Kenneth Roberts, Associate Writer
What causes a Muslim woman to honor-kill the children she has borne and raised? The explanation is ‘the Stockholm Syndrome’. It is one of the secret keys of political Islam and Mohammed’s greatest discovery.
The Stockholm syndrome or ‘capture bonding’ is a psychological paradox in which hostages develop empathy and positive feelings towards their captors, even to the point of adopting the captor’s oppressive ideology. One would expect captives to experience resentment and hatred towards an abuser, but that is not what occurs in the Stockholm syndrome.
Rather, the Stockholm syndrome takes hold in a few days as a result of captors performing small acts of kindness towards their doomed captives. The threat of certain death in contrast with kind gestures is thought to bring about the syndrome. The confused captive soon begins to identify with the cruel psyche of the captor in order to survive.
This push-pull dynamic of terror alternating with moments of relative benevolence produces this delusion in the mind of the captive. The captive then begins to believe the far-fetched justifications for brutality and murder that bend the minds of her or his terrorist captors.
The Stockholm syndrome is a severe form of a psychological phenomenon known as dissociation. It is the mind’s survival mechanism, the way trauma victims convince themselves that “this isn’t happening”. Mohammed discovered it by accident.
Why ‘Greatest Discovery’
The discovery of the Stockholm syndrome changed Mohammed’s life. Before discovering the Stockholm syndrome, Mohammed preached religion for 13 years and collected about 150 followers. After his discovery of capture bonding, Mohammed’s political movement grew exponentially.
How did Mohammed’s great discovery occur? It began with a problem.
Omar’s Revelations
After leaving Mecca, Mohammed’s small, impoverished movement began to pick up ruffians to assist in pillaging the Meccans. Mohammed had previously been living in a polite, middle class, business environment. He and his followers were not used to the rough, rude manners of the pillaging ‘Ansaris’ (auxiliaries) that Mohammed had hired in exchange for a share of booty on his vengeful raids against the Meccans. Even the manners of Ansari women were rough and insubordinate. The women of Mohammed’s group began to pick up the highly assertive manners of the Ansari women. At first, Mohammed took no notice, but Omar bin Khattab did. Omar pushed Mohammed to receive a revelation from Allah.
Allah soon sent Mohammed an eternal revelation that men should beat their wives into submission. Were these original Muslim women beaten ‘lightly’ as recommended by modern mullahs? Apparently not. Aisha (Mohammed’s preteen bride) later said, “I have not seen any woman suffering as much as the believing women.” (Bukhari 7:72:715)
Veiling and Isolation: Ingredients of Stockholm Syndrome
Veiling is another important contributor to the Islamic Stockholm syndrome. Veiling causes isolation from perspectives other than those of the captor.
Veiling came about when Omar yet again provoked a crisis, this time by following Muslim women to the privies. Omar noted that free Muslim women, if left unveiled, could not be distinguished from unveiled slaves. Since Mohammed permitted his men to ‘molest’ slaves, Omar demanded action “…as he desired eagerly that the verses of al-hijab may be revealed. So Allah revealed the verses of “al-Hijab” (Sahih Bukhari 1.14.148). Allah swiftly gave an eternal command about veiling, so that married women (including Omar’s wives) could no longer be ‘misidentified’ as kafirs and ‘molested’ by jihadists (Koran 33.59). According to Allah, unveiled women don’t get protection from rape.
Mohammed’s Prisoners
By limiting women’s independence of movement and making them indistinguishable one from another, veiling produces permanent isolation of women, a necessary condition for the Stockholm syndrome. The combination of isolation, beating and the veil turn Muslim women into passive, isolated, malleable non-persons. Muslim women live in a permanent state of dissociation and denial.
Because of Omar, the freedom of Muslim women has not increased at all in the last 1400 years, while everywhere else women’s rights have steadily evolved. Muslim women are still restricted to a form of house arrest as ‘domestic animals’ or ‘prisoners’, forced to interact only with their husbands and children (read ‘Mohammed’s Final Sermon’).
Choosing Compliance as an Alternative to Death
As the Stockholm syndrome takes hold, victims perceive they can either resist the perpetrator and meet certain death or they can comply and hope to live. The threat of certain death is a necessary factor in the Stockholm syndrome. Islam provides this permanent threat to women through the eternally existing Koran, Mohammed’s Sunna (perfect example) and sacred Sharia law.
No Islamic doctrine depends on a single verse, but on the Koran, Mohammed’s example and the canonical decisions of Islamic jurists. They create a three-dimensional picture of conduct that all Muslims must follow. Tragically, Islamic law provides broad loopholes for the honor killing of women.
The Koran says that if a Muslim woman obeys her male owner after a beating, no further action should be taken. The words ‘take no further action’ (Koran 4.34) are highly significant, since they imply that actions beyond beating may be taken, perhaps mutilation, perhaps starvation or death through honor killing. The choice of ‘further action’ is up to the male owner of the chattels. Modern mullahs often try to tone this down for Western audiences, but such moderation is not in foundational Islam. Koran 4.15 & 34 offer the basis for honor killing of women, since a husband needn’t feed a woman if her performance is unsatisfactory. She may be locked up and starved in her home.
Mohammed’s sacred example approves of a blind man who murders the mother of his children because she blasphemed Mohammed.
Sharia law also makes ample room for honor killing of women by omitting any punishment for the murderer of an apostate or the murderer of disobedient children or grandchildren. In the context of cousin marriage, Sharia leaves the door open to the honor killing of women with the blessing of the couple’s common grandparents (Reliance of the Traveller, o1.2, 1-5). Such honor killing is perfectly legal under Sharia, there being no punishment for it.
Honor killing is eternally permitted (though not commanded) in Islam. Such violence against women is part of jihad, the ‘struggle’ to force women and ‘others’ to submit without resistance to Muslim males.
Dhimmitude: a Captivity Contract
Dhimmis capitulate to Islamic rule. Captive Muslim women (as well as entire captive nations) are given the stark choice of being beaten (or dead) prisoners…or living, compliant semi-slaves to Islam. Since it is difficult to endure the despair of permanent captivity, Islam’s captives dissociate and ‘voluntarily’ choose compliance. This condition of surrender to Islam is called ‘dhimmitude’. When entire kafir nations submit to Islamic supremacism, they become pacified kafirs or ‘dhimmis’ under a humiliating ‘dhimma’ (protection) agreement. Nevertheless, if dhimmis resist their Muslim overlords even a little, they are deemed to have broken their contract of ‘protection’ and they revert to being unprotected ‘kafirs’ or ‘harbis’ who must be ‘fought’.
Sharia’s logic is that a Muslim woman who resists her owner has become an apostate from Islam, a ‘kafir’ or even a ‘harbi’ who may lawfully be murdered, since she has abandoned the rules of Islam. Under Sharia, no blood indemnity is required in the murder of an apostate, so killing defiant women is permitted. This is easily done with the consent of the parents or grandparents in a cousin marriage.
A majority of Muslim women actually marry a first cousin, so family-directed violence against women is rife in Islam. Cousin marriage places a secure sociological noose around the majority of Muslim women. Thanks to Sharia law and cousin marriage, Muslim women are Mohammed’s prisoners having no escape from violence and death.
Bill Warner, Director, Center for the Study of Political Islam
Permalink: https://politicalislam.com/mohammeds-greatest-discovery-part-1/
Copyright © 2013 CBSX, LLC, politicalislam.com
Use as needed, just give credit and do not edit.
www.politicalislam.com
53 Responses
Mohammed’s Greatest Discovery, Part 1 – Political Islam – Islamafication of America
[…] https://politicalislam.com/mohammeds-greatest-discovery-part-1/ […]
Brother Mark
“@ralph et al.
Take a look….I believe that there’s a few things here that you may wish to consider….
This is the UPDATED link for the article previously discussed. Have fun!
“@ralph et al.
Take a look….I believe that there’s a few things here that you may wish to consider….
http://talktruthful.com/2012/11/02/93/
Thank you, and have a great day!
Brother Mark:)”
Thank you, and have a great day!
Brother Mark:)”
Brother Mark
@Enquiring Mind,
Here’s something to help your (and anyone else) journey of understanding.
http://jihadonbuddhists.org/
Have a great day!
Brother Mark:)
Brother Mark
@ Enquiring Mind,
Thank you for your generous and kind words.
The religious beliefs of those not privileged to live in “submission and humiliation” as “people of the book” have always been and remain that much more of a target.
Buddhists and Hindu as perceived “Idol worshipers” and “poly theists” have always been made a much vilified target for Islamic murder and sadist behavior, both scripturally as well as in practice.
I wish you the very best in your journey of understanding.
Brother Mark:)
Enquiring Mind
Dear Brother Mark,
I did read your post. I found it interesting , thank you. Without trying to appear Sycophantic, your assertions rhyme with my thoughts.
In the interests of fairness, I have seen a number of news articles lately where there appears to be conflict between buddists and Muslims.
I didn’t realise that there was conflict between these two groups but your article has started my journey of understanding in this regard.
Thank you for your time, efforts and intellect in producing this post.
Regards,
Brother Mark
@khalid ibrahim
Please take a look at this article that I have written in it’s entirety. Many that I have known have chosen to skip much of it because it’s not saying what they want to read. It disagrees with what they want to believe.
Compare what is written in the article with what you have posted, and then perhaps ponder the 2 faces of Islam that Mr.Bill Warner has discussed, to be used at Islam’s convenient choosing.
Much of what you post isn’t the Qur’an ( look at the topic of abrogation and the chronological order of the Qur’an vs. the traditional order ) but al hadith which has it’s own issues.
http://talktruthful.com/2012/04/02/was-islam-spread-by-the-sword-a-response-by-bhikkhu-aggacitto/
I am looking forward to a rational and thoughtful discussion with you.
Brother Mark:)
Enquiring Mind
For clarifications sake, I am not saying that all followers of the books are committing despicable acts but rather those that are in their respective religions are as bad and as deluded as each other. And it would appear to me based on the information I am aware of, many despicable acts are currently being committed by Muslims, Jews and Christians in the name of their respective religions, in that order of magnitude respectively.
I accept that the majority of the followers of the books do not commit despicable acts in the name and interpretation of their respective beliefs regardless of whether their interpretations of the teachings of their respective religions conflict with others in the same religion .
Those that blindly follow teachings which result in another human beings disadvantage, are in my opinion, not mentally free.
Thankfully, I think that the ones who choose to ignore or interpret the teachings differently to try to lead a peaceful and loving existence are in the majority the world over.
Enquiring Mind
Dear Bill,
I apologise for taking Brother Mark off kilter to the essence of the website.
Basically, I found this website whilst trying to understand why individuals would conduct activities against humankind on the basis of an ideology.
My conclusion is that followers of the book are all guilty of despicable acts in the name of their “loving” God. For the benefit of keeping within the essence of this website, I would conclude that followers of Islam are currently conducting more despicable acts than Christians or Jews, then followed by Jews and then Christians.
I guess where Brother Mark’s comments have taken me is that any person who conducts a despicable act in the name of their God and then tries to justify those acts by accepting the infallibility of their God are as much at fault and/or delusion as any other follower of the book.
Regards,
Bill
Way too long, edited down to about 500 words.
Bill
Way too long, edited down to about 500 words.
