tigger398 Posted May 30, 2009 Group: Diamond Member Followers: 6 Topic Count: 562 Topics Per Day: 0.08 Content Count: 2,074 Content Per Day: 0.31 Reputation: 648 Days Won: 2 Joined: 11/01/2005 Status: Offline Birthday: 05/31/1966 Author Share Posted May 30, 2009 Islam is not a real religion but, for some reason, they are included anywayOn what basis are you making such a statement, MG? I've just gone and checked the dictionary definitions of "religion" and every single one of them can be applied to religion in some form or other. However you bend it, Islam is a religion - you may not like it or agree with it, but it is still a religion by definition. Wow; I wrote that post two months ago! At first, I didn't know why you were even asking me such a question! But, now that I've refreshed my memory, islam is a cult. Yes. On what grounds do I say this? They keep adherents by threat of death, they worship a false god, they preach from a false 'Holy Book', they promise sexual favors to the 'faithful' (to the men, anyway), they set up a system of laws and demand complete submission and they teach that all who don't believe are evil and should be killed. Islam is not just a cult; it's the devil's very OWN cult. I agree with Glory, WOW I thought this thread was long gone lol Me too! Talk about rising from the dead.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest man Posted May 31, 2009 Share Posted May 31, 2009 Yes, that's the fastest anyone has managed to irritate me so intensely. Take pride in a job well done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smalcald Posted May 31, 2009 Group: Royal Member Followers: 0 Topic Count: 32 Topics Per Day: 0.00 Content Count: 5,258 Content Per Day: 0.76 Reputation: 42 Days Won: 3 Joined: 06/16/2005 Status: Offline Birthday: 07/22/1960 Share Posted May 31, 2009 The other thing that we have to realize and watch is that Islam is promoted by Middle East governments within the United States and Europe, primarily Saudi Arabia. It is swept under the rug but the government of Saudi funds Islamic efforts in the United States and also funds mosques in the US. To me this is disturbing especially given the fact that Christianity in the Kingdom of Saudi is effectively illegal. A Muslim who converts to Christianity who lives in Saudi has committed a crime and is under penalty of death. Yes, exactly - Islam is against freedom, but is happy to use the freedom of the Western world. Many Muslims even in the UK support the death penalty for apostasy, and converts are often afraid of reprisals. Exactly. My opinion is that the best way to oppose this is through a commitment to religous freedom and secondly through a re-commitment by Christians to spread th Word to everyone with a special emphasis on Muslims and Muslism living all over the Globe. We should not be afraid to spread the Gospel to those under the bondage and yoke of Islam. I don't think we should clamp down on religous expression as a way to stop Islam, including thier freedom to practice thier faith however they want within the bounds of individual liberty and the protection of human rights. For example I don't think it was wise of the French to ban Islamic headresses for girls in French schools along with wearing crosses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leonard Posted May 31, 2009 Group: Royal Member Followers: 2 Topic Count: 115 Topics Per Day: 0.02 Content Count: 8,281 Content Per Day: 1.12 Reputation: 249 Days Won: 3 Joined: 03/03/2004 Status: Offline Birthday: 10/30/1955 Share Posted May 31, 2009 81% of American adults identify themselves with a specific religion: 76.5% (159 million) of Americans identify themselves as Christian. This is a major slide from 86.2% in 1990. Identification with Christianity has suffered a loss of 9.7 percentage points in 11 years -- about 0.9 percentage points per year. This decline is identical to that observed in Canada between 1981 and 2001. If this trend has continued, then: at the present time (2007-MAY), only 71% of American adults consider themselves Christians The percentage will dip below 70% in 2008 By about the year 2042, non-Christians will outnumber the Christians in the U.S. 52% of Americans identified themselves as Protestant. 24.5% are Roman Catholic. 1.3% are Jewish. 0.5% are Muslim, followers of Islam. The fastest growing religion (in terms of percentage) is Wicca -- a Neopagan religion that is sometimes referred to as Witchcraft. Numbers of adherents went from 8,000 in 1990 to 134,000 in 2001. Their numbers of adherents are doubling about every 30 months. 