Well when I was young and just starting out I worked in an office and overheard the women speaking about the nuns and priests. One of them said that she believed they were so holy they didn't even use the bathroom!!!! She was devestated when she saw one in there. It totally blew her mind.

That's the old school and I know tons has changed since then. I would agree with you then that the Pope is human and therefore falible. I do look at the difference tho between the funeral of the Pope and the funeral of Jesus. Big contrast. Look at the death of Mother Teresa and that of Princess Diana....same thing. God says he chooses the foolish things of the world to confound the wise and the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty.

Even Peter after converting the first Gentile, Cornelius...said to him...."Get up I'm just a man." when this newly saved man recognized Christ thru Peter and bowed down low at his feet. That's one reason I have problems with the Catholics as you said that believe the Pope is infalible......even Peter, the great Apostle didn't fit that category. The only infalible person ever to walk this earth as you know is Christ....the God-man......none before or since then........*sigh* not even Mary.....

Man has an inate desire to worship something. It's a piece missing inside us that only God can fill. The problem is we try to fill that God shaped piece with everything but God. When we find the right peice (God) then it's euphoric and nothing else like it.

Andy..

this one's for you. Ok don't have a real problem with what you said.....tho to me #5 is kinda new agey. But yes most I would agree with here. The only one I'd have a problem with might be the last one. That would be cuz I believe the Prince of Peace is Jesus and not all the world religions view him as God. Before Jesus went to the cross he said in the upper room to His own. "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you, not as the world gives, I give to you. His peace surpasses all understanding.

Christianity and Islam also hold great common ground

Ok this one I couldn't agree with you on. First off you have to look at the evidence. Look at real Christianity and Real Islam. Do you know in Nigeria the Muslims are killing the Christians? Of course this is not the only place but this is what I've been hearing about lately. In Feb 04 a whole church was killed with machetes and killed. Their offense? Worshiping Jesus instead of Allah. Pregnant women were ripped open and all inside that little church were killed. The Christians are underground. To be seen carrying a bible means instant death. I heard an interview with a man named Daniel. He dresses up in the Muslim clothing and hides bibles under his robe. If caught he knows his fate. But he says..."to live is Christ and to die is gain."

Bernard Lewis, in an essay "The Revolt of Islam" in the Nov 19, 2001 New Yorker wrote that "It is surely significant that the Koranic and other inscriptions on the Dome of the Rock, one of the earliest Muslim religious structures outside Arabia, built in Jerusalem between 691-692 AD include a number of directly anti-Christian polemics: "praise be to God who begets no son, and has no partner," and He is God, one eternal. He does not beget nor is he begotten, and he has no peer."

Chuck Colson has said and warned that Islam is growing here in this country. And you know where? In the prisons. He estimates one out of every 6 U.S. prisoners is an adherent to Islam. Two thirds are non white. Many feel oppressed by the whilte power structure......

Have you read the Koran? It contains several passages that incite followers to violence. Robert Spencer, who wrote Islam Unveiled, says: "When the Koran says, 'Slay the unbelievers wherever you find them. Arrest them, besiege them and lie in ambush everywhere for them,' the extremists can point to that and say....Look this is what the religion teaches."

I could go on....but I'm thinking you're buying into multiculturalism....and you should think more about this by studying first what it really means. Especially since you do believe in Jesus. The two religions have nothing in common but Abraham....one son went one way and the other went the other way. As Christians we follow Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. You can't be on two roads at the same time unless you are standing in the fork of the road and sooner or later you have to choose a direction to go in.

P.S. You don't sound like a record player ..cuz it's a new tune here for me so I haven't read what you said in the past.

That's one reason I have problems with the Catholics as you said that believe the Pope is infalible......even Peter, the great Apostle didn't fit that category

As do I.  Ignorance is not limited to the Catholic Faith.  Perhaps being the largest denomination, the catholics are just more visible.

Hi KFC, thanks for your reply. It’s nice to hear your views, and I think this is an interesting topic.

Christianity and Islam also hold great common ground

Ok this one I couldn't agree with you on. First off you have to look at the evidence. Look at real Christianity and Real Islam. Do you know in Nigeria the Muslims are killing the Christians? Of course this is not the only place but this is what I've been hearing about lately. In Feb 04 a whole church was killed with machetes and killed. Their offense? Worshiping Jesus instead of Allah. Pregnant women were ripped open and all inside that little church were killed

Many Christians have behaved in the same way throughout the centuries, though. Consider the Christian Crusades, for example, or the Spanish Inquisition, where thousands of people died at the hands of Christians. The “sins” of Christianity have been great throughout history, and many people understandably claim that Christianity has been a black spot on Western Culture.