Bill
Way too long, edited down to about 500 words.
khalid ibrahim
. Regarding his attitude towards his enemies, something will be said about it now. 19. Hadhrat Abu Hurairah (radiallahu anhu) narrates that once someone asked Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam): ā��O Rasulullah! Curse the mushrikeen.ā�� Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) replied: I was not sent as one who curses. ā��I was sent only as a mercy.ā�� (Muslim) Rasulullahā��s (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) habit was to even ask for the betterment of his enemies. Occasionally he would supplicate to Allah for protection against enemies. 20. In a lengthy hadith narrated by Hadhrat Aishah (radiallahu anha), regarding the incident of Taaif, Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) referred to the torture of the kuffaar on this occasion to have been severer than the hardship which he suffered during the battle of Uhad. On this occasion at Taaif, Hadhrat Jibraeel (alayhis salaam) introduced Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) to the Angel in charge of the mountains. The Angel greeted Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) and said: ā��O Muhammad! I am the Angel of the mountains. Allah has sent me to you so that you command me. If you command, I will crush the people of Taaif between these two mountains.ā�� Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) replied: ā��No! I hope that Allah will create from among them such men who will worship only Allah and associate none with Him.ā�� (Bukhari, Muslim) At this critical time too, Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) never thought of revenge. He only had to give the order and his enemies would have perished. But, he chose to forgive them and supplicate on their behalf. He confronted his opponents with love and affection.
khalid ibrahim
Imam Mahdi will gain an upper hand and will be firmly established Islam in the land. The oppression, tyranny, and darkness that is prevailing all over the globe will be replaced with justice, peace and equity. The smile, which was long forgotten, will be restored on and too the faces of the Muslim people with Beauty and light{On the Day when some faces will be (lit up with) white){But those whose faces will be (lit with) white,- they will be in (the light of Allah.s mercy} and the sad hearts will become happy and content, so the inhabitants of the Heaven and Earth will be pleased, A Time where life would be one of submissive and humble to Allah (Khushoo). Real Khushoo is only for the believers.–Khushooā�� means being completely solemn, submissive and humble to Allah ()during our performance of Prayer. Muslims should at no time make their prayers ritualistic. However, the sad thing is that most of us have unconsciously fallen prey to this. The following narration will help us to understand this. Jubair bin Nufair narrates from `Aus ibn Maalik that the Messenger of Allah () looked towards the sky and said: ā��It is now the time when knowledge shall be raised up.ā�� So a man from the Ansaar called Ziyaad ibn Labeed said: ā��O Messenger of Allah! Will knowledge be raised up, when it has been established and the hearts have stored it?ā�� The Messenger of Allah (?) said: ā��I used to regard you as the best man of understanding among the people of Madinah; did the Jews and the Christians not have the Tauraat and the Injeel? So what benefit did this bring them?ā�� [An?Nasa`i, Ahmad, Al?Haakim, Ibn Hibbaan] After reporting the Hadeeth, Jubair said, I later met Shaddaad ibn `Aus, so he said: ā��`Aus has spoken truthfully. Shall I not inform you of the first part of the knowledge that will be taken up?ā�� I said: ā��Of course.ā�� He said: Khushooā�� (humility and consciousness) in prayer, until you will not see one attentive worshipper.ā�� It is when the external and the internal aspects of the Salaah are properly combined that it manifests itself through the person ?Knowing: ā��Verily, Salaah (Prayer) prevents from Al ?Fahshaa (i.e. illegal sexual intercourse) and Al ?Munkar (disbelief, polytheism or every kind of wicked and evil deed).ā�� [Al ā��Ankaboot 29:45] The above ayah clearly declares that the person who prays should not find within himself any of these two characteristics. This is so because when someone performs Salaah with consciousness and humility, then this Salaah works as a check for him, and in turn helps him to keep away from doing evil deeds. As was mentioned above Khushooā�� means to be solemn, submissive and humble to Allah the Almighty, during the performance of the Salaah (Prayer) and in every day life. Khushooā��, which is the most important aspect of the Prayer and life it self, has to be present before it (the prayer) is fully accepted by Allah ( ?). He, the Al?Mighty said: ā��Successful indeed are the believers: those who offer their prayers with Khushooā�� (solemnity and full submis siveness)ā�¦ [Al ?Muminoon 23:1?2] Implied in this also is that one must be totally conscious of Allah ?) and let his/her heart be alive with His remembrance during the performance of Salaah. ā��
khalid ibrahim
. ALLAH hates the one who swears and hurls obscenities.ā�� (Abu Daud, Al-Tirmidhi) Through maintaining good conduct, one becomes one of the beloved servants of ALLAH. Rasulallah(sallallahu alayahi wa salam)said: ā��The most beloved slaves of ALLAH to ALLAH are those who have the best manners.ā�� (Al-Hakim) When one realizes the importance of good character and its essentiality in defining righteousness, an aspect which is the goal of Islam, this exhorts Muslims to fulfill this aspect of faith as well, since one can not become ā��righteousā�� through mere belief and devotion to ALLAH in themselves without good character. But what is regarded as good character? We find that the Quran and Sunnah in various texts define it to be any trait that is beneficial to humans, both to oneself as well as to others, at the same time not being generally or specifically prohibited by Islam. For example, ALLAH says: ā��Those who suppress their anger, and forgive other people ā�� assuredly, ALLAH loves those who do good.ā�� (Quran 3:134) Righteousness is dealing fairly, justly and politely with oneā��s family. Rasulallah(sallallahu alayahi wa salam)said: ā��The believers with the most perfect faith are those with the most perfect conduct and manners. And the best ones amongst you are those who are best to their families.ā�� (Al-Tirmidhi)
Bill
This conversation seems to miss the idea of this site: political Islam.
Enquiring Mind
Dear Brother Mark,
Thanks, yes your presentation of how I have decided to go about my life fits neatly into the statement,
“All things being equal, I wish to treat others as how I wish to be treated myself.”
I also agree with your other comments;
How can I blindly accept the actions of an “almighty God” when a rational mind would conclude that the actions of the “almighty God” appear nasty or cruel.
I can’t, and if I then have to face my maker and say I don’t like what you have allegedly done, then I have to be true to myself and say so and deal with the consequencies. If my lack of intelligence doesn’t allow me to see or understand the “master plan”, who’s fault is that ? And if I am to be punished for it, by the almighty God, for not just blindly accepting his alleged superior knowing, how is that the actions of a loving entity ?
Regards,
Brother Mark
“@ Rorik V.B. et al.
Dearest Rorik,
P.S.
“The All-father creator choose its people to commence a holy kingdom and spread his message through-out the world, and gave them laws of which many were eternal and many were timely and of political nature. This behavior from the All-Father is pretty clear when you study the issue of incest in the Old Testament for example. In many instances, god gave no judgment in such act, the most famous case being Lot’s daughters, and in some cases gave even protection to such act as Sarah and Abraham, while on others full prohibition as on Levictus 18-20 and Deuteronomy”.
“What laws are abrogated or not is hard to say, that’s why the field Theology exists. For many instances it is pretty simple, if it goes against the core message of Christ, it is done. However many ritualistic or seemly trivial ones becomes more complex and a point to meditate and study. That’s why we say that to understand the Bible take years of serious studies, not so much for the Quran”.
If this is not a typical attempt to rationalize a clear and simple contradiction, then we should understand completely when some good Christian family engages in the practice of incest. Who could blame them, just because they may not have yet done years of serious study to fully understand such matters, or if they even have but come to a different conclusion than someone else who might think wrong of it? The matter of Lot’s daughters or of Sarah and Abraham, can be easily construed into more of a modern context if someone should see enough similarities as a subjective value judgement to do so. Any other opinion would be merely another person’s perspective which they of course would be well entitled to.
To say that you haven’t actually read much of this thread is to give you the benefit of the doubt.
If we are to consider ourselves a “learner” than we must be ready to have the courage to question any preconceived notions. That takes the application of critical thinking ability.
The application of critical thinking skill for the Christian or Muslim will typically cease once a conclusion is reached that contradicts what they have been taught to believe as gospel truth not to be questioned. This isn’t true critical thinking ability being applied if only self serving to the way that one wants to hear the song being sung.
That’s when the talk starts of just having faith or of how not to question God because he’s just so much smarter than you, which would mean that he’s just looking for the gullible to believe anything that he says even if everyone had the same interpretation of what he was saying in the first place, or that your personified creator and maintainer God can do anything at all regarding the creation of planets, species of life, different dimensions, why heck, you pretty much name it……except this great God being able to dumb it down so to speak so that both of us are at least somewhat on the same page.
Or is this God of yours as you have been taught to understand it unwilling to do so? If so I must then ask just why any one of us should worship the decrees so blindly of a God that is unwilling to reveal itself to us in a way that makes any rational sense at all, that we should otherwise have the need to make such excuses for a God that is supposedly so all powerful and infinitely intelligent?
Have a spiritually prosperous day.
Brother Mark:)
Brother Mark
@ Rorik V.B.
Dearest Rorik,
Thank you for your kind words.
Now, getting to the point.
“Also, I do not speak here for Christians as a political institution but only my humble opinion”.
When I speak of Christianity I speak of it both as a political institution and as a religion based on it’s own Christian Bible and history as a reflection of that Religious teaching. Although you profess to expound only your own opinion, you then go on to speak in your post for all Christians.
“If a christian commits rape, enslaves and murder he does so in spite of christians beliefs, not in accord to”.
This would depend on a Christian’s take on the relationship between the Old and the New Testament, which as I have pointed out to our friend Ralph, you simply do not speak for all Christians on.
“This might seem new to you as it is something that is discussed usually on christian higher circles, and they are becoming more rare as time passes by, but you should acknowledge that there is something as Abrogation in Christianity, it is usually called Abrogation of the Old Covenant Laws”.
I really do wish that you took the time to read the thread here, or perhaps you have chosen to ignore what has already been written and discussed about this matter.
“What laws are abrogated or not is hard to say, that’s why the field Theology exists. For many instances seemly trivial ones becomes more complex and a point to meditate and study. That’s why we say that to understand the Bible take years of serious studies”.
Unfortunately even after years of serious study many Christians today still disagree as to the relationship between the Old and New Testament.
“The All-father on the other hand, being the Creator of reality itself, can do so as He sees fitting, for He is perfect”.
“Ananias got the Divine and Transcedental Justice, no man even touched him to cause his death, it was all natural. Why God choose to do so is for us to meditate, but not exactly to question, it would be out of accord with other christian logical conclusions”.
This is a key similarity between Christianity and Islam. It does not matter how sadistic or ludicrous the action is, to dare to question it is considered blasphemous. Earlier in this thread I discuss the fact that the best teachers teach by example, and how as a spiritual father figure role model “Do as I say but not as I do” while being looked upon as the perfect example of morality simply does not work in practice.
Could your creator God have been too slow to catch that? Then again, there is also the lesson of might making right being taught here, a lesson which humanity has learned all too well. That also was discussed in this thread if you should ever choose to read it.
At a certain point, it becomes quickly clear that for the Christian and Muslim, critical thinking skill is not only unnecessary, but wrongful. I can only hope that you and others will someday see how detrimental to the wellness of humanity that is.
Brother Mark:)
Brother Mark
@ Enquiring Mind
“Therefore, how that person would treat me would satisfy the golden rule from his perspective, but I wouldn’t like it”.
“And so by opening it up to our peers, I am working on the basis that there are more people who aren’t sadomasochists than are and so that problem would have been solved”.
We’re still talking here about how you treat others, not how you decide per the situation on how to deal with someone who treats you in a way that you don’t like.
I believe that this was the focus of your original comment.
So treat someone, when as they say all things are equal the way you would like to be treated.
Brother Mark:)
Rorik V.B.
Dear Brother Mark,
I would like to first apologize for not giving such efforts on my replies as your efforts to understand Christianity. I had not read your blog post in its integrity, though I’m familiar with the arguments themselves. If there is any citation of yours that refutes my further statements, I would like to offer sincerely apologies in advance.
I would also like to congratulate you in such manners. Most people that criticize Christianity these days do so with a evil intent on their hearts, and no genuine search for knowledge comes from them, only desire to destroy. You on the other hand seems to have a sincere approach to your critics and so, I believe you deserve praise in that.
Also, I do not speak here for Christians as a political institution but only my humble opinion.
Now, getting to the point: Your main argument is precisely the hypocrisy of Christians when criticize Muslims, your other ramblings are on the matter to proof such point.
The first thing to clear here is that the Christian’s criticism on Islam are in the realm of logical moral systems rather than purely historical assertions. We don’t say “Muslims did this, therefore Islam is evil” rather we say: “Islam commands (present) this, therefore Islam is evil”. The historical acts are the political nature of such commandments, and so, the logical conclusion to them, not the other way around. The logical conclusion of a belief system as Islam are the main point of our critic, that’s why the supposed existence of truly moderate Muslims matter little to us, as by being “moderate” they are going against the rules of their own book. The same judgment goes for Christians, if a christian group commit atrocious acts they do so against the rules of their own book, as the logical conclusions of the christian belief system calls for otherwise. If a christian commits rape, enslaves and murder he does so in spite of christians beliefs, not in accord to. If a muslim rapes, enslaves and murder he will much likely be doing so with a divine sanction for it. From that point of view stems all christians critics to Islam. As far as this goes, I see little to no hypocrisy in our criticism, we judge Muslims and Christians, both, using the same premisses.