4,5 Wiccans in Australia have a very similar growth pattern, from fewer than 2,000 in 1996 to 9,000 in 2001. 10 In Canada, Wiccans and other Neopagans showed the greatest percentage growth of any faith group. They totaled 21,080 members in 1991, an increase of 281% from 1990. I copied this because some people don't go to the links that people provide for us to look at. The scary thing is the Wiccan's. Imagine if we worked just as hard and we could double the number saved every 30 months! But God has a plan, and we wait on Him! One Sunday when we were starting a church up in Denver, we had a good number of visitors. Instead of our typical 8, we had 19! PERCENTAGE-WISE that made us the FASTEST GROWING CHURCH IN AMERICA! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MorningGlory Posted May 31, 2009 Group: Royal Member Followers: 0 Topic Count: 1,022 Topics Per Day: 0.16 Content Count: 39,193 Content Per Day: 6.10 Reputation: 9,977 Days Won: 78 Joined: 10/01/2006 Status: Offline Share Posted May 31, 2009 81% of American adults identify themselves with a specific religion: 76.5% (159 million) of Americans identify themselves as Christian. This is a major slide from 86.2% in 1990. Identification with Christianity has suffered a loss of 9.7 percentage points in 11 years -- about 0.9 percentage points per year. This decline is identical to that observed in Canada between 1981 and 2001. If this trend has continued, then: at the present time (2007-MAY), only 71% of American adults consider themselves Christians The percentage will dip below 70% in 2008 By about the year 2042, non-Christians will outnumber the Christians in the U.S. 52% of Americans identified themselves as Protestant. 24.5% are Roman Catholic. 1.3% are Jewish. 0.5% are Muslim, followers of Islam. The fastest growing religion (in terms of percentage) is Wicca -- a Neopagan religion that is sometimes referred to as Witchcraft. Numbers of adherents went from 8,000 in 1990 to 134,000 in 2001. Their numbers of adherents are doubling about every 30 months. 4,5 Wiccans in Australia have a very similar growth pattern, from fewer than 2,000 in 1996 to 9,000 in 2001. 10 In Canada, Wiccans and other Neopagans showed the greatest percentage growth of any faith group. They totaled 21,080 members in 1991, an increase of 281% from 1990. I copied this because some people don't go to the links that people provide for us to look at. The scary thing is the Wiccan's. Imagine if we worked just as hard and we could double the number saved every 30 months! But God has a plan, and we wait on Him! One Sunday when we were starting a church up in Denver, we had a good number of visitors. Instead of our typical 8, we had 19! PERCENTAGE-WISE that made us the FASTEST GROWING CHURCH IN AMERICA! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParanoidAndroid Posted May 31, 2009 Group: Senior Member Followers: 1 Topic Count: 39 Topics Per Day: 0.01 Content Count: 591 Content Per Day: 0.09 Reputation: 14 Days Won: 0 Joined: 04/01/2007 Status: Offline Birthday: 11/27/1979 Share Posted May 31, 2009 Islam is not a real religion but, for some reason, they are included anywayOn what basis are you making such a statement, MG? I've just gone and checked the dictionary definitions of "religion" and every single one of them can be applied to religion in some form or other. However you bend it, Islam is a religion - you may not like it or agree with it, but it is still a religion by definition. Wow; I wrote that post two months ago! At first, I didn't know why you were even asking me such a question! But, now that I've refreshed my memory, islam is a cult. Yes. On what grounds do I say this? They keep adherents by threat of death, they worship a false god, they preach from a false 'Holy Book', they promise sexual favors to the 'faithful' (to the men, anyway), they set up a system of laws and demand complete submission and they teach that all who don't believe are evil and should be killed. Islam is not just a cult; it's the devil's very OWN cult. Sorry, didn't realise you wrote that so long ago. I haven't been around all that often the past few weeks. I misread "Mar 31" to be "May 31". In any case, here is what my Shorter Oxford English Dictionary says about "religion": 1- A state of life bound by monastic vows; the condition of one who is a member of a religious order; the religious life. 2- A particular monastic or religious order or rule; a religious house 3- Action or conduct indicating a belief in, reverence for, and desire to please, a divine ruling power; the exercise or practice of rites or observances implying this; religious rites. 