Quote:So, compare Mohammad to Jesus. Which provides a better role model for modern society? That is my only point in comparing the two religious figures. One was peaceful, and even when standing up to corrupt Jewish Sanhedrin and Roman occupation remained peacefully resistant. He was the MLK of his place and time.First, removing everyone who isn't Jesus from Christianity is quite the surgery. While he is obviously the central figure, he is far from the only one that Christians acknowledge as holy authority. The Bible isn't just the four gospels.
Jesus wasn't a political or military leader, you're right. He was (if his early biographers are to be believed) the homeless guy wandering around with the "The End is Coming!" sign of his time. He insisted that he was the child of God, that he could perform miracles, that he would return from the grave, and that we should give up our worldly possessions and await the imminent end of the world. He also, rather pleasantly, insisted over and over again that whomever didn't believe him was going to be condemned to eternal hellfire by his Dad. If this seems somewhat unfair and arbitrary, it's a fair sight better than what his Dad supposedly did back in the day - and there is no question that this was the God he was invoking. This is a role model? If I did that, they'd toss me in a rubber room and pump me full of Xanax.
He wasn't exactly nice about it, either, per Matthew 10:34-38:
Quote:34 Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. 35 For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. 36 And a man's foes shall be they of his own household. 37 He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.Good for him, emphasizing that fanaticism takes precedence over everything, that world peace is definitely not his goal, that he's here to turn you against your family, and that you have to love him more than anyone in the universe or else you're going to burn in hell. Gotta have your priorities straight, after all.
However, all of this is quite beside the point - your claim, the one I am contesting, is that the beliefs of Mohammed are not genuine, that they are a contrivance. The comparison to Jesus is irrelevant - this is not about how much you like or dislike him, or how much we may want or not want to believe their doctrine. Being peaceful, at least as described by your followers, does not equate to being genuine, nor does being warlike equate to lying. You're still no closer to demonstrating your point.
Quote:You aren't going to wave your wand and turn the world into Atheists, so who will you tolerate? None?Where the heck did this come from? I think I made it clear earlier that I believe in religious tolerance, at least within the bounds of a lawful society. But projecting my beliefs back into history is as fruitless as projecting theirs forward into our time.
-Jester