As your further statements on christians inconsistencies in the bible and similarity with Allah: This might seem new to you as it is something that is discussed usually on christian higher circles, and they are becoming more rare as time passes by, but you should acknowledge that there is something as Abrogation in Christianity, it is usually called Abrogation of the Old Covenant Laws. This seems a trivial fact at first, but the implications of such facts are way broader than we can comprehend. A divine entity that proclaims to be perfect would logically pass commandments that were perfect, as they stems from him, and so, immutable through time. Perfect. However if you include the concept of Abrogation, new commandments that invalidate previous ones, you have a completely different picture. If a commandment “ceases to be perfect” in a way to demand a new commandment in its place, it is therefore logical that the previous commandment was perfect in its timely instance, that is, it is perfect for the specific period of time it was proclaimed for whatever reason the perfect and omniscient being concluded so. So, we have two kinds of commandments in such belief system, the general and untimely laws that will forever be in place, and the political laws the god gave to its people for whatever reason it saw necessary, for later not being necessary anymore and so, abrogated.
The view we Christians have of the old testament is pretty much this, history. The All-father creator choose its people to commence a holy kingdom and spread his message through-out the world, and gave them laws of which many were eternal and many were timely and of political nature. This behavior from the All-Father is pretty clear when you study the issue of incest in the Old Testament for example. In many instances, god gave no judgment in such act, the most famous case being Lot’s daughters, and in some cases gave even protection to such act as Sarah and Abraham, while on others full prohibition as on Levictus 18-20 and Deuteronomy.
The Abrogation of the Old Convenant Law deals specifically with this point of Christian belief system. God send His son to Earth, and His son spread a new message that is all eternal, and so if there is an Old Law that conflicts with the words of Jesus, it will be automatically abrogated for being so. This comes from the fact that Jesus did in fact denied many old laws by his own actions, like performing works on sabbath or refusing to stone an adulterer. With this fact on light, we have to agree with Ralph’s views on the confirmation verses.
What laws are abrogated or not is hard to say, that’s why the field Theology exists. For many instances it is pretty simple, if it goes against the core message of Christ, it is done. However many ritualistic or seemly trivial ones becomes more complex and a point to meditate and study. That’s why we say that to understand the Bible take years of serious studies, not so much for the Quran.
As for Ananias I have to say you seem naïve on the christian perception of God. We christian pray for forgiveness and repentance, and so, we’re not allowed to be mightly vengeful on our neighbors, for we are fail-able beings. The All-father on the other hand, being the Creator of reality itself, can do so as He sees fitting, for He is perfect. We call him all merciful because on our perception, our very existence depends on Him, if He stops to think about us for a moment, we would all be doomed to cease. We acknowledge that god can and will most likely execute Divine Justice. We christians, and most religions for that fact, have no problem with this. What we have a problem is when humans execute Divine Justice with their own hands, purposefully. That would be against our passive nature and an act of blasphemy as one would think of himself highly enough to be fitting to act as the hand of God. And this is the problem of Islam, not simply “might makes right”. The very concept of Jihad and Submission is all against christian principles. Through the Law of Preservation of Life we’re allowed self-defense and maybe even a pre-emptive defense, but never an full blown Offensive on the balance of the world, let alone forced submission. We’re not tame the world, but simply to present the teachings of Christ. That is the obvious difference between Christians and Muslims. Ananias got the Divine and Transcedental Justice, no man even touched him to cause his death, it was all natural. Why God choose to do so is for us to meditate, but not exactly to question, it would be out of accord with other christian logical conclusions.
I hope my answers can make my point of view more clear to you, my best regards, your fellow learner.
Enquiring Mind
Dear Brother Mark,
Thanks for your response. I appreciate it.
I know this might sound stupid, but when i mentioned “decided by our peers.” it was to deal with a situation where, when treating others how you would like to be treated, as a golden rule, doesn’t work when the other person might be a “sadomasochist”.
Therefore, how that person would treat me would satisfy the golden rule from his perspective, but I wouldn’t like it.
And so by opening it up to our peers, I am working on the basis that there are more people who aren’t sadomasochists than are and so that problem would have been solved.
What would you suggest ?
Keep well.
Brother Mark
@ Enquiring Mind,
…..”decided by our peers.”
Be careful, that could be dangerous.
That golden rule stuff is pretty on the mark though.
Thanks for the comment.
Brother Mark:)
Enquiring Mind
Dear Brother Mark,
The more I think about it, the more I come to the conclusion, that all religions of the book should not be followed.
At the most simplistic level, religion aside, you should treat others how you wish to be treated. And if there is any disagreement between what that treatment should be, it should decided by our peers.
Keep well
Enquiring Mind
“Dear Bhikkhu Aggacitto”, Brother Mark
After having read your post, you seem to have solidified the position for me.
1) If Jesus denounced murder and did not murder then that is a positive teaching in my opinion.
2) If other people in the new testament are purported to have supported the killing of innocents then this is poisoning in my opinion.
Therefore, I believe that it is not acceptable to murder.
I don’t need any agreement from anyone else for me to know that this is how I wish to lead my life.
As such, I will live my life doing as best I can, the conduct of what I believe makes a good person. If I die and there is nothing, then so be it. If I die and there is something, then I just have to take what is coming.
It seems to me that religion purports to have created “man in God’s image”, but I think that man has created “God in his image”.
Keep well
Brother Mark
@ralph et al.
I do apologize for the double post. I was looking over my last post, I thought there might be some material there for a future article…. Windows 8 with the touch screen seems very sensitive, I’ll do my best to be more mindful.
Brother Mark:)
Brother Mark
@ralph,
Thank you so much for the continued dialog. If only all Christians believed like you, this world would be a much better place to live in and a great deal of suffering for humanity would have been avoided. In this regard I take my hat off to you and salute your love gospel approach.
Having said that, I believe that there are a few things that you may wish to consider.
“The New Testament — rather than the dictionary — authoritatively defines what being a follower of Jesus means”.
It does not surprise me that you would find the need to discard the dictionary definition for the word “Christianity”, and instead choose to make up your own definition based on your subjective interpretation of the Christian Bible.
This is something that was actually discussed in the external material that you were initially referred to. A religion has a standard of authority which is it’s religious scripture or scriptural teaching, for Christianity this would be the Christianity Bible. For a language, the standard of authority would be it’s dictionary. The dictionary allows us a better opportunity to understand and study the religious standard of authority in an objective manner. You may have different versions of a languages dictionary, but they will all remain very much consistent.The two go very well together, in this case it would be to acknowledge that although you may not consider someone who shoots up a health care clinic while quoting from the book of Deuteronomy or Leviticus a “real” Christian, it would be best I believe to say rather that this is not the kind of Christian that you would endorse or want as a next door neighbor.
All of the requirements that are indicated in the N.T. for being a Christian can be easily fulfilled by this man’s sincere belief that they have been met even though you may personally choose to disagree, because that’s not your brand of Christianity.Once the Old Testament’s Mosaic law is allowed considerable influence this is readily possible.
You could say the same thing about Buddhism, except for the fact, as an example that we don’t have a single verse in all of our scripture that would in any way condone the suffering or killing of a single living creature.
We also are absent of an invisible monster God that has been known according to your teaching to wrathfully murder entire communities and civilizations by drowning them and setting them on fire via raining fire from the sky because their behavior wasn’t up to par. This is important because as I’m sure we can all agree, the best teachers teach by example. What of the parent who smokes cigarettes and tell’s his children; “Do as I say but not as I do”… not very effective is it? To try to justify this by talking of God having the authority to do as he should wish is to justify “might making right”. Your God would not have the authority without the might or else it would be a relative authority based on who would choose to recognize it as such. This is therefore the lesson taught by Christianity… that might makes right. What a disastrous and horrific lesson to teach with the power and hold that religion can have over the minds of men and women alike. To dodge all of this and more, the in vogue thing for the Christian lately is to simply try to change the objective dictionary definition for the word Christian or Christianity, in exchange for some personally tailored rendition based on your interpretation of the Christian Bible, which of course may very well differ from another Christian’s interpretation, and not just the kind that would shoot up a health care clinic.
Matt.5:17
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”
Fulfilling or in this context completing or completing an expectation of the Mosaic Law, does not mean necessarily replacing or superseding anything.
Your view regarding hell isn’t the most typical Christian one either.
“I do not believe the New Testament teaches — although regrettably many people do — a never-ending, perpetual, everlasting sadistic torture of people in the afterlife in some kind of hell. I don’t believe Jesus taught that”.
“I believe the New Testament teaches that Jesus is the Savior of all humankind, and that all people — regardless of what they did or believed before death — will be purified, refined after death in the fire of God’s righteous judgment”.
So then, allow me to ask… why would one find it necessary for spiritual salvation to be a Christian?
Or do you believe that to be a false teaching also?
“It is incorrect to state that we know little about Jesus the Messiah. His public ministry covered about three years. The New Testament gospels and epistles speak much of Him and his redeeming work as the Savior of the world. What is written is all we need to know about Him.”
Actually, simply making a reference to a time period doesn’t really tell us much about what he was doing, or teaching,etc. If we take into consideration the forty days and nights that he was supposed to have spent in the desert, we still don’t know about much more than about eight weeks or so.
” What is written is all we need to know about Him.”
Thank you for making that judgement for the rest of us. Why more material hasn’t survived that supposed three year period nobody has yet to be able to explain to me. Did it just disappear somehow? There’s the plausible theory that Jesus actually didn’t exist, at as we have come to know the story. The lack of extant material available would not seem to help a contrary point of view.
“Let us consider Jesus’ immediate followers …
Did they continue the ritual sacrificing of animals? No. In Jerusalem, the Jews themselves also stopped the practice when the temple was destroyed in 70 CE.
Did they continue to strictly impose the old requirement of circumcision? No — not after that issue was resolved by expounding upon Jesus’ fulfillment of the Law”.
We’ll discuss this in just a few…
“Did they continue to stone people? No. The Jews themselves did stone Stephen (first Christian martyr) as described in the book of Acts, and the apostle Paul was stoned and survived stoning during his ministry; but followers of Jesus did not stone people”.
Actually, instead of stoning someone to death, they found more torturous ways to go about killing the heathen and heretic, such as burning someone at the stake, or torturing someone until they expired, or perhaps by just simply hacking them to bits.It would seem as if just stoning someone to death became rather boring for them.
“Did they continue to require strict observance of the Sabbath? No — they could instead meet on the first day of the week to coincide with the day when Jesus was raised from the dead”.
“Did they continue to require strict observance of the Passover? No — they instead observed the Lord’s supper with bread and wine, as Jesus had instituted it before His crucifixion”.
Much of what is being mentioned here simply became impractical especially after Gentiles of other cultures started joining the Christian flock in greater numbers, which was very much an emphasis of Paul’s ministry.The circumcision issue I would say was just one reflection of this.
“Did they continue to … ? No”.
“They did not impose observance of the Old Testament laws of Moses because they knew that Jesus had fulfilled those laws, as He said He would do”.
“For followers of Jesus, the New Covenant has superseded the Old Covenant. The Old Testament is not to be understood as being rigidly prescriptive for followers of Jesus the Savior. It is descriptive of what occurred among the Hebrews with all of their failings, and it still has value for us in some ways; but it is not to be understood to be rigidly prescriptive in those areas which were fulfilled by the life, death, resurrection of Jesus and His new commandment of love — love flowing forth from hearts renewed by the power of the Holy Spirit”.
The problem here is that you don’t speak for all Christians on any of this.
There has been controversy from the very beginning as regards the Old Testament and just what to accept of the Mosaic law (if anything) and what not to.Paul’s heated dispute with other early Christians (Gal.) notably the “Judaizers” over the circumcision issue give testimony to this.
