very misleading.)

It seems that this religion accepts Jesus, but only as a minor prophet. This must mean that they do not see the bible as a holy book.

Yes, we (I say "we" because in the midst of my researching I became a Muslim) do accept Jesus as a prophet (peace be upon him), and a very special and important prophet whose return we expect and look forward to. There are no "minor prophets" in Islam, as far as I am aware, but all are equally respected. Muhammad (peace be upon him) is considered to be the final prophet, sent to all mankind rather than just one group, with a message that was promised to be protected from distortion. The Qur'an teaches that Allah sent prophets to people of every nation throughout history, but only a few are mentioned by name in it. It is believed that the messages sent through Moses and David and Jesus were distorted over time and so are no longer reliable. The Qur'an came to make clear and affirm what was sent before.

One day I was talking to a man from Jordan. A nice enough fellow he was. I mentioned that King David probably had venerial disease as the scriptures mention a burning in his loins not to mention all the women that he slept with, that absalom his son later wanted to pork. Did he ever take offense!" Why you say that?" "Why you say that?" I said, "well, it's in the bible." He didn't dispute that, but it seems the Koran has cleaned it up a bit.

It is important in Islam not to disrespect any of the prophets, including David.

Was the bible borrowed from? Is Islam not aware that the enmity exists between us because God's promised seed came from Sarah rather than the slave girl Hagar. Do they reject this? Judaism was completed with Christ so why are they trying to complete Christianity was there something wrong with it?

We believe in Jesus as Prophet and Messiah (peace be upon him) and in his promised return, as I mentioned above, but we do not believe that he was a ransom sacrifice. We believe that God guides us through the Qur'an and forgives us individually in accordance with our repentance for doing what is wrong and our attempts to do what is right.

I find it remarkable that any religion can look in there holy books and start wars just like the crusades. Yet others can look at the same holy books and derive peace and comfort from them. Is Islam seeking world domination. It seems that christianity is only looking at the afterlife or the future for it's hopes but Islam is looking for world domination here and now and death has a different meaning as well. If that's the case I would deem it a mistake to allow the swearing in of Keith Ellison on a Koran. If I am wrong though and the Islamists see it that way, then they should be encouraging whites in their country to swear an oath of office on the holy bible. We all know of course this will never happen let alone a white ruler in the middle east. I've heard it said that if you brought a bible to the middle east in many areas it would be torn apart. What sort of tolerance is this. It's a double standard. Can you imagine what would happen if you took a koran and did that what would happen to you! Look at the outrage caused by a friggin cartoon. I beleive we are witnessing the beginning of a new trend wherin simply by numbers we will be overun.

The rest of your comments have been addressed quite well by others, I think.

I hope you continue your quest for knowledge and understanding

~Merry

16

Socially Stunted?...you betcha.

by Lumptard in

jw
friends

my apologies if this has been done to death, but i was just curious how many of you feel that you have been socially crippled as a result of your association with the jws?

granted, this probably affects people who were raised as jws more than those who chose for themselves, but i just wanted to see if anyone else has had the same experience...also, how did you work through it if you were able to?

Merry Magdalene

31

Belief Poll : Please Indulge Me

by Morocco in

jw
friends

just sort of curious about this, i know it has probably been done a gazillion times but let me do it again.

1.do you believe in a personal god who takes interest in you as an individual?

2.do you believe that the bible was written by god?

Merry Magdalene

1.Do you believe in a personal God who takes interest in you as an individual?

Yes. Why? In all honesty, it is probably because I was taught this as far back as I can remember and it became part of the fabric of my life. I cannot speculate as to how things would be different for me if I had been taught otherwise. There are also a variety of reasons why I continued to believe some of what I was taught growing up but not all of it. I feel now that my experiences and explorations and questionings have strengthened rather than weakened my awareness of and relationship with God. I see evidence of God in everything, I feel the presence of God everywhere. And I have experienced God's guidance.

2.Do you believe that the Bible was written by God?

First, which Bible or which version(s)? Second, basically no. Why? Too many inconsistencies and impossiblities (see An Athiest's Book of Bible Stories). I do believe that God sent messengers to all peoples throughout all time with divine guidance for them, however, and the Bible we have today includes some of those messages. I also believe the Qur'an is the most recent message and is meant for all mankind rather than for one specific group.

3.Do you believe the Bible is error free and is always harmonious?

No. Reading the ones I had, it/they did not appear to be. See above.

~Merry

89

Post your favorite saying

by Scully in

i was just pondering how the wts has, for over a century, been able to convince people to do what is contrary to their best interests with fear tactics that armageddon is coming soon, and i came up with what is going to be my pet phrase for a while:.

"only religion has the power to compel people to embrace sheer stupidity in the name of faith.

" ~ scully, december 28, 2006. i googled it, and didn't see that anyone else has claimed it, so until someone else finds an attribution for it, i'm claiming it as my own.

Merry Magdalene

alt

~Merry