SomeGuy is batting 1.000, I'm way ahead of the curve, yet again.

This guy is an officer of the court in the U.S. and he believes that. Does anyone really not see that as a problem?

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Freedom is our Strength.

Yeah, I've had this argument no less than 5,000 times regarding all religuons, and I'm usually the one making this argument. That doesn't change the fact that if the claim was that the guy said it, there should be proof he said it. It looks as though he did, however.

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I would hope not.

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You know, I really think this is part of the disconnect that most Americans have when it comes to Islam. Obviously, most Americans "believe" in God. If you declare yourself an atheist you aren't getting elected to shit in this country. But for most people, particularly educated people in the large cities, the belief in God is more of an abstract. It's hope for something better after this life is complete. And such "belief" is often divorced- or at least quite far removed- from the specific religious texts on which the religions embraced by these people are founded upon. I don't think you can say the same for the majority of Muslims. Their beliefs are specific and directly related to their ancient religious texts and doctrines. As it should be if you're actually going to believe in a religion.

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Freedom is our Strength.

If that is what he wrote I don't have an issue with it. I think MANY are reading it wrong.

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Be well

GO BEARS!!!

Mr. Khan is a complex man.

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Elections have consequences.

No one understands him but Nas.

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Freedom is our Strength.

You caught that.

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Elections have consequences.

I once took a History of Religion class in Grad School. I wrote a book review based on this book "God the Evidence". It relates to the question that you are posing. When you say God's words no one really knows for sure if they are god's words. The Bible is merely a written document that was theoretically written by supporters of Jesus Christ. No one has ever heard God's words so you really don't know if you are betraying his words by doing things that may run counter to what you read in the bible.

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From the same article:

The Muslim attorney writes that, “it has to be admitted, however, that the Quran, being basically a book of religious guidance, is not an easy reference for legal studies. It is more particularly an appeal to faith and the human soul rather than a classification of legal prescriptions.”

ThisGuy is a walking khantradiction.

Much like the Quran.

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Not true. You clearly understand how all religious people interpret their holy books. All Muslims have a literal interpretation of their holy book but that isn't true for everyone else. It's really amazing how you figured that out.

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Be well

GO BEARS!!!

Tricky language here. I guess it depends what the meaning of "is" is.

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Freedom is our Strength.

The problem, though, is that the same logic should apply to Christians or any other religion. If Ted Cruz is elected president, he literally thinks the Bible's literal interpretation should trump everything. And if he doesn't think that, one has to wonder how much of a true "Christian" he is. This is the exact same thing. Now, I know you're going to come back and say "Yeah, but Ted Cruz isn't trying to eradicate Western Culture or kill people or whatever...", but I'm not trying to solve global terrorism, either. I'm just trying to be logically consistent. If what this guy thinks upsets you so much, you should be equally upset when anyone goes on their religious tirades during a political function. I find both to be incongruent with my way of thinking.

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if you don't believe the Koran is the Word of God you are not a Muslim. If you don't believe the Bible is the Word Of God you are not a Christian. The kind of gymnastics you are attempting here is the reason for something like The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, which I generally find disrespectful. Because I don't care what goofy crap you believe, as long as you don't bring it to my doorstep. But religious people are rarely satisfied with just doing their own thing. They want to impose their beliefs on everyone else. That's the very definition of "religious".

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Freedom is our Strength.

Have I ever given you the impression that I believe Ted Cruz to be in his right mind?

Also, I'm not upset with anything Khan said or believes. That was my point in saying it isn't surprising, not to challenge your request for a link. But I think anyone who is a true liberal and isn't aware of these real belief systems and tries to deny they exist or the dangers they could have to the way you and I want to live is naive at best.

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Freedom is our Strength.

Now you're trying to impose your beliefs on Leash.

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Be well

GO BEARS!!!

First, yes, if I hadn't met you before, I wouldn't believe you weren't Ted Cruz.