As of today, many traditional Christians have the view that only parts are applicable, and which one’s are or aren’t are left to be disputed by one’s interpretation. Many Protestants have the view that NONE is applicable, dual-covenant theologians have the view that only Noahide Laws apply to Gentiles, and some have the view that ALL of the Old Testament laws are still applicable to believers in Jesus (Jewish or Hebrew Christians).
The issue here is the pick and choose nature of all of this depending on how one may choose to interpret the Christian Bible and the Old Testaments relevance as a Christian.
Once that is done, the door for atrocities for the Christian is potentially left wide open, whether it’s your personal interpretation or not.
While we’re at it, here’s something from that external material that you were initially referred to that you have yet to comment on.
You prefer the English Standard version, so let’s work with that.
Acts Ch. 5 (English Standard Version)
Ananias and Sapphira
5 But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, 2 and with his wife’s knowledge he kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles’ feet. 3 But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? 4 While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man butto God.” 5 When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last. And great fear came upon all who heard of it. 6 The young men rose and wrapped him up and carried him out and buried him.
7 After an interval of about three hours his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. 8 And Peter said to her, “Tell me whether you sold the land for so much.” And she said, “Yes, for so much.” 9 But Peter said to her, “How is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.” 10 Immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. When the young men came in they found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. 11 And great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things.
So tell us just how it is that the holy spirit of Jesus, the holy spirit of your “love God” would murder this husband and wife for telling a lie and wanting to keep some of the proceeds for themselves and not “coughing it all up” to Peter?
This looks more like the actions of some murdering, racketeering gangster dissatisfied with the extorted protection money being given. Not the actions of a loving God. Just in case anyone was to think that the Old Testament God had retired with the advent of Christianity and the New Testament this should well demonstrate otherwise.The best teachers teach by example.. remember?
Whether you want to be a sadistic murderer or a real loving kindness kind of person, the Christian Bible has something to offer.
But then again, that’s the problem.
Lot’s of love!
Brother Mark:)
Brother Mark
@ralph,
Thank you so much for the continued dialog. If only all Christians believed like you, this world would be a much better place to live in and a great deal of suffering for humanity would have been avoided. In this regard I take my hat of to you and salute your love gospel approach.
Having said that, I believe that there are a few things that you may wish to consider.
“The New Testament — rather than the dictionary — authoritatively defines what being a follower of Jesus means”.
It does not surprise me that you would find the need to discard the dictionary definition for the word “Christianity”, and instead choose to make up your own definition based on your subjective interpretation of the Christian Bible.
This is something that was actually discussed in the external material that you were initially referred to. A religion has a standard of authority which is it’s religious scripture or scriptural teaching, for Christianity this would be the Christianity Bible. For a language, the standard of authority would be it’s dictionary. The dictionary allows us a better opportunity to understand and study the religious standard of authority in an objective manner. You may have different versions of a languages dictionary, but they will all remain very much consistent.The two go very well together, in this case it would be to acknowledge that although you may not consider someone who shoots up a health care clinic while quoting from the book of Deuteronomy or Leviticus a “real” Christian, it would be best I believe to say rather that this is not the kind of Christian that you would endorse or want as a next door neighbor.
All of the requirements that are indicated in the N.T. for being a Christian can be easily fulfilled by this man’s sincere belief that they have been met even though you may personally choose to disagree, because that’s not your brand of Christianity.Once the Old Testament’s Mosaic law is allowed considerable influence this is readily possible.
You could say the same thing about Buddhism, except for the fact, as an example that we don’t have a single verse in all of our scripture that would in any way condone the suffering or killing of a single living creature.
We also are absent of an invisible monster God that has been known according to your teaching to wrathfully murder entire communities and civilizations by drowning them and setting them on fire via raining fire from the sky because their behavior wasn’t up to par. This is important because as I’m sure we can all agree, the best teachers teach by example. What of the parent who smokes cigarettes and tell’s his children; “Do as I say but not as I do”… not very effective is it? To try to justify this by talking of God having the authority to do as he should wish is to justify “might making right”. Your God would not have the authority without the might or else it would be a relative authority based on who would choose to recognize it as such. This is therefore the lesson taught by Christianity… that might makes right. What a disastrous and horrific lesson to teach with the power and hold that religion can have over the minds of men and women alike. To dodge all of this and more, the in vogue thing for the Christian lately is to simply try to change the objective dictionary definition for the word Christian or Christianity, in exchange for some personally tailored rendition based on your interpretation of the Christian Bible, which of course may very well differ from another Christian’s interpretation, and not just the kind that would shoot up a health care clinic.
Matt.5:17
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”
Fulfilling or in this context completing or completing an expectation of the Mosaic Law, does not mean necessarily replacing or superseding anything.
Your view regarding hell isn’t the most typical Christian one either.
“I do not believe the New Testament teaches — although regrettably many people do — a never-ending, perpetual, everlasting sadistic torture of people in the afterlife in some kind of hell. I don’t believe Jesus taught that”.
“I believe the New Testament teaches that Jesus is the Savior of all humankind, and that all people — regardless of what they did or believed before death — will be purified, refined after death in the fire of God’s righteous judgment”.
So then, allow me to ask… why would one find it necessary for spiritual salvation to be a Christian?
Or do you believe that to be a false teaching also?
“It is incorrect to state that we know little about Jesus the Messiah. His public ministry covered about three years. The New Testament gospels and epistles speak much of Him and his redeeming work as the Savior of the world. What is written is all we need to know about Him.”
Actually, simply making a reference to a time period doesn’t really tell us much about what he was doing, or teaching,etc. If we take into consideration the forty days and nights that he was supposed to have spent in the desert, we still don’t know about much more than about eight weeks or so.
” What is written is all we need to know about Him.”
Thank you for making that judgement for the rest of us. Why more material hasn’t survived that supposed three year period nobody has yet to be able to explain to me. Did it just disappear somehow? There’s the plausible theory that Jesus actually didn’t exist, at as we have come to know the story. The lack of extant material available would not seem to help a contrary point of view.
“Let us consider Jesus’ immediate followers …
Did they continue the ritual sacrificing of animals? No. In Jerusalem, the Jews themselves also stopped the practice when the temple was destroyed in 70 CE.
Did they continue to strictly impose the old requirement of circumcision? No — not after that issue was resolved by expounding upon Jesus’ fulfillment of the Law”.
We’ll discuss this in just a few…
“Did they continue to stone people? No. The Jews themselves did stone Stephen (first Christian martyr) as described in the book of Acts, and the apostle Paul was stoned and survived stoning during his ministry; but followers of Jesus did not stone people”.
Actually, instead of stoning someone to death, they found more torturous ways to go about killing the heathen and heretic, such as burning someone at the stake, or torturing someone until they expired, or perhaps by just simply hacking them to bits.It would seem as if just stoning someone to death became rather boring for them.
“Did they continue to require strict observance of the Sabbath? No — they could instead meet on the first day of the week to coincide with the day when Jesus was raised from the dead”.
“Did they continue to require strict observance of the Passover? No — they instead observed the Lord’s supper with bread and wine, as Jesus had instituted it before His crucifixion”.
Much of what is being mentioned here simply became impractical especially after Gentiles of other cultures started joining the Christian flock in greater numbers, which was very much an emphasis of Paul’s ministry.The circumcision issue I would say was just one reflection of this.
“Did they continue to … ? No”.
“They did not impose observance of the Old Testament laws of Moses because they knew that Jesus had fulfilled those laws, as He said He would do”.
“For followers of Jesus, the New Covenant has superseded the Old Covenant. The Old Testament is not to be understood as being rigidly prescriptive for followers of Jesus the Savior. It is descriptive of what occurred among the Hebrews with all of their failings, and it still has value for us in some ways; but it is not to be understood to be rigidly prescriptive in those areas which were fulfilled by the life, death, resurrection of Jesus and His new commandment of love — love flowing forth from hearts renewed by the power of the Holy Spirit”.
The problem here is that you don’t speak for all Christians on any of this.
There has been controversy from the very beginning as regards the Old Testament and just what to accept of the Mosaic law (if anything) and what not to.Paul’s heated dispute with other early Christians (Gal.) notably the “Judaizers” over the circumcision issue give testimony to this.
As of today, many traditional Christians have the view that only parts are applicable, and which one’s are or aren’t are left to be disputed by one’s interpretation. Many Protestants have the view that NONE is applicable, dual-covenant theologians have the view that only Noahide Laws apply to Gentiles, and some have the view that ALL of the Old Testament laws are still applicable to believers in Jesus (Jewish or Hebrew Christians).
The issue here is the pick and choose nature of all of this depending on how one may choose to interpret the Christian Bible and the Old Testaments relevance as a Christian.
Once that is done, the door for atrocities for the Christian is potentially left wide open, whether it’s your personal interpretation or not.
While we’re at it, here’s something from that external material that you were initially referred to that you have yet to comment on.
You prefer the English Standard version, so let’s work with that.
Acts Ch. 5 (English Standard Version)
Ananias and Sapphira
5 But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, 2 and with his wife’s knowledge he kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles’ feet. 3 But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? 4 While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man butto God.” 5 When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last. And great fear came upon all who heard of it. 6 The young men rose and wrapped him up and carried him out and buried him.
7 After an interval of about three hours his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. 8 And Peter said to her, “Tell me whether you sold the land for so much.” And she said, “Yes, for so much.” 9 But Peter said to her, “How is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.” 10 Immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. When the young men came in they found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. 11 And great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things.
So tell us just how it is that the holy spirit of Jesus, the holy spirit of your “love God” would murder this husband and wife for telling a lie and wanting to keep some of the proceeds for themselves and not “coughing it all up” to Peter?
This looks more like the actions of some murdering, racketeering gangster dissatisfied with the extorted protection money being given. Not the actions of a loving God. Just in case anyone was to think that the Old Testament God had retired with the advent of Christianity and the New Testament this should well demonstrate otherwise.The best teachers teach by example… remember?
Whether you want to be a sadistic murderer or a real loving kindness kind of person, the Christian Bible has something to offer.
But then again, that’s the problem.
Lot’s of love!
Brother Mark:)
Enquiring Mind
“Dear Bhikkhu Aggacitto”, Brother Mark
Thanks for the clarification. I took a look at the Theravada Buddhist teachings.
There are some very learned people contributing comments here. I have to admit I am not one of them.
My (possibly simplistic) view of life is that if the religion you represent, does not treat humanity as a whole, equally or the religion calls for murder.
Then, in my humble opinion IMHO, they are poisoning as opposed to cleansing teachings and should not be followed.
Raplh, IMHO, seems to know his stuff, and it would appear that he views “Love” as being the golden rule. That is not a difficult concept for me to live with, regardless of whether the reality of Jesus as the son of god is a reality or not.
I am of the opinion that in all likelyhood there is a greater intelligence than humans, but I have real difficulty believing that what was written in the Torah, New Testaments or the Quoran as being fact.
As said previously, and I haven’t studied this at all, what I have read about what was purportedly said by Jesus, in the whole, seems reasonable on how we should treat others and live our lives.
Regardless of whether he/was wasn’t the son of God, and regardless of whether there is or isn’t a God, Jesus certainly didn’t do it for earth bound rewards, like notoriety, power, money or greed etc.
I can’t say the same, based on my understanding of the life and teachings of Mohammed, about Mohammed
And my understanding of contents of the Torah, the God sounds like a “nutter”
Nevertheless, I guess what I am saying, is that if people murder in the name of the Jewish, Christian or Muslim religions, then the number of deaths has no real bearing on whether the teachings are sound, if the religion dictates that you shouldn’t murder. From what I have read, the muslim teachings allow for murder to be committed, there was definately murder occuring in the old testament and as far as my understanding goes, Jesus categorically stated that murder was wrong.
Therefore, if I was going to align myself with any of the religions it would be the Jesus one. But that doesn’t mean I actually believe that he was the son of God.
Keep well
Ralph
To: Brother Mark
I believe that we must ask the following question:
How did the immediate followers of Jesus in the first century CE — after His crucifixion and resurrection and ascension, and after the empowerment of Jesus’ followers by the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost — understand Jesus’ statement about the “Law or the Prophets”?
