| Current mood: | Pissed Off!!! |
Allah or Jesus?... Truth or Fiction?
I'm pretty upset at the moment with American propaganda and their ability to manipulate the truth for their own advantage... and sadly, a majority of the world believe what they see on CNN, and a majority of Christians, what they read from Christian ministers.
Here's my response to Rick Mathes' chain mail :
After reading the e-mail, I was was slightly suspicious about the credibility of the source as I have read before that Americans have misconstrued the meaning of 'jihad' to mean Holy War, when that is not the real meaning of the word. So for an 'Imam' to respond the way he did and not correct Rick Mathes was suspicious.
The definition of Jihad: The meaning of Jihad in Islam is to wage a (Holy) war with the Self. That is, it is the war which rages inside all believers of all faiths. It is the war of the Spiritual Self against the desires of the Selfish Self. It is a war waged to cut asunder the veils which have shut us out from the Beauty of God and His Desire for us. That is one of many purposes for the Fast of Ramadan. To focus your Self, your Soul, on the Desire of God, and your Submission (Islam) to His Will.
So I did a quick Google search and got a few links. Turns out that Rick Mathes stands by his testimony. But the TRUTH
is to be different from his account.
Some excerpts in case you're too busy to read the web page:
• The presenter on Islam was not an Imam, but rather a Muslim inmate who was pressed into presenting after no Imam could be arranged.
• Prison officials confirm that the Muslim inmate was asked a few questions that he was unable to answer, but none along the lines of those suggested by Mr. Mathes.
For more chain-letters that should be stopped, click here.
Anyway, from Rick Mathes rebuttal in the above website, he does come across as someone who doesn't favour the Muslim community much and is highly suspicious of them;
"...Give me an Imam that will sing "God Bless America" or will say the "Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag" and I will listen to them discredit the fears we have about the Muslim community and all that we see and hear in the media. Until the American Muslim community speaks up, I have my doubts about those who join them."
I will have to say that it is an ignorant and narrow view.
Most people believe what the media has to say, but as someone who has studied the way media works, I will tell you that CNN, and other news agencies are tools of propaganda, just like our local newspapers, which are owned by the government. We cannot believe everything they say without doing our own research.
Many Christians, sadly, have fallen into this trap since 9/11. Mr.Bush will quote scripture, but his actions and the actions of other Christians actually put us to shame. What happened to loving others and loving our neighbours? Others, like me, are unhappy with the words of Rick Mathes, attempting to belittle the Muslim faith and it's leaders. Read their comments.
If it was a true account, I'd have little to say, but there are many Christians (many of them Americans for some reason) who are on the Internet telling stories and belittling others by lying. And it makes me really sad that Christians should be so 'evil' and prejudiced against others.
Love your neighbour, even if he is Muslim...
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 | Christian Exploring Islamic Answers
(Anonymous)
2006-02-21 16:09
(link) |
Dear Muslim friends,
I have always had friendships with Jews and Muslims. We all would benefit from befriending those of diverse faiths without judgment. You don't have to agree with the faith, but learning to value others as human beings is what God wants us to do.
I thank my cousin, who converted to Islam, for referring me to this site and others. I am a Roman Catholic who received the chain email regarding Mr. Rick Mathes alleged experience in a prison setting from an acquaintance. I questioned it's contents.
What I get from reading these Muslims defense web-sites is: An infidel is a person who does not believe in God. Keeping in mind that Christians believe in 1 God and that the whole belief in Jesus stems from the belief that he is the son of God and we believe in God in 3 persons, like the 3 leaf clover. that God is: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, since as we agree God is all powerful and can make anything he wishes.
I thought the phrase infidel referred to pagans.
Exactly what is the Quran's definition of a non-believer? Is a non-believer a multi-theistic person versus a monotheistic person who believes in the one God, the God of Abraham?
So is there a call to arms to kill the infidels in Islam?
Are you classifying Christians as infidels?
Welcome to defending your faith. Congratulations, your religion is taken seriously. Years ago most Christian Americans probably didn't even know what a Muslim was much less would she know what they believed. Now we, Christians, are learning about other religions. It takes being comfortable with your own religion before you can be brave enough to explore other religions.
Some day a majority of Muslims will become literate, as only recently within the last few generations the majority of Christians have. Muslims will read the Quran for themselves. Muslim literacy will not put an end to those inacurately interpreting your holy book as it has not in any religion, but it will spark discussion, angst and deeper understanding of what God really wants for us. Right now a select few hold the word of Allah, the educated. When the masses discover the actual written word and get to question for themselves, the Islamic religion will experience a period of enlightenment as Christianity has. It won't be easy but it will be good so that no one comes between God and them.
I do believe that there are some misguided Imams out there as there are some misguided Preachers, Pat Robertson being one of many. We must keep in mind that they are merely human and fallible so we must educate ourselves and be open to discussion.
I thank God that I am free to choose my religion in a democracy. I plan on reading a good legitimate translation of the Quran, and asking Imams and Priests (Yes priests, All Roman Catholic Priests are required to learn about other religons in seminary.) what the book says.
As believers in Allah/God/Yahweh we must take it into our own hands to learn about our own faith and other faiths to live peacefully in this world. Have you read multiple translations of your holy book and compared them? I have! Have you ever been to a Catholic Church, (Not a Baptist Church, they say almost everybody's going to hell, including me. We all have sects of our religion that get off path.)? Have you prayed in a Temple, yes a Jewish Temple? Well I have! I've listened to sermons and prayers in a wide variety of places. I prayed in a Mosque, prayed 5 times a day in Egypt, and prayed in Jewish Temples and prayed in Ancient Coptic Christian Churches in Egypt, and prayed in the Vatican and Protestant churches. I've attended church in other denominations than my own, Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, Evangelical, Non-denominational, Church of Christ, Pentacostal, Jehovah's Witness and Unitarian. Have you celebrated holy moments in other religions like weddings, baptisms, dedications, funerals, coming of age ceremonies, confirmations; well I have! Have you explored your faith and others too? I still am exploring my religion and others and loving God in all his ways. You should too!
May God bless you and keep you safe. (Reply to this) (Thread) |
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