4- A particular system of faith and worship 5 - Recognition on the part of man of some higher unseen power as having control of his destiny, and as being entitled to obedience, reverence, and worship; the general mental and moral attitude resulting from this belief, with ref. to its effect upon the individual or the community; personal or general acceptance of this feeling as a standard of spiritual and practical life. 6 - Devotion to some principle; strict fidelity or faithfulness; conscientiousness; pious affection or attachment 7 - The religious sanction or obligation of an oath Now let's take these definitions one at a time and compare them to Islam. 1- There are indeed Imams and Sheiks in Islam that fulfil the condition of being a member of a religious order. 2- Sharia law is a form of religious rule, and they are ruled by clerics mentioned in point 1. 3- Muslims act in certain ways that define themselves as followers of a divine ruling power, the rites and practices they perform at Mosque and at home typify this. 4- Islam is most definitely a particular system of faith and worship based on submission to Allah. 5- Muslims believe a higher unseen power has control of their lives and is worthy of obedience, respect, reverence and worship. 6- They are devoted to several principles that strictly govern their way of life. 7- Finally, Muslims are obliged to complete several oaths in their lifetime (eg, pilgrimage to Mecca). By all seven definitions of "religion" in my Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, Islam applies. You cannot dismiss it as a religion simply because you don't like what it teaches or how you think/feel it acts towards its followers and enemies. Regards, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MorningGlory Posted May 31, 2009 Group: Royal Member Followers: 0 Topic Count: 1,022 Topics Per Day: 0.16 Content Count: 39,193 Content Per Day: 6.10 Reputation: 9,977 Days Won: 78 Joined: 10/01/2006 Status: Offline Share Posted May 31, 2009 By all seven definitions of "religion" in my Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, Islam applies. You cannot dismiss it as a religion simply because you don't like what it teaches or how you think/feel it acts towards its followers and enemies. Regards, Islam is a cult; much like the Branch Davidians, the Moonies and the Scientoligists. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martin frobisher Posted May 31, 2009 Group: Advanced Member Followers: 1 Topic Count: 5 Topics Per Day: 0.00 Content Count: 223 Content Per Day: 0.04 Reputation: 0 Days Won: 0 Joined: 05/30/2009 Status: Offline Birthday: 12/08/1969 Share Posted May 31, 2009 The definition of religion, and differentiation from a cult, is problematic. By many definitions Buddhism is not a religion, but many people would think of it in those terms. Certainly when the UK authorities examined Scientology they didn't feel that the "auditing" etc that Scientologists do constituted "worship", and so denied their buildings the status of places of worship. I have to agree that Islam shares many of the features of a cult, and suspect that the main reasons why it is considered a major religion are passage of time and number of followers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
victory777 Posted May 31, 2009 Group: Advanced Member Followers: 2 Topic Count: 31 Topics Per Day: 0.01 Content Count: 213 Content Per Day: 0.04 Reputation: 22 Days Won: 1 Joined: 06/30/2008 Status: Offline Birthday: 11/06/1949 Share Posted May 31, 2009 out of interest, its more important to share the gospel with a muslim,then get bogged down with numbers, i say this cos i was a converted muslim,before i got saved,(thought a relationship)glad God saved me from to Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martin frobisher Posted May 31, 2009 Group: Advanced Member Followers: 1 Topic Count: 5 Topics Per Day: 0.00 Content Count: 223 Content Per Day: 0.04 Reputation: 0 Days Won: 0 Joined: 05/30/2009 Status: Offline Birthday: 12/08/1969 Share Posted May 31, 2009 I don't think anyone's getting "bogged down" with numbers... but it's important to differentiate fact from fiction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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