That is the paramount question here, and it is also the paramount question for other difficult issues that we encounter in the New Testament text. The apostles — who were very closely following along with Jesus during His public ministry of about three years — are the experts in interpreting what He meant.
Here is the text that you believe is troublesome:
(from Matthew 5:17-18, English Standard Version of the Bible):
” “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.
For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.”
Jesus did accomplish all that He came to accomplish — i.e., all was accomplished. Hanging on the cross, He said, “It is finished.” At that point, the Law was fulfilled. Don’t get sidetracked by the “until heaven and earth pass away” idiom in a complex sentence, or you will miss the whole point about fulfillment of the Law. Jesus’ meaning is clear when we understand His mission as the Savior of the world — the one who fulfilled the Law.
Let us consider Jesus’ immediate followers …
Did they continue the ritual sacrificing of animals? No. In Jerusalem, the Jews themselves also stopped the practice when the temple was destroyed in 70 CE.
Did they continue to strictly impose the old requirement of circumcision? No — not after that issue was resolved by expounding upon Jesus’ fulfillment of the Law.
Did they continue to stone people? No. The Jews themselves did stone Stephen (first Christian martyr) as described in the book of Acts, and the apostle Paul was stoned and survived stoning during his ministry; but followers of Jesus did not stone people.
Did they continue to require strict observance of the Sabbath? No — they could instead meet on the first day of the week to coincide with the day when Jesus was raised from the dead.
Did they continue to require strict observance of the Passover? No — they instead observed the Lord’s supper with bread and wine, as Jesus had instituted it before His crucifixion.
Did they continue to … ? No.
They did not impose observance of the Old Testament laws of Moses because they knew that Jesus had fulfilled those laws, as He said He would do.
We need to look at Jesus’ statement differently than how you have been looking at it.
I believe the disciples understood the words of Jesus to mean that He would not simply abolish the laws of Moses and then stop there, leaving the people hanging with no laws of governance.
Jesus said that He would fulfill those old laws and then give the people a means of governance based on a new commandment — based on love for one another coming out of hearts that were to be renewed by the power of the infilling Holy Spirit, which He sent to them on the day of Pentecost after His ascension, as He had said that He would do.
(from John 13:31-35, English Standard Version of the Bible):
“When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him.
If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and glorify him at once.
Little children, yet a little while I am with you. You will seek me, and just as I said to the Jews, so now I also say to you, ‘Where I am going you cannot come.’
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.
By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” ”
————–
It is incorrect to state that we know little about Jesus the Messiah. His public ministry covered about three years. The New Testament gospels and epistles speak much of Him and his redeeming work as the Savior of the world. What is written is all we need to know about Him.
————–
The New Testament — rather than the dictionary — authoritatively defines what being a follower of Jesus means. The Old Testament does not define what being a follower of Jesus means.
In the Old Testament, Jesus appears as only a prophetic thread and sometimes also — as some people believe — as a pre-incarnate manifestation. In the New Testament, He is fully-revealed as the Son of God who walked among humankind in human flesh.
Regardless of Jesus’ visibility in the Old Testament, a follower of Jesus who knows nothing about the existence of the Old Testament can live faithfully, lovingly in dependence upon Jesus the Savior.
For followers of Jesus, the New Covenant has superseded the Old Covenant. The Old Testament is not to be understood as being rigidly prescriptive for followers of Jesus the Savior. It is descriptive of what occurred among the Hebrews with all of their failings, and it still has value for us in some ways; but it is not to be understood to be rigidly prescriptive in those areas which were fulfilled by the life, death, resurrection of Jesus and His new commandment of love — love flowing forth from hearts renewed by the power of the Holy Spirit.
The apostles of Jesus in the first century CE thrashed out these issues among themselves and arrived at authoritative conclusions applicable to their era.
————–
I will address an issue which may remain thorny for you …
I do not believe the New Testament teaches — although regrettably many people do — a never-ending, perpetual, everlasting sadistic torture of people in the afterlife in some kind of hell. I don’t believe Jesus taught that.
I believe the New Testament teaches that Jesus is the Savior of all humankind, and that all people — regardless of what they did or believed before death — will be purified, refined after death in the fire of God’s righteous judgment.
I believe that Jesus is pure love, and that judgment in the afterlife is aimed at being restorative for all people. That is my hope and expectation. I pray for the ultimate salvation of all people, and I exclude none. That is consistent with the true God of love.
If I — as a frail human being — have that amount of concern for all people, then most certainly the true God of love has a restorative concern far exceeding anything I could comprehend.
In the afterlife, God will do whatever is perfectly just for all people, regardless of what we believe He will do. What He does will be based upon the redemption that is in Jesus the Messiah.
————–
When we attempt to interpret the Bible, we should do so with the understanding that Jesus the Savior defines for humankind what God is like:
(from John 14:1-21, English Standard Version of the Bible):
“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.
In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.
And you know the way to where I am going.”
Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?”
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”
Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.”
Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works.
Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.
“Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.
Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.
“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever,
even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.
“I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.
Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live.
In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.
Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.”
————–
I wish you well.
Ralph
To: Brother Mark
I believe that we must ask the following question:
How did the immediate followers of Jesus in the first century CE — after His crucifixion and resurrection and ascension, and after empowerment of Jesus’ followers by the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost — understand Jesus’ statement about the “Law or the Prophets”?
That is the paramount question here, and it is also the paramount question for other difficult issues that we encounter in the New Testament text. The apostles — who were very closely following along with Jesus during His public ministry of about three years — are the experts in interpreting what He meant.
Here is the text that you believe is troublesome:
(from Matthew 5:17-18, English Standard Version of the Bible):
” “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.
For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.”
Jesus did accomplish all that He came to accomplish — i.e., all was accomplished. Hanging on the cross, He said, “It is finished.” At that point, the Law was fulfilled. Don’t get sidetracked by the “until heaven and earth pass away” idiom in a complex sentence, or you will miss the whole point. Jesus’ meaning is clear when we understand His mission as the Savior of the world — the one who fulfilled the Law.
Let us consider Jesus’ immediate followers …
Did they continue the ritual sacrificing of animals? No. In Jerusalem, the Jews themselves also stopped the practice when the temple was destroyed in 70 CE.
Did they continue to strictly impose the old requirement of circumcision? No — not after that issue was resolved by expounding upon Jesus’ fulfillment of the Law.
Did they continue to stone people? No. The Jews themselves did stone Stephen (first Christian martyr) as described in the book of Acts, and the apostle Paul was stoned and survived stoning during his ministry; but followers of Jesus did not stone people.
Did they continue to require strict observance of the Sabbath? No — they could instead meet on the first day of the week to coincide with the day when Jesus was raised from the dead.
Did they continue to require strict observance of the Passover? No — they instead observed the Lord’s supper with bread and wine, as Jesus had instituted it before His crucifixion.
Did they continue to … ? No.
They did not impose observance of the Old Testament laws of Moses because they knew that Jesus had fulfilled those laws, as He said He would do.
We need to look at Jesus’ statement differently than how you have been looking at it.
I believe the disciples understood the words of Jesus to mean that He would not simply abolish the laws of Moses and then stop there, leaving the people hanging with no laws of governance.
Jesus said that He would fulfill those old laws and then give the people a means of governance based on a new commandment — based on love for one another — coming out of hearts that were to be renewed by the power of the infilling Holy Spirit, which He sent to them on the day of Pentecost after His ascension as He had said the He would do.
(from John 13:31-35, English Standard Version of the Bible):
“When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him.
If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and glorify him at once.
Little children, yet a little while I am with you. You will seek me, and just as I said to the Jews, so now I also say to you, ‘Where I am going you cannot come.’
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.
By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” ”
————–
It is incorrect to state that we know little about Jesus the Messiah. His public ministry covered about three years. The New Testament gospels and epistles speak much of Him and his redeeming work as the Savior of the world. What is written is all we need to know about Him.
————–
The New Testament — rather than the dictionary — authoritatively defines what being a follower of Jesus means. Christianity is about Jesus the Savior of the world, whether He is seen as a only a thread that runs throughout the Old Testament, or whether He is revealed fully in the New Testament.
For followers of Jesus, the New Covenant has superseded the Old Covenant. The Old Testament is not to be understood as being rigidly prescriptive for followers of Jesus the Savior. It is descriptive of what occurred among the Hebrews with all of their failings, and it still has value for us in some ways; but it is not to be understood to be rigidly prescriptive in those areas which were fulfilled by the life, death, resurrection of Jesus and His new commandment of love — love flowing forth from hearts renewed by the power of the Holy Spirit.
The apostles of Jesus in the first century CE thrashed out these issues among themselves and arrived at authoritative conclusions applicable to their era.
————–
I will address an issue which may remain thorny for you …
I do not believe the New Testament teaches — although regrettably many people do — a never-ending, perpetual, everlasting sadistic torture of people in the afterlife in some kind of hell. I don’t believe Jesus taught that.
I believe the New Testament teaches that Jesus is the Savior of all humankind, and that all people — regardless of what they did or believed before death — will be purified, refined after death in the fire of God’s righteous judgment.
I believe that Jesus is pure love, and that judgment in the afterlife is aimed at being restorative for all people. That is my hope and expectation. I pray for the ultimate salvation of all people, and I exclude none. That is consistent with the true God of love.
If I — as a frail human being — have that amount of concern for all people, then most certainly the true God of love has a restorative concern far exceeding anything I could comprehend.
In the afterlife, God will do whatever is perfectly just for all people, regardless of what we believe He will do. What He does will be based upon the redemption that is in Jesus the Messiah.
————–
When we attempt to interpret the Bible, we should do so with the understanding that Jesus the Savior defines for humankind what God is like:
(from John 14:1-21, English Standard Version of the Bible):
“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.
In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.
And you know the way to where I am going.”
Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?”
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”
Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.”
Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works.
Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.
“Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.
Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.
“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever,
even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.
“I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.
Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live.
In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.
Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.”
————–
I wish you well.
Brother Mark
@ Enquiring Mind,
Thank you for the comment, and in case you’re interested, the Brother Mark is not “tongue in cheek”.
I am a Theravada Buddhist monk. “Brother Mark” is a casual monastic name, as opposed to perhaps my ordained name which is Bhikkhu aggacitto.
Lot’s of love!
Brother Mark:)
Brother Mark
@ralph,
The problem here I believe is that when one takes the Christian Bible as a whole, the story becomes much different. Christianity is a religious belief that has alot more to do with the Christian Bible than with what little we know according to the Bible about the life of Jesus. I gave the dictionary definition of Christianity….remember?
When we look at Matt.5:17 and Jesus talks of not coming to abolish the law or the prophets…
Would you deny that the law being spoken of here was the notorious law of Moses?
Thank you for taking the time to respond.
Brother Mark:)
Enquiring Mind
Brother Mark (which I assume is meant tongue in cheek)
I came to this website after reading about the British Muslims found guilty of an attempt to commit acts of terrorism and I was intrigued as to what their mindsets were/are.
I read your blog also. I was raised a Catholic by birth but although at a high level I think that the words attributed to Jesus (Treat others as you would like to be treated, do not commit murder etc) seems reasonable. It would appear to me that if there is a “God” as purported by either Jew, Christian or Muslim. He/She/thing is a nasty piece of work.
Ralph
To: Brother Mark
Soon after your first post on 19 February 2013, I quickly read and began to ponder the external material that you cited. Today, I carefully re-read your external material to better understand your assertions.
What I have written below may not satisfy you completely. Your written material was a significant investment on your part, and it deserves a thoughtful reply. I wish you well in your search for the truth.
Jesus the Messiah — through His life, death, resurrection — fulfilled the Old Testament law. The Old Testament text is not needed to produce or maintain a faithful, loving follower of Jesus the Savior.
Whenever Bible translators worldwide have been able to complete a translation of only the New Testament text for an indigenous people, that must suffice. Throughout history, many Christians have lived faithfully, lovingly with only scraps of New Testament text.
A person needs only to understand that Jesus is the representation of the loving God to humankind, and that Jesus only asks people to trust Him, draw near to Him, cling to HIm, rely on Him, so that they can receive His strength to be His instruments of love to humankind — i.e., to be the “body of Christ” at work in the world.