Second, I would again argue that if you're making that assumption based on religious texts that we can assume he subscribes to, then you must also think that Nas would stone his own son to death if he continually disobeyed him. If we assume one, we must assume the other. I'm fine with that if you're onboard.

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I'm not a liberal.

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The Bible is not a litmus test for whether or not you believe in God either I don't know where you got that cap from Jorr

How can anything be the "word of god" if no one knows for sure if God has spoken? The Bible was written by man not God. I can believe in God and still believe that a manmade document may not be reflective of his beliefs.

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That's exactly the point. I don't think the level of Nas' beliefs in any religious text is the same as just a basic average Muslim, let alone a so-called radical. But Nas is here and he can tell us himself if he would stone his kids and if not how he squares that with God's orders. (Anyway, I think stoning went out when the New Covenant came in.)

The larger point is that, yeah, I believe Ted Cruz is a fucking Christian whacko. The thing is, when I say that, I'm not going to be attacked as some kind of bigot in this forum for doing so. I don't want Ted Cruz anywhere near the White House and I would prefer he weren't in the Senate. You're from a small town. I admit there are probably more Christian whackos clinging to their guns and religion in small towns in Middle America. I just don't really know any of them except Darkside.

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Freedom is our Strength.

I never said it was. But it is certainly a litmus test if you believe in the Christian god. Otherwise you're praying to the Flying Spaghetti Monster or something else that has no basis in the Bible.

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Freedom is our Strength.

I rest my case.

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Freedom is our Strength.

This

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How should it be read?

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Like this.

The Muslim attorney writes that, “it has to be admitted, however, that the Quran, being basically a book of religious guidance, is not an easy reference for legal studies. It is more particularly an appeal to faith and the human soul rather than a classification of legal prescriptions.”

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Aside:

The books that didn't make it into the Bible are often hilarious. "The Infancy Gospel of Thomas" features a boy Jesus who is kind of a jag. For example, he gets in trouble at school one day, so he kills he teacher. Mary, his mom, makes him bring the dude back to life.

Later, Jesus practices his resurrection skills by killing birds and then reanimating them.

"The Infancy Gospel of Thomas" obviously didn't make the cut, but I'd love to get high with the person who dreamed it up. It's also no more crazy than some of the stuff in the rest of the NT (though it lacks the Golden Rule stuff).

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Backwards. The message is totally different, like playing Beatles' records backwards.

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Good people drink good beer - Hunter S. Thompson

<º)))><

Waiting for the time when I can finally say
That this has all been wonderful, but now I'm on my way

But your first point seems to contradict what you've said previously. You have stated that if someone doesn't follow the texts of their religion literally, how can they really be called a (Muslim, Christian, Branch Davidian, etc.)? If you're saying that Nas isn't really a Christian, I guess that squares. I don't think either one has any place in a public forum, Muslim or Christian.

I can guarantee you, though, that the reason you perceive more "Liberals" or "athiests" to argue against Christianity than Islam is because we are surrounded by Christians, and there is more expected of them. The very reason people don't often take on Islam is - in my mind - what Ted Kuczynski described in his manifesto regarding Liberals. Many Liberals tend to "lay off" or defend groups who they subconsciously view as not equal to them. I suspect that many Liberals regard Islam as archaic and are therefore hesitant to criticize, whereas their friends and family groups are likely to have at least one Christian wacko that they can relate with on many levels.

I just don't think acknowledging that Islam in general is more radical accomplishes much. First, it's obvious that there are certain sects that want to destroy the West. Second, acknowledging it probably doesn't do much other than piss off the ones who are moderate. If you go strictly by his beliefs, this Khan guy doesn't really think much differently than a lot of Senators and - presumably - judges or other members of our government. He just happens to have a different religion that, as a whole, seems to have a lot more fanaticism at the moment.

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Yeah, I'm certainly not defending ANY religion, but how is his general philosophy different than a huge portion of Christians who hold public office?

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