Civil discussion of ISIS from a religious point-of-view.

[BugI02]

I think religion is just camoflage. I think that there is a certain subset of humanity that just likes to kill people. They will be attracted to whatever movement allows them to satisfy their urge. Think Nazis, the dirty war, Charles Taylor, Bosnia ad nauseum. There never seems to be a shortage of people willing to torture and kill. There may be people in the heirarchy that have a larger plan/purpose but the rank and file do not seem exclusively or even primarily motivated by religion

 

[Trigger Time]

I think religion is just camoflage. I think that there is a certain subset of humanity that just likes to kill people. They will be attracted to whatever movement allows them to satisfy their urge. Think Nazis, the dirty war, Charles Taylor, Bosnia ad nauseum. There never seems to be a shortage of people willing to torture and kill. There may be people in the heirarchy that have a larger plan/purpose but the rank and file do not seem exclusively or even primarily motivated by religion

Absolute power and authority corrupts all. Some are just already closer to crazy to start with than others

 

[IndyDave1776]

No doubt that Islamic religious texts make it much more difficult for the moderates to make their case. It also puts us in a real bind. Our only realistic solution to radical Islam and terrorism is to kill them all, but by doing that we feed right into their propaganda machine that uses western aggression as a recruiting tool. It's a no win situation for us.

Not necessarily a no-win. As we proved in the early years of the republic, if you pound them really hard to the point they don't believe they can win, they will lay off.

 

[LP1]

Just remember that the Westboro Baptist folks (or whatever the "god hates fags" group is called) claim to be Christians.

 

[GodFearinGunTotin]

 

[ArcadiaGP]

Just remember that the Westboro Baptist folks (or whatever the "god hates fags" group is called) claim to be Christians.

They're a bit mixed up, though. Fortunately, not the violent types.

WBC strongly believes that gay people cannot be Christian. They believe the two are contradictory, and exclusive. This is a shame, as I do know gay christians. WBC's priorities are very odd.

 

[IndyDave1776]

Just remember that the Westboro Baptist folks (or whatever the "god hates fags" group is called) claim to be Christians.

This is true, but it also demonstrates that Westboro is run by people who flunked basic theology and apparently can't read.

 

[Expat]

Dave, is a person who takes up serpents a true Christian?

And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.

 

[Trigger Time]

Dave, is a person who takes up serpents a true Christian?

I eat snakes. What am I?

 

[bmbutch]

And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.

Amen!

 

[zippy23]

its very simple, but seems no one in the public will tell the truth.

Their holy book commands death of infidels. They are allowed to lie to further the agenda of Islam. They are allowed to enslave per their prophet. I think ISIS is following the "religion" of Islam closer than most. If you look at islam without seeing the idea of a religion, it looks exactly like a tyrannical gov't that rules all and enslaves the people. isis is doing what they read. Almost no one who backs islam and is a non muslim has actually read the Quran. If you read it, its horrifying. Thats where the truth is. Read the book, and you will know its nothing but wrong for everyone who's not muslim and wrong for all women. You will see it is what isis, and so many other islamic groups have done and are doing.

The crusades were a proactive approach to stop the annihilation of christians. Christians had been slaughtered for hundreds of years, and they went on the offensive to avoid extinction. Obama is flat out lying, along with any other person comparing the crusades to what isis is doing. Islam was the threat in that day, so how do you stop a threat?? Pretty simple, they did it, and needed to, to stay alive. What is wrong with that? Israel might be very close to being proactive if Iran gets the bomb. Iran will no doubt attack if they have it. History shows the truth, but history is not known, or it is flat out lied about to further a political agenda.

 

[rambone]

Luke 10:19
Mark 16:17-18

(Edit: Maybe Acts 28, the first bit.)

Referring specifically to the followers of the Appalachian Holiness Movement.

Each of those scripture references, when read in context, are about people specifically appointed by Jesus, and imbued with extraordinary abilities. The subjects (72 appointed disciples, the 11 apostles, Paul) were not only given the ability to survive snake poison, they were also told to cast out demons and heal the sick using the name of Christ. These powers are not extended to the entire church.

WBC strongly believes that gay people cannot be Christian. They believe the two are contradictory, and exclusive. This is a shame, as I do know gay christians.