A follower of Jesus the Savior trusts Him, draws near to Him, clings to Him, relies on Him to receive daily strength in order to be His instrument of love to the world. That is the Biblical definition of a Christian.
For the moment, I will blindly assume — without proof — that your documented sources are at least partially truthful in their assertions.
From your material, I conclude that the cited people — who committed the atrocities and other grave injustices throughout the centuries on various continents and islands — had nearly-zero knowledge or understanding of the actual life of Jesus the Savior as it is primarily defined in the four gospel accounts of the New Testament and as it is further defined in the remaining books of the New Testament.
With nearly-zero knowledge of the real Jesus, those people should not be called Christians. They were clearly not desiring to be the instruments of Jesus’ love to the world, and they were clearly not living in vital fellowship with Jesus, the Savior of the world, the Good Shepherd, the Way, the Truth, the Life.
No rational person — having balanced knowledge from the four gospel accounts of how Jesus actually lived during His approximately three years of public ministry — could have made the outrageously-depraved verbal statements that you cited from the chroniclers. Nobody having a balanced knowledge of the words of Jesus could have spoken so ignorantly and outrageously.
How were all of those people so woefully-ignorant of the life and words of Jesus? In times of gross illiteracy and before written gospel accounts and written epistles became available in the language of the common people, the literate people were in control of the written information about Jesus.
Did the literate people — who might actually have read the gospel accounts aloud to other people in their own language — manipulate minds by reading and emphasizing only narrowly-selected portions from the four gospel accounts?
Did teachers tell corrupted and fanciful stories about Jesus out of ignorance or with the aim of manipulating the hearers to do their bidding?
It appears to me that the literate people were knowingly or ignorantly or carelessly withholding crucial New Testament material from their hearers.
What would have happened if people had heard this from Jesus the Savior?:
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’
But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.
For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?
And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?
You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
(from Matthew 5:43-48, English Standard Version of the Bible)
And what would have happened if people had heard this golden rule?:
“And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him.
“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”
And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
This is the great and first commandment.
And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” ”
(from Matthew 22:35-40, English Standard Version of the Bible)
Note Jesus’ reference (above) to “the Law and the Prophets” about which you wrote in your material regarding Matthew 5:17 (ESV): “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” This helps to explain what Jesus meant — that He would fulfill the law and the prophets by doing the things stated in Matthew 22:35-40; and He did do those things while living among humankind.
And what would have happened if people had heard this golden rule?:
And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?”
Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.
And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’
The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
(from Mark 12:28-31, English Standard Version of the Bible)
How could anyone hear the words of Chapter 13 from the Apostle Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians and not think about how to act in love?
” If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant
or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;
it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.
Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.
For we know in part and we prophesy in part,
but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.
When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.
For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.
So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”
(from 1 Corinthians 13, English Standard Version of the Bible)
The immediate followers of Jesus the Messiah went out into the world, peacefully spreading the good news of the Savior of the world, as Jesus had personally demonstrated and directed. That simple, pure process became corrupted after institutionalized Christianity became a part of powerful governments who tried to spread Christianity by intimidation and force. That was not the way of Jesus. It is not the way of Jesus.
God is love. Jesus is the representation of God to humankind. Without having seen Jesus, we would not know the true God of love. Now we know. There were once times of ignorance. We have no excuse anymore. We will either seek refuge in Jesus, trust Him, rely on Him, draw near to Him, cling to Him, or we will be on our own fumbling around in the darkness. On our own, we will fail to represent the true God of love to the world.
The people that you cited in your article were fumbling around in the darkness, acting on their own. They failed to represent the true God of love to the world.
Brother Mark
@ralph et al.
THE CHRISTIAN ANTI JIHADIST …
A STUDY IN HYPOCRISY
http://talktruthful.com/2012/11/02/93/
I’m not just trying to promo my blog site here, I
sincerely believe that there’s something here that would be good for yourself and others to seriously consider.
Have a spiritually prosperous day!
Brother Mark:)
Brother Mark
@ralph et al.
Take a look….I believe that there’s a few things here that you may wish to consider….
http://talktruthful.com/2012/11/02/93/
Thank you, and have a great day!
Brother Mark:)
Ralph
To: a passer by
Some of your statements are not based upon facts. You apparently don’t know the contents of Islam’s foundational source texts and you apparently don’t know what is happening in the Muslim world today. You apparently don’t know the truth about the origins of the contents of the Qur’an — that the Qur’an was derived and adapted largely from outside multi-cultural sources that were available to Muhammad during his lifetime — that the Qur’an was not divinely sent down to Muhammad as he claimed. Islam’s fanciful claims about the Qur’an are unfounded, and yet Muhammad maintains a death-grip on Muslim people.
The problem with Islam is not human genetics. The problem is Muhammad’s Sunna and utterances that have a strangle-hold on Muslim people. The problem is the false ideology of Islam. You think Islam’s ideology is good for people. I disagree. False ideology is not good for people. False ideology keeps people in darkness.
Contrary to popular propaganda, Islam and Christianity are not the same in their crucial elements. In Islam, Jesus is not the Savior of the world. In Islam, Jesus is not the Son of God. The god of Islam is not the true God of love. The god of Islam does not love all of the world’s peoples.
Do you think I could go to Saudi Arabia and teach freely about Jesus the Messiah as the Son of God, the Savior of the world? Do you think I could begin a Christian church there? Would I be deported if I did that, or would I be imprisoned or murdered? What does that tell you about Islam?
Do you think that a Muslim person can leave Islam and become an apostate without being persecuted or murdered? What do Islam’s foundational source texts say about apostasy? What does that tell you about Islam?
Why do you think Muslim people believe suicide bombing is honorable? That idea results from Islam’s false ideology based on Muhammad’s fanciful tales about the afterlife.
Violent actions such as honor-murders, suicide-bombings, acid-attacks, beheadings, mutilations, stonings, beatings, murders for apostasy, etc. that are done by Muslim people are inspired by Muhammad’s Sunna (Sira and Hadith) and utterances (chronologically-arranged Qur’an with abrogation applied). Muhammad was a confused man, and his prescriptions should not be followed by anyone.
Osama Bin Laden quoted from the Qur’an regarding his violent activities. He was not alone in doing that. Other Muslim leaders do the same. What does that tell you about Islam?
If you believe that Islam is a wonderful religion of peace, then you should visit http://www.thereligionofpeace.com
and do some serious reading. Your eyes will be opened.
I wish you well in your search for the truth about Islam. Islam does not contain the truth about God.
The truth is that God is love.
Ralph
Abai Iliiazov,
If you will carefully read my previously-submitted comments in this thread and in other threads on this website, you will find that I do not blame Islam for all of the problems in the world now or in the past. I know world history. I clearly wrote that Muhammad was one of many leaders throughout the history of the world who did not follow the golden rule. It has been a common problem. I mentioned names of some leaders besides Muhammad. They were mentally-confused leaders. Anyone who does not know the true God of love cannot understand the golden rule.
Islam is a false ideology. Islam’s god does not proclaim love for all of the world’s peoples. Non-Muslim people are not loved by Islam’s false god.
Muhammad was not a prophet of the Creator, so Muhammad’s Sunna and utterances should not be followed by anyone. Muhammad was a very confused man.
Muslim people remain in the strangle-hold and death-grip of Muhammad via his Sunna and utterances and via other Muslim people who blindly and falsely believe that they must follow Muhammad’s Sunna and utterances.
Any intelligent, critically-thinking person who has studied the contents of Muhammad’s non-whitewashed, non-sugar-coated Sunna (Ishaq’s Sira plus Bukhari’s Hadith) and Muhammad’s utterances (chronologically-arranged Qur’an) knows the truth about Muhammad — and that truth about Muhammad is not all pretty.
This website contains a wealth of material that will educate you about the true Islam. Along with that, you can study a wealth of educational material at http://www.answering-islam.org Your eyes will be opened.
If you study only Muslim propaganda, you will remain in darkness. You must study the same non-whitewashed, non-sugar-coated foundational source texts that eminent Muslim scholars use (Ishaq’s Sira, Bukhari’s Hadith, chronologically-arranged Qur’an).
Jesus the Messiah did not tell His followers to use intimidation and violence when spreading the gospel — the good news of salvation — to the world. If some people who claim to be followers of Jesus the Savior choose to use intimidation and violence, then they are using intimidation and violence on their own. Jesus does not sanction it.
Muhammad — via his Sunna and utterances from the Medinan era — sanctioned intimidation and violence for spreading Islam to the world. Muhammad sanctioned intimidation and violence by his own example in the Medinan era at the end of his life. That is reprehensible.
Here are some specific responses to your comments:
You have swallowed propaganda about the historical crusades. You will discover some of the truth about the historical crusades on this website. It will probably surprise you. You can simply type “crusade” into the SEARCH box in the upper-right corner of the web page and read some facts. You can also learn some truth about the crusades at http://www.answering-islam.org
Hitler was a mentally-confused man who did not know the true God of love. He did not understand the golden rule. He was one of many haters of the Jews throughout history. The false ideology of Medinan Islam also inspires hatred for the Jews today. Some Muslim children are taught to hate the Jews, simply because of Islam’s false ideology that is based on Islam’s foundational source texts. Teaching hatred of the Jews to children is reprehensible.
The Palestinian people have been used by Muslim leaders as poor pawns in attempts to manipulate the world’s favor away from the nation of Israel. That reprehensible tactic works politically because of dhimmi news media who don’t tell the truth. Why did Hamas begin its firing of rockets into the nation of Israel from living areas at Gaza, when they knew full well that a self-defense response from Israel would cause Palestinian casualties? It was reprehensible, cold-blooded, calculated use of the poor Palestinian people as pawns for political purposes. Hamas leaders are mentally-confused. They do not know the true God of love, and so they cannot understand the golden rule. They want Israel to disappear because they are following Islam’s false political ideology from Islam’s foundational source texts, and they use the Palestinian people as political pawns as they see fit. They don’t try to raise the living standards of the poor Palestinian people. Islam’s reprehensible, supremacist, false ideology governs what those Muslim leaders do in initiating the firing of rockets into the nation of Israel.
Nuclear weapons were created and used during World War II in direct response to the false, imperialistic, supremacist ideologies of the European and Asian Axis nations who were determined to conquer the world. The blame for creation of nuclear weapons should be placed where it belongs. Would nuclear weapons have been created eventually even if those imperialistic, supremacist ideologies had not existed? I don’t know. The leaders of the Axis nations were mentally-confused. They did not know the true God of love, and so they could not understand the golden rule.
I will not try to justify the atrocities and other injustices that have happened on the American continent or on any other continent throughout history. The people who did those things were mentally-confused. They did not understand the golden rule. They were not following Jesus.
This website clearly explains that Muslim people conducted the atrocious, inhumane, depraved slave trade in Africa. The Muslim people who did that were mentally-confused. They were following Muhammad’s Sunna and utterances, because Muhammad himself was mentally-confused. They did not understand the golden rule. They did not know the true God of love.
Lesson: Stop following mentally-confused leaders, whoever they are. People who don’t teach and understand and follow the golden rule should not be followed. That includes Muhammad, along with many others.
a passer by
Judeo – Christian belief has a lot more in common with Islam, than any other religion or ideology in the world. Islam preaches peace and submission. If there are terrorists in the world, one should study, where they came from and who they were established by. Let’s take Al Qaeda or any other terrorist organization. They all go to the same source of inspiration, which is not Quran. They were organized and funded by well known western countries. It is the leadership in these western countries that instigated these hostile and provocative movements. If you want to see Islam in action, go and live in Turkey or Egypt. Interact with local people, study their daily lives and be part of those communities. You will see, that ordinary muslims, are people with good hearts and compassion. They help one another and treat everybody with respect and avoid committing crimes and violence. They are people, they are human beings and Muhammad’s teachings help them become even better people, as Islam keeps them from harm’s way.
