| Topic: | Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Koran bashers @the Oaks | |
| Posted by: | Clare Margaret | |
| Date/Time: | 20/11/09 13:30:00 |
| Well I don't have time to deal with every strawman that John sets up. What I actually did say has been sidestepped, and I'd like to return to it. I said that a Christian, Buddhist or Sikh sincerely and devoutly seeking to emulate his master/leader/prophet, is not scary. For a muslim with the same perspective, my observation is that the opposite is true. This is because the prophet of Islam did not use exclusively peaceful means to extend the reach of his new religion. In contrast certainly to Jesus and as far as I can discover, to the Buddha and Guru Nanak too. And Alice, I won't ask 'any muslim' because they all say different things. For info on that I prefer to look at the source which is the Hadith and the Koran. Besides, in an earlier comment I described my attempt to do just that. Please don't tell me about violence commited 'in the name of'. That is very misleading and leads to endless rabbit trails that are nothing to do with our present circumstances. Ideologies and political ambitions routinely co opt faith into their 'cause'. Also to Alice, with your definition of fundamentalist you prove my point. Peoples definition for this term is very loose and not necessarily accurate. This is why I avoid using that word, because people understand it to mean quite different things. In my understanding 'fundamentalism' refers to a movement that stresses literal adherence to the fundamental principles of the movement itself. This seems to check out with the dictionary. John rather sneakily tries to undermine my position by implying that it is owing to a lack of eduation on my part ('study history' 'read a book') I think that's a pretty cheap shot at an opponent who has been trying hard to listen properly to his POV. It's kind of hard to do that when I have to work my through the dripping arrogance and sarcasm. I'm not going to deal further with the pat on the head and advice to 'read more' beyond saying that I recommend to you a comparison between Christianity 'the early years' and Islam 'the early years'. Before kings and princes and political machinations got a hold of the idea that this religion could be useful. That will illuminate some of the distinctions I have been driving at. And to return more precisely to the topic of this thread. I have heard from some people who attend the catholic church beside the mosque on the high street ( the ones who, I believe, man the stall under discussion). Here are some recent episodes: A Koran was found in the tabernacle on the altar. On one Saturday the stall was set up literally IN the doorway of the church itself. On one occasion in the church, 2 men who were believed to be muslims walked slowly up the aisle and back down again, eye balling the various congregants. This was on the basis of one conversation with a small group of people so it is possible that there are other similar anecdotes that I don't know of. Not necessarily scary or threatening, but intimidating and provocative I think. |