FYI:

"For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God." -- Ephesians 5:5

"Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God." -- 1 Corinthians 6:9-10

"Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God." -- Galatians 5:19-21

"But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death." -- Revelation 21:8

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments." -- John 14:15

 

[Trigger Time]

So it's 2015. I don't care who you are what you believe in what you look like who you pray to if you pray Ect. either you cohabitate with the rest of the world and fall in line to a
a rational line of thinking where people have the right to be free and not beheaded for being a woman or reading a book or showing their face or being different or you deserve to be wiped off the map. Once we get a true leader in office who gives a real **** about America and what we stand for and has a set of nads, we can go back to your regularly scheduled program of kicking ass and taking names and let God sort 'em out!

 

[Kutnupe14]

I believe the atrocities ISIS commits shows the true barbaric nature of the muslim/Islam religion. They are barbaric and believe all their actions are justified by their God and prophet. The god allah that they pray to is NOT the same god that Christians pray to like to many people try to claim. As for mr. Obama doing his revisionist take on history trying to compare the crusades to isis behavior, the crusades were a response to muslim violence against pilgrims going to visit the holy land or trying to take the entire cities like Jerusalem. They are a thorn in the side of the western world and have been for at least a thousand years. This is how I see things and I am not asking anyone to agree with what I have stated?

Revisionist history? The Crusaders were a bunch of thugs, thieves, rapists, and murderers who justified their actions through religion.

 

[ATM]

...Once we get a true leader in office who gives a real **** about America and what we stand for and has a set of nads, we can go back to your regularly scheduled program of kicking ass and taking names and let God sort 'em out!

Sadly, America has departed from it's original defining tenets toward that of the IS. Just a slight change of context and we're right there:

...Once we get a true caliph in office who gives a real **** about Islam and what we stand for and has a set of nads, we can go back to your prophetic scheduled program of kicking ass and taking names and let Allah sort 'em out!

 

[Trigger Time]

Sadly, America has departed from it's original defining tenets toward that of the IS. Just a slight change of context and we're right there:

...Once we get a true caliph in office who gives a real **** about Islam and what we stand for and has a set of nads, we can go back to your prophetic scheduled program of kicking ass and taking names and let Allah sort 'em out!

In some ways I agree with you.

 

[ATM]

In some ways I agree with you.

Our defining tenets were summarized in our Declaration of Independence. At what point did we choose to abandon them?

 

[Kutnupe14]

I think we should let ISIS do ISIS. I think we should let the Middle East kill themselves off. Why do we have to have skin in the game?

 

[Libertarian01]

To All,

One of the issues that was brought up in a class I was taking is the tremendous overlap of "Arabic" culture over Islam. There are teachings of Islam that are ignored or watered down due to conflict with how a subset of Middle Eastern male culture with the entirety of Islamic teachings.

I believe that any religion can be used as an excuse to perform the most horrific atrocities. We need only look at Christian depravities during the crusades, or the witch hunts, or the catholic wars with protestant and Lutheran reformers.

It is easy for us today to say, "Well... They weren't real Christians." But that is a copout in my opinion. We are applying modern 21st century morality on a culture that is radically different in its viewpoint, but that doesn't make that culture "wrong."

Even in the 20th century the KKK would use the bible to justify demeaning treatment of blacks and any nonwhites, and within a certain segment of American culture their rhetoric seemed reasonable.

I believe the biggest hurdle with Islam is in their viewpoint the State derives all power from God, thus necessitating in one form or another a theocracy. Christianity acknowledges that the State does not need God to be credible. The only democratic country that seems to have successfully navigated this issue is Turkey, so it gives me hope that others can do so as well.

With ISIS you can see a group of disenfranchised people taking advantage of an extremely chaotic situation. It doesn't matter why Syria or Iraq are unstable, the simple fact that they are is enough to allow an opening for an organized and motivated group to shove its way in.

Regards,

Doug

 

[Shadow8088]

Also, how do you feel when our current administration calls for people to "consider the Crusades" in response to ISIS actions?

The Crusades, a brief synopsis by Shadow8088-

-Do you believe in God?

-No.

*DEAD*

-Do you believe in God?

-Yes.

-Do you believe in MY God?

-No.

*DEAD*


I'd say that it's pretty close...