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Arpig -> RE: The Religions of Peace (7/18/2006 9:57:05 AM)
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quote:
Maybe I was too vague in my earlier post. My use of the word core is that we all pretty much accept the Bible, as the handbook of our given religion. As Judiam does with the Torah. And in Christianity that Jesus is viewed as the savior. Yes, each sect/denomination may interpret/practice
differently. But at the end of the day there is no arguement on the sacredness of the Bible/Torah. The disagreements come with interpretation/practice.
In contrast, Islam has a big difference.
Muhammad is the prophet of that religion and within the different sects/tribes etc there is no disagreement. But a big difference is in the succesion, which "fragments" things, IMO. Shi'ite Muslims reject the first three successors of Muhmmad and have taken the fourth succesor, Ali, Mohmmads son in law as the rightful successor. While Sunnis accept the first three, leaving Ali the fourth successor. Seems to me that if you have one prophet claiming it's successor x 3 and some agree with the original Prophet and others reject and pick the fourth, there is a much bigger fragmentation than how a Catholic or Baptist practices their religion. Maybe it's just me.
I still maintain the issue of the differing tribes adds to the mix, but that is my opinion. You have yours.
If you see me, or my words as disingenuous, so be it. The topic of Islam and the problems with in Islam itself is not something I created and has been studied for many years.
Part of the Middle East Peace process has been trying to unite the Arab/Muslim/Islamic world. The fact that this has been a tedious and exhausting project at best, proves to me that some of the problems lie within the Islamic world itself.
mbmbn
No mbmbn, I don't think you were vague, I think you were either misinformed or misleading.
The big difference is in the succession???
The christian world had the exact same problem immediatly upon Jesus' removal from the scene.
Surely you remember St. Peter, the 1st Pope, the one not recognised as the head of the church by Christians in the Eastern part of the Roman Empire?
The only things that Christians agree on is that Jesus lived, died, and lived again...everything else is disputed and debated, there are innumerable versions of the bible, far more than there are versions of the qu'ran.
Christianity is most definately not one religion, and Christians are by far the most tribal of religions....do a bit of reading on the Orthodox churches to get an idea as to what I mean.
As a quick example, what is the difference between a Serb and a Croat?
Religion; a Serb is an Orthodox Croat, a Croat is a Catholic Serb....and yet despite the fact that they speak the same language and are culturally homogenous, they insist on the fiction that they are completely seperate peoples, based purely on the particular sect they belong to.
I find your entire premise to be an example of the typical American assumption that the laissez-faire attitude amongst christians in the US vis-a-vis ecumenical differences, is prelevant beyond the borders of Canada & the U.D., it isn't, the rest of the world takes its christianity deadly serious, and have and will happily kill people over a minor difference in spelling (read up on the whole issue with monophysites...very illuminating).
I find it very disturbing when people who apparently have no idea what they are talking about try to play at comparative religions.
Just to set the matter straight.
Judaism.
A primitive desert cult dedicated to the worship of a minor local storm deity, heavily influenced by exposure to Egyptian (the afterlife), Babylonian (most of the early bible stories...the flood, Cain & Able, etc.) and Pheonicean/Caananite (the concept of a messiah/saviour) mythology.
Christianity.
A sect of Judaism heavily influenced by hellenistic philosophy, that merged with manicheanism (itself an off-shoot of Zoroastrianism), and later was heavily influenced by Roman philosphy, particularly in the sphere of morals and ethics.
Islam.
A primitive desert cult dedicated to the worship of a minor local storm deity, heavily influenced by exposure to the local jewish community in Medina.
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