01-26-2010, 09:59 AM
Quote:So, read them and choose for yourself, or, you can trust your Oxford politically correct Bell and Witt, or you can look into the opinions of various ex-Muslims.Cambridge. And I do love the way you dismiss the entire body of academic scholarship with a wave of the hand and an accusation of political correctness. Where are all those lectures you've given me over the years about attacking the argument and not the source?
We're talking about Mohammed. The guy who lived 1400 years ago. We're not talking about how well his doctrine works, we're talking about how *you* know he was not "genuine" in his beliefs, at least to the extent that any religious leader has. Our personal opinions have exactly zero bearing on the historical questions.
Quote:My implication here is that hearing what I've said from ex-Muslims should be more convincing. If not, then we're no where. If you'd like to believe that Islam is valid, and that Mohammad's mish-mash of Gnostic, Judaic, and other proto-Christian beliefs coupled with revisionist prophecies in hindsight, then I'm at a loss as to how to show you the truth.
If you're at a loss from where to go from here, then you've been at a loss since square one. You haven't provided anything that doesn't appear to be modern hearsay or propaganda. Your personal opinion counts for nothing, historically speaking.
I don't believe Islam is "valid," nor would I "like to" even if it was. I believe it's a contradictory mess of outdated mythology. It shares this in common with every religion. You, on the other hand, seem to be willing to put some under the microscope of your harsh judgement, while giving others a free pass on "hermeneutical" grounds - no further argument provided.
-Jester