Abai Iliiazov
Ralph, Helbat,
Your hostile views on Islam are sheer proof of your own confusion. Never before have I read such absurd and erroneous assumptions based on hatred and false information. If you do not like Muhammad’s teachings, let be so, but it is not fair to accredit all the violence and crises in the world to Muslims. So many violent revolutions are taking place accross the world because of secret services of certain countries. Is it Israel who is occupying illegally more lands yard by yard daily, or the Palestinians? Is it Hitler, who started WWII or any other Muslim leader? Is it Catholic Church initiated crusades in search of wealth and killed hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians or a muslim mosque? Is it The USA, who ever used atomic bomb or any other Muslim nation? Is it first settlers who wiped out the native Americans and stripped them off their lands or these were ‘confused’ muslims? Is it the west that sucked out all the wealth and natural resources off Africa, or was it some Muslim nation? Oh my God, what are you talking about??? You are insane!!!
Ralph
S R Wakankar,
Among the chosen, eyewitness apostles of Jesus the Messiah in the first century CE (hundreds of years before Muhammad) was Thomas. After Jesus had been crucified and then resurrected from the dead, and after the apostles had been empowered by the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, the apostles went to other parts of the world to boldly and non-violently declare the good news of Jesus, the Savior of the world, as they had been instructed by Jesus Himself to do. Tradition tells us that Thomas went to India and was martyred there.
World-renowned Christian thinker, Ravi Zacharias, who was raised in India, stated the following on page 33 in Chapter 2 of his autobiographical book, ‘Walking from East to West’ (Copyright 2006 by Ravi Zacharias, Zondervan, Grand Rapids Michigan 49530):
“… the apostle Thomas. He came to India and paid with his life to bring a new message to the upper crust of India’s cradle of philosophy. One of the largest church groups in India today, nine million members and a thousand parishes strong — called the Mar Thoma Church (“Lord Thomas”, a title of honor, not comparing Thomas to the Lord Jesus) — originated in Kerala and is named after the apostle. Thomas’s contribution, both to the philosophical landscape and to my own path, has been incalculable.”
If the original Islam (which you described in your comment of 3 February 2013) is monotheistic, if it includes Jesus the Messiah, if it is non-violent, and if it is based on love for all people, then I speculate that it began in the first century CE with Thomas, the eyewitness apostle of Jesus, the Savior of the world. Thomas taught what he had seen and heard as an eyewitness of Jesus the Savior.
S R Wakankar
We have to draw a line between Islam and Arab Islam.
Arab Islam is “for the Arab, by the Arab, of the Arab”. Otherwise, beyond it, it is Imperialism only.
Hindu India is the only country in the world which, in spite of total political/military collapse in the medieval period, survived this onslaught and successfully stands alive today, thanks to the great Hindu word which became a symbol of RESISTANCE. In no other any country which underwent this problem, any such word is found.
Hindu India (better if we call it non-Arab Asia Region) has its own great tradition of pre-Arab/pre-Mohammedan Islam which is not Koranic but Vedic and its language being Sanskrit, not Arabic. This Sanskrit Islam which can be called as Old Islam also, is the true authentic Islam. Ironically the AfPak region is the place of birth of this original real Islam. We have to go to this Hindu Islam and find it out. It is lying buried their. This whole area was soon converted to Arab Islam but rest of India offered great resistance and didn’t convert.
We mix up Islam with Arab Islam and then get lost in the wilderness.
The great pre-Arab/pre-Mohammedan tradition of Hindu Religion which I love to call “Hindu Islam” is the real Islam. It is neither Jihadi nor violent nor supremacist or based on hate for others.
Ralph
In an attempt to bring balance to my previous comment:
Leaders Joseph Stalin and Mao Zedong were purportedly responsible for the deaths of tens of millions of people within their own nations during the 20th century, and there were more leaders like them.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stalin See the section: Calculating the number of victims
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mao_Zedong See the section: Legacy
Although those two leaders were presumably not Muslims like Idi Amin, they were similarly mentally-confused leaders who didn’t know the true God of love and, therefore, didn’t follow the golden rule, which is the universal standard of behavior for human beings.
Throughout history, there has been an unending parade of mentally-confused leaders who did not follow the golden rule.
How can the common people within an autocratic nation stop a mentally-confused leader who doesn’t follow the golden rule? Some people in Muhammad’s day tried to stop him, but Muhammad had them murdered after he gained sufficient power. Muhammad wasn’t alone in having his detractors murdered. That’s what totalitarian rulers do.
Ralph
Many conquerors throughout the history of the world have been mentally-confused. Many have been mentally-manipulative, sadistic monsters.
Genghis Kahn — in about the 12th century (hundreds of years after Muhammad) — purportedly said, “The greatest happiness is to vanquish your enemies, to chase them before you, to rob them of their wealth, to see those dear to them bathed in tears, to clasp to your bosom their wives and daughters,” and “The greatest happiness is to scatter your enemy, to drive him before you, to see his cities reduced to ashes, to see those who love him shrouded in tears, and to gather into your bosom his wives and daughters.” (Source: http://www.quotesdaddy.com/author/Genghis+Khan) Those are statements from a confused mind. Genghis Kahn purportedly also said things that were less deplorable. He was, nonetheless, terribly confused.
When I was a young adult in the 1970’s, I first heard about Idi Amin who “… came to be known as the “Butcher of Uganda” for his brutality, and it is believed that some 300,000 people were killed and countless others tortured during his presidency.” (Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica 2007). He was a mentally-confused man who was also a Muslim. It appears to me that he was following Muhammad’s Sunna.
When we read in Islam’s foundational source texts that Muhammad permitted his violent-jihad warriors to rape the subjugated ones, then we should conclude that Muhammad was a mentally-confused man.
When we also read that Muhammad promised false, extravagant sexual benefits in the afterlife to his violent-jihad warriors, then we should conclude that Muhammad was a mentally-confused man who was mentally manipulating his violent-jihad warriors to cause them to do his deplorable bidding.
There is much additional evidence in Islam’s foundational source texts to show that Muhammad was mentally-confused — that he was mentally-manipulative at the expense of his followers and their victims.
Is it any wonder that followers of Muhammad’s Sunna and utterances today are mentally-confused? Is it any wonder that there are suicide bombers today who believe the glorious lies about the afterlife that Muhammad uttered?
What should we, therefore, conclude about Islam itself, which sprang directly from the utterances and deeds of Muhammad — the mentally-confused and manipulative one?
Here is my advice for all of the world’s peoples: Stop following confused leaders. If a leader doesn’t teach and follow the golden rule, then that leader is mentally-confused and mentally-manipulative.
It is extremely simple. Anybody who knows the true God of love can understand the golden rule. Anybody who knows only a false god of hate cannot understand the golden rule.
Who is Allah? Allah is a god who hates and threatens intelligent, critically-thinking people who refuse to say that Muhammad was a prophet. Is Allah a false god of hate? It is obvious. Was Muhammad a false prophet? It is obvious.
Do we truly have compassion for Muslim people? Do we truly love them? Do we want to see them be released from their bondage to Muhammad’s and Allah’s lies? If so, then we must tell Muslim people the truth.
The truth may be terribly difficult for them to face and swallow, but if they choose rightly, they can be filled with the joy of release from bondage and the joy of knowing that the true God is love.
Hellbat44
SOLVING THE MUSLIM PROBLEM
To protect our unique Constitution and Judeo-Christian way of life, America desperately needs bold new leadership in Washington, not four more years of the failed Obama Administration that is systematically destroying the very fabric of our exceptional nation with their socialist statist Leftist/Islamist Alliance agenda of “CHANGE” and “FORWARD.”
These misguided and criminal efforts by a revolutionary Marxist, to change America from a democratic republic, into a socialist state by way of the Leftist/Islamist nexus must be stopped. Supreme power must remain in the hands of the American people through their elected representatives. America believes in liberty, not Muslim theocracy or Marxist communism.
Given the failed record of the last four years, impeachment proceedings should have already begun against the quisling on charges of sedition and treason. Unfortunately, there is almost no political will in Washington to resist Obama within our elected representatives – who are showing themselves to be nothing more than Obama’s neutered and docile lapdogs. Thus, making them part of the problem America now faces. But let us not forget, that the real problems are those individuals who have, for whatever willfully ignorant reasons, elected and then re-elected the Obama in the first place!
The overarching contemporary threat to America is the Leftist/Islamist Alliance. The leftists have formed an unholy alliance with the Islamists against our American Constitution.
The sooner patriotic Americans wake up and educate themselves and realize that Islam has declared war on the West and that Muslims are not in America to assimilate into our country, but to dominate, then the sooner America can win the war that is being waged against her by her Islamic enemies at home and abroad. It is more than obvious that 9/11 was not the wake-up call America needed and the expression that “We Will Never Forget” has been revealed to be just another meaningless ‘feel good’ clich’e.
Once ‘real’ American leadership has been restored, then America in concert with our Western friends and allies abroad must form a coalition of Western nations to prosecute a relentless, sustained, and unconditional war against Islam worldwide on all fronts, in order to destroy or subdue the totalitarian ideology of Islam, by way of the following wartime defense initiatives:
– Mobilize America on a ‘wartime footing’ under legislation similar to the War Powers Act of 1941 and the Second War Powers Act, not unlike emergency laws that America used, in partnership with our allies, to successfully destroy Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan in World War II.
– Outlaw both Islamic Sharia law and Islamic Jihad
– Prohibit the construction of new mosques or repairs of any kind to existing mosques; forbid Muslims from praying openly in the public or in public buildings; and forbid all mosques from sounding the adhan (call to prayer) on outdoor loudspeakers. According to Vijay Kumar in his 2011 article, The Muslim Mosque: A State Within a State, “In every instance where Islam has conquered and “destroyed utterly” a nation or civilization, the key to the conquest was the establishment of mosques, which are political and military command and control centers for Islam, and which all point toward the seat of Islamic power: the Kaaba.” A mosque in the United States is a command and control center of a foreign political and military state that seeks the overthrow of our government, and an Imam in a mosque is a political and military representative of a foreign state that calls for the overthrow of the United States. The laws of the United States provide specific criminal penalties for sedition and treason. These laws are not only applicable to those advocating and calling for the overthrow of our Constitution and our government; they are applicable to anyone who gives “aid or comfort” to such declared enemies of the United States, or who “organizes or helps or attempts to organize any society, group, or assembly of persons” so engaged.”
– Stop all legal immigration of Muslims into America. Muslims immigrating to America are not here to assimilate, instead it has been demonstrated by their actions that they are here to dominate and wage stealth jihad against America at all levels. Muslims, in partnership with the Muslim Brotherhood, have stated their intentions to destroy our democracy, our Constitution, and our American way of life with the goal of replacing it with Sharia law. 

– Refuse entry of any person, shown to be a Muslim, into the U.S., regardless of the reason (including for asylum and humanitarian reasons). Stop issuing U.S. visas (e.g. B1/B2 tourist visas, F1 student visas, H1B work visas, etc.) to Muslims wishing to travel to the U.S. and immediately revoke all existing non-expired U.S. visas that have been previously issued to Muslims. Deport those Muslims found to be in the U.S. on revoked visas.
– Revoke the U.S. citizenship of every Muslim currently holding this privileged status, regardless of whether they reside in the U.S. or abroad. Encourage all Muslims residing in the U.S. to self-deport. Muslims who refuse to self-deport will be forced into a formalized ‘dhimmi’ status while residing in America.
– Allow Muslim ‘dhimmis’ to practice only the non-violent “religious” components of Islamic theology as outlined in the Mecca Koran, not the violent political components of the Medina Koran. Moving forward, only those portions of the non-violent and non-political ‘Mecca’ Koran will be protected under our First Amendment. All political and violent portions of the ‘Medina” Koran, jihad, will be outlawed.
– Revoke the Legal Permanent Resident (LPR) status of all non-citizen Muslims who are currently legally residing within the United States who are holding “green cards.” Urge these Muslims to self-deport; however, those who refuse to self-deport and who wish to continue to reside in the U.S. will be issued a new Legal Permanent Dhimmi Card (LPD) commensurate with their new status. All with the express understanding that the card may be revoked, at any time, if they fail to comply with all of our Western values and laws. They are deemed to have broken their contract of ‘protection’ and they are subject to immediate legal recourses. For example, those Muslims who commit serious crimes, especially violent crimes or crimes involving moral turpitude (CIMT) will be deported immediately.