I think that such violent behaviour stems more from the weaknesses and misguided attitudes of human beings, rather than from one’s religion. Why do people act with such violence and negativity? It could be said that such people are immature in the spirit and don’t know any better. These people might then be influenced by their religion’s Holy Scriptures, the Bible included.

Have you read the Koran? It contains several passages that incite followers to violence.

Yes, there are several passages which encourage violence. That’s also true of the Bible. Talking of common ground, consider the following Biblical verses. (Your reference to ripping open pregnant women could have been quoted from this first one) . . .

God says to the prophet Hosea: “I will have no compassion … They will fall by the sword; their little ones will be dashed to the ground, their pregnant women ripped open.” (Hosea 13.14-16)

In Exodus 32:27-29, we read: “The Lord God of Israel commands every one of you to put on his sword and go through the camp from this gate to the other and kill his brothers, his friends, and his neighbours. The Levites obeyed, and killed about three thousand people that day. Moses said to the Levites, ‘Today you have consecrated yourselves as priests in the service of the Lord by killing your sons and brothers, so the Lord has given you his blessing.”

People often claim that verses such as Deuteronomy 21.18 intend to encourage family values: “Suppose someone has a son who is stubborn and rebellious, a son who will not obey his parents, even though they punish him. His parents are to take him before the leaders of the town where he lives and make him stand trial. They are to say to them, ‘Our son is stubborn and rebellious and refuses to obey us; he wastes money and is a drunkard.’ Then the men of the city are to stone him to death, and so you will get rid of this evil.”

There are loads of similar verses in the Bible. (The plight of that bloke in Numbers 15.32-36 is surely undeserved, for example.) But again, I think that violence and negative behaviour stems primarily from people’s bitterness and misguided attitudes, rather than being prompted by Holy Scripture.

In my opinion, we can afford some healthy breathing space from extreme scriptural fundamentalism. I believe that the Bible is the ‘map’, rather than the territory. Even though parts of the Bible might seem to portray an inaccurate map, its substantial body contains a wealth of wisdom, insight and meaningful literature, all of which formulate a stark revelation of the truth. Verses which describe God as a vengeful tyrant are inaccurate parts of the map, coloured by man, rather than by God.

The only one I'd have a problem with might be the last one. That would be cuz I believe the Prince of Peace is Jesus and not all the world religions view him as God.

Many non-Christians have found genuine inner peace and strength through their religious belief and practice, regardless of religion or culture. If you haven’t met any such people yet, then if you’re interested, books like ‘The Wings of Joy’ by Indian spiritual leader Sri Chinmoy, or ‘Living Buddha, Living Christ’ by Buddhist Thich Nhat Hanh, will prove the point. Their words and views truly ooze wisdom, compassion and peace, and one would have to be misguided to claim that such people are in touch with false gods.

I'm sure all such religious folk have found the spiritual riches and goodness of Jesus, the Living Christ, only from a different perspective and cultural context, i.e. whether they recognise Him as Jesus or not. What are your views regarding the issue I described about being born into a loving Muslim household, which I mentioned in post #184? (There’s as much chance of converting a Muslim to Christianity as there is of converting a Christian to Islam, incidentally.)

Before Jesus went to the cross he said in the upper room to His own. "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you, not as the world gives, I give to you. His peace surpasses all understanding.

All our religions claim that true inner peace does not come from this world, (i.e. from material possessions, good looks, a romantic partner etc.), but that true inner peace and inner wealth is attained by getting in touch with the good Spiritual Source and Heavenly riches. I'm sure that all religionists whose hearts are in the right place are in touch with the same Heavenly Source as Christians. Even Buddhists, who claim that inner peace comes from within, are not out of sync with Christian teachings. Jesus said, "The Kingdom of God does not come visibly. No one will say 'Look, here it is!' or, 'There it is!'; because the Kingdom of God is within you.” - Luke 17.21.

(Both principles are right, in my opinion. It doesn’t have to be just one principle or the other. Christianity teaches that God’s Spirit not only exists ‘up there and out there’, but is also the Ground of Being, and that the Kingdom of God is within us.)

I could go on....but I'm thinking you're buying into multiculturalism....and you should think more about this by studying first what it really means. Especially since you do believe in Jesus. The two religions have nothing in common but Abraham....one son went one way and the other went the other way. As Christians we follow Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. You can't be on two roads at the same time unless you are standing in the fork of the road and sooner or later you have to choose a direction to go in.

I believe that Islam and Christianity, and all world religions for that matter, are streams which lead to the same Ocean. Christ is the Water which flows in the streams and in the Ocean, (speaking metaphorically, of course.) The “straight and narrow path”, to which Jesus referred, is straight and narrow in relation to the world’s wide and winding paths, most of which offer peace, prosperity and increased self-esteem, but which really lead to disillusionment, spiritual bankruptcy, and disappointment. These paths of the world, and the “idols” which can be found there, are the real “false gods” to which our religions refer.

I believe that the one true road is the Living Christ – the One God - the truth, the way and the life. I'm sure God love His children, regardless of which culture or religious backdrop they're born into.

Many Christians have behaved in the same way throughout the centuries, though. Consider the Christian Crusades, for example, or the Spanish Inquisition, where thousands of people died at the hands of Christians

When religions gain power, the tendency for corruption becomes too great.  That is the problem with Islam today, and Christianity 500-1000 years ago

When religions gain power, the tendency for corruption becomes too great. That is the problem with Islam today, and Christianity 500-1000 years ago

I agree Dr.

Today, it's a tiny minority of Muslims causing grief, compared to the vast number of good natured Muslims, (just as it was a small number of Christians causing the grief all those years ago). Unfortunately, the minority of extremists today get wide-spread media coverage, because of the amount of grief they cause. I don’t think it's fair to identify Islam as a whole with the minority.

It's true that negative, violent and intolerant teachings exist both in the Qur’an and the Bible. But regardless of what is written in the Bible or the Qur’an, there will always be negative, violent and intolerant people in the world, and these people will find ways to express their negativity in one form or another. I don't think we can blame religion for violence and intolerance.

I pray that humanity will learn more about harmony and understanding, (which I'm sure will be a natural by-product of humanity's spiritual growth), and I believe that the deeper consonance between all world faiths will become apparent and more widely-realised as humanity’s spiritual awareness rises.

I pray that humanity will learn more about harmony and understanding

I wonder.  Last millenium, it was the Christians.  This one, it is the muslims.  Is man incapable of living in peace?

I wonder. Last millenium, it was the Christians. This one, it is the muslims. Is man incapable of living in peace?

That's a good point. I'm optimistic though, as I'm sure harmony and understanding is within the human potential. I believe that it's a question of time, growth and a big learning curve. But we'll get there one day, I'm sure (if we survive the journey and don't blow ourselves up in the meantime, that is.)

For the moment, we can grin and bear humanity's growing pains, and as the philosopher in Ecclesiastes said, “There is a season and a time for every purpose under Heaven.” (3.1)

It's all good stuff at the end of the day, as God can already see.

I'm sure harmony and understanding is within the human potential . . . we'll get there one day

Although on second thoughts, one of the great Biblical teachings that I believe in is that things will get worse toward the end of days. We won't be here forever, and when I say things will eventually end up harmonious, maybe I'm speaking from within the context of eternity, (i.e. our eternal life), as opposed to the outcome of life on earth. This crude place is destined to fall apart, after all, whilst God's Kingdom will last forever.

Is man incapable of living in peace?

hmmmm good question!! Yes I believe so. I think we will not have peace until the Prince of Peace comes back.

Food for thought.....four people on earth and already one murder........

Andy's right.....things are going to get worse.......

I'm optimistic though,

Never lose that!

Although on second thoughts, one of the great Biblical teachings that I believe in is that things will get worse toward the end of days.

Well, guess we have a lot of time!  It is no better or worse right now.

I think we will not have peace until the Prince of Peace comes back.

I hope Andy is wrong.  But I think we have a measure of agreement.

Just so you know Andy....doing some thinkin on your last massive missive (I know look who's talking right......) you brought up some good points. I'm actually reading a book written by a Christian Arab who natural language is Arabic. He's got some really good things to say and I think he's pretty old cuz he was preaching or teaching in the 60's. Maybe I can share or he can shed light on some things.....let ya know.

He's got some really good things to say and I think he's pretty old cuz he was preaching or teaching in the 60's.

So was my mother! "When I was your age........"