– Require all Muslim ‘dhimmis’ to pay an additional 50% percent of their earned income to local city governments in the form of an annual ‘jizya’ payment to ensure that they feel appropriately ‘humiliated” and ‘subdued.” All regular applicable state and federal taxes will continue to taken out of their earned wages at the standard rates.
– Allow Muslim ‘zakat” payments only so long as the monies go only to non-violent and non-political charities that support BOTH Muslim and non-Muslim beneficiaries. ‘Zakat’ payments will be monitored and audited by federal authorities to ensure compliance.
– Deny Muslim ‘dhimmis’ the right to vote in any city, state, or federal elections.
– Deny Muslim ‘dhimmis’ the opportunity to run for and/or hold any public or political office of any kind. Muslims would not be allowed to serve in our military or any federal, state, or local government positions of any kind, especially in a position of trust that has access to sensitive or classified information – for example the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), or any others. Those Muslims currently serving in positions within any local, state, or federal organizations, whether public or private, would have their employment terminated immediately for reasons of national security.
– Deny Muslim ‘dhimmis’ the right to own land or real estate property anywhere in America.
– Should a Muslim tire of being subjugated under their voluntary ‘dhimmi’ status, they will be afforded another opportunity to self-deport or become an apostate from Islam. Apostates would be allowed to re-apply for a path to U.S. citizenship, would no longer be required to pay the ‘jizya,’ would be allowed to vote, would be allowed to own property, and enjoy all of the other benefits of being a non-Muslim law-abiding American citizen.
– Begin a massive re-education program in America to ensure that all Americans understand the true nature of Islam and the existential threat it poses to America. Rewrite and republish all educational textbooks in America, from K-1 up though our finest universities) to tell the unvarnished truth about Islam, not the whitewashed and sugarcoated propagandized versions that currently exist today. Purge all Muslim teachers, educators, department chairs, and professors from our education system, especially those who have been appointed and approved by Saudi Arabia. Make it illegal to accept any monies into our education system from any Islamic source of any kind, e.g. grants, scholarships, and donations from Saudi Arabia. Promote the excellent body of scholarship that has been written and disseminated by American patriots such as Robert Spencer, Pamela Geller, William Warner, Steven Emerson, and dozens of others who have been waging a war for years on America’s front lines against Islam and its war against the West. These unsung patriots are the true heroes and ‘Paul Revere’s” of our time for alerting Americans to the approaching threat of Islam!
– Ensure that the FBI has full and sweeping powers and authority to monitor (surveillance, wiretapping, etc.) all mosque activities, all written materials available in mosques, to monitor all financial transactions, and as a matter of policy the FBI should investigate all Imams and any and/or all Muslims attending any mosque to look for indications of renewed sedition and treason against the U.S. and our Constitution.
– Investigate, shutdown, and confiscate the assets of all known Muslim Brotherhood front groups and their members such as the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA), the Assembly of Muslim Jurists of America (AMJA), Muslim Students Association (MSA), the North American Imams Federation (NAIF), the North American Islamic Trust (NAIT) and hundreds of others that are currently operating in the U.S. Investigate all members for treason and sedition.
-Shutdown all Islamic Internet propaganda sites such as http://www.loonwatch.com, http://www.whyislam.org, http://www.cair.com, and many others within the jurisdiction of U.S. law, and confiscate all assets, and investigate all employees for sedition and treason. Prosecute a cyber warfare campaign against all foreign-based Islamic propaganda websites.
– Close down, by force if necessary, all known Islamic training camps and compounds where Muslim Americans train to wage jihad against America. Have the FBI investigate, arrest, and charge with sedition all members associated with these compounds. These camps, such as those run by The Muslims of America (MOA), are numerous and have been part of a secret decades-long program by MOA to train a jihadi army within the United States.
– Begin a concerted program to make America energy independent using our own natural resources as well as those of our Western friends and allies abroad such as Canada. While on a wartime footing, tap our Strategic Petroleum Reserves to supplement our own natural resources. Stop all purchases of oil from any Middle Eastern Islamic country. This will stop the billions of petro-dollars originating from the U.S. from flowing into Middle Eastern countries, especially countries like Saudi Arabia and Iran who are using these petro-dollars to finance their promotion of Islam and terrorism around the world. Indiscriminately take Islamic oil by force as part of the West’s war against Islam and divide it up equally among all Western coalition nations.
– Stop all foreign aid to any Islamic country such as Pakistan, Libya, Egypt, Jordan, Turkey, and all others. In conjunction with our Western friends and allies abroad, place severe damaging economic sanctions and embargo all Islamic countries.
– Protect and support Israel, our longtime friend and ally, from Islamic jihad and stop the Islamic Republic of Iran from getting nuclear weapons, by force if necessary. Defeat Pakistan and take control of their nuclear weapons arsenal.
– Withdraw U.S. membership and funding within United Nations (UN) as it has become nothing more than a mouthpiece and forum against the West primarily by the 56-member Organization of Islamic Cooperation (Conference) and the Palestinian Authority to wage jihad against the West. Move the UN headquarters outside of the U.S. to some god-forsaken Third World failed Islamic state such as Somalia or Sudan.
While my thesis may seem a bit harsh, the truth is that it pales in comparison to what the Muslims will do to us should they ever eventually be allowed to consolidate their political power vis-a’-vis stealth jihad in America.
Look no further than Europe and you are looking at America in less than ten years unless serious and sustained steps are taken to stop the advance of Islam.
I would encourage all Western countries (USA, UK, France, Spain, Canada, etc.) to join America and enact similar initiatives in their respective countries.” This would mean a unified allied coalition of all participating Western nations aligned across the world to wage total unconditional sustained war against Islam around the world until it has been totally subdued.
America must take the lead and follow in the footsteps of our “Greatest Generation” when, in the 1940s, they mobilized our nation and aided by our allies defeated the combined totalitarian forces of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan. Also, we must not forget our victory in The Cold War (1945-1991) over the Eastern Bloc, dominated by the Soviet Union with the Warsaw Pact. Now is the time, before it is too late, to somehow summon the political will of the American people…to destroy the greatest threat facing America at this time in her history, before Islam consolidates further into our society.
Unfortunately, unless our thumbsucking and spineless political elites in Washington grow a backbone and stand up to Obama, things will only get worse. Just as disturbing, is the fact that almost half of those living in America actually support Obama’s Leftist/Islamist Alliance agenda”painting a very disturbing picture of a nation on the brink of being existentially divided.
Ralph
I have been compassionately attempting to understand the behavior of Muslim people around the world. Some of it is so sad.
Islam’s intrinsic, unique, dualistic logic — as has been clearly described many times in articles on this website — is foreign to human minds; and I suspect that it causes great mental confusion for Muslim people who are burdened under it.
I have pondered the adverse mental effect on Muslim people that results from repeatedly verbalizing the false Shahada, in which a verbal claim is made about Allah and a verbal claim is also made about Muhammad.
That adverse mental effect is not unique to the people of Islam. Any people of any persuasion — who violate what they know to be true or suspect to be true — will suffer mentally.
When hundreds of millions of Muslim people worldwide endlessly repeat the Shahada about Allah and Muhammad, that does not make the Shahada true. When hundreds of millions of Muslim people believe and speak some false things found in the Qur’an and Hadith, that does not make those things true. A false thing cannot be made true by repeating it trillions of times. The same thing goes for other false creeds — or portions thereof — that people verbally confess around the world.
I suspect that the true, omnipotent, omnipresent, eternal God of love has many times whispered into the souls of individual Muslim people to tell them that the Shahada is false.
Moreover, I suspect that the true, omnipotent, omnipresent, eternal God of love has also whispered into the souls of individual Muslim people to tell them that portions of the Qur’an and Hadith are also false.
If the true, omnipotent, omnipresent, eternal God of love does, indeed, whisper into the souls of individual Muslim people to try to bring them out of bondage and into freedom, then how do Muslim people respond to those whispers?
The threat in this life of being shunned or persecuted or murdered by other Muslim people after apostasy or other Shari’a infractions is very real. The written, textual threats from Allah regarding torture in the afterlife are also very real. I suspect that Muslim people are living under so much conscious and unconscious fear that they usually disregard the whisperings of the true, omnipotent, omnipresent, eternal God of love.
The contrast between the true God of love and Allah is immense.
This mental confusion for individual Muslim people causes overall confusion in Muslim societies. It causes moral problems and lack of societal vigor and lack of innovation. These problems can be observed anywhere in the world where the Truth is lacking and where lies are believed and confessed.
It is mentally unhealthy to know what is right to do and then not do it, for whatever reason. That goes for any of us. The Bible labels that as sin.
To repeatedly verbalize things that we know to be false or suspect to be false causes mental problems.
The solution is to start confessing truth, stop confessing lies, and get rid of the need for dualistic logic.
All peoples of the world — not only Muslim people — must deal with this problem.
What is the Truth? That question must be answered individually by every human being, by consciously, humbly listening to the true God of love, who is the Truth.
Ralph
Correction:
I should have written “fairy-tale” rather than “fairy-tail” in my previous post.
Ralph
Melissa,
Based on your very-good command of the English language, I am guessing that you are living in a democratic, free society like America where Islam is practiced in a very-diluted way. It is not possible to practice true Islam in America without violating America’s laws.
True Islam — as it is defined using the combination of Islam’s foundational source texts — is not the Islam that you personally experience or observe. You are living or observing a fairy-tail Islam.
As other commenters have already implied, you should try to regularly read current news articles that reveal atrocious deeds that are being regularly committed in the Muslim world.
You should study the contents of Muhammad’s official biography (Sira) that is attributed to Ishaq. You should also study the contents of Muhammad’s official traditions (Hadith) that were compiled by Bukhari. It is crucial that you avoid Muslim propaganda. Study only the non-whitewashed, non-sugar-coated, official versions of these documents that are used by eminent Muslim scholars.
When you have done that, you will better understand what is happening in the Muslim world, and you may eventually need to re-evaluate your position about the alleged prophethood of Muhammad.
You will need to decide for yourself how a confused man like Muhammad continues to retain a strangle-hold on so many Muslim people around the world.
Seeking an understanding of that strangle-hold is a profitable study. If all of us would engage in that study, we might be able to collectively assist the world’s Muslim people in getting free from that death-grip of Muhammad.
Although Muhammad is now quite dead, he continues to exert his death-grip upon Muslim people through his traditions and utterances and through other Muslim people who falsely believe they are required to imitate Muhammad and carry out his misguided instructions. That tragedy has continued for 1400 years, and it must end.
Ken
Melissa, like so many Muslimahs, assumes she may create by pick-and-choose her own personalized Islam-Ã -Ã -la-carte. No doctrine depends on a single Koranic verse, but on the Koran, hadiths, Sira and canonical rulings. What is ‘normative Islam’ is decided by the fatwa department at Al Azhar University, not by private Muslimahs like Melissa. In the 1992 murder of apostate Farag Foda, Al Azhar’s scholars argued that when the state fails to punish apostates, somebody else has to do it.
Steffen Larsen
melissa,
the “context” is often introduced in a like manner to scare off the less confident. No detailed elucidations are apparantly needed.
Perhaps if you explained yourself a little?
Suzi L.
Melanie, you too perhaps are a living with Stockholm syndrome, and that is the cause of your blindness to and denial of the problem. 91% of the world’s >5,000 honor killings are by Muslims (UN figures). Experts say the UN figure is very underreported. The real number is probably 10,000.According to a 2002 report by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women, honor killings mainly take place in Pakistan, Turkey, Jordan, Syria, Egypt, Lebanon, Iran, Yemen, Morocco and other Mediterranean and Gulf countries. Even female relatives frequently support honor attacks as they too believe women are responsible for embodying a family’s honor. Silence only helps the perpetrators, never the victims.
melissa
I’m sorry but you have clearly read a different Quran to what the majority of Muslims have read. This above belief is no where near the real stance of women in Islam. You gave terrible examples, which are completely out of context.
No dhimmi
You are unquestionably correct in your assertions. This misogynistic threat grows daily, and we must work actively to prevent our own Stockholm Syndrome proliferation, as is happening in, well, Stockholm, as well as the rest of Europe.