Shorbe,

The perversion of religion to justify war (or terrorism) is probably as old as mankind, and all three of the great monotheistic faiths have done this at times. Yahweh himself was originally the war god of the Jews, although saner versions of God have evolved in the past 3000 years.

There is plenty of shared common ground between the faiths and with modern secular humanism. You could start with the body of UN documents on human rights.

What each of the religious traditions needs to avoid is the tendency to retreat into fundamentalist intolerance, which has less to do with religious truth than the sense of shame and injustice stemming from longstanding tribal conflicts. Although often couched in religious terms, the Middle East conflicts have their origin in the competing imperatives of national, tribal and political groups, and exploiting religious differences is simply a convenient way for those in power, or those seeking power, to entrench and extend that power. Nearly all political systems rely to some extent on the assent of the people: pushing buttons around shame and anxiety are effective ways of manipulating that assent. Genuinely religious people are foolish to allow such exploitation of their beliefs.

All the great monotheistic faiths have threads of tolerance and plurality in their traditions. They need to return to these. At the same time, the solutions to the ME conflicts cannot be left up to self appointed clerics: that’s not how the modern world should ever work.

Snout,

Well said, but I believe there is a lot of debate behind the division amongst muslims. They are a divided people, the region is very much divided, and the people are being consumed by corrupt dictators which the US loves to see. It took Christianity several hundred years to get its act together, and if we consider that Islam is younger than Christianity, then we really need to cut these people some slack.

Personally I follow nothing, I don't need God and he certainly doesn't need me :) But having judged all religions I would say the one religion with most hope is the youngest of the 3 (Islam). Most won't see that now because it's still very scarey looking.

It's like judging the Chinese and Indians, give them 20-30 years and they will no longer be thought of as 3rd world countries.

coach: Allah is the equivalent to God. I'm sure everyone on this forum would agree that they would rather be "The Devil" with no religion than to be a False Christian such as yourself. Renounce your faith son..

Dev

What does it matter, a dream of love
Or a dream of lies
We're all gonna be in the same place
When we die
Your spirit don't leave knowing
Your face or your name
And the wind through your bones
Is all that remains
And we're all gonna be
We're all gonna be
Just dirt in the ground

The quill from a buzzard
The blood writes the word
I want to know am I the sky
Or a bird
'Cause hell is boiling over
And heaven is full
We're chained to the world
And we all gotta pull
And we're all gonna be
Just dirt in the ground

Now the killer was smiling
With nerves made of stone
He climbed the stairs
And the gallows groaned
And the people's hearts were pounding
They were throbbing, they were red
As he swung out ofver the crowd
I heard the hangman said
We're all gonna be
Just dirt in the ground

Now Cain slew Abel
He killed him with a stone
The sky cracked open
And the thunder groaned
Along a river of flesh
Can these dry bones live?
Ask a king or a beggar
And the answer they'll give
Is we're all gonna be
Yea yeah
We're all gonna be just
Dirt in the ground

'tom waits'

I reckon all religious organisations should pay tax like all other corporations. Then lets see how long they last

Dear Sheree, thanx for the nice example of youthful idealism and freshness.

and.. Yasouna, nice to see a Maronite visiting this forum, I do hope both you and Sheree will not only continue here, but invite many of your friends to do so also, we need more input from those with language and cultural background arising from the ME.

Sheree, your comment 'must work together' re Muslims and Christians is ok on the surface, and for Christians it represents no problem, but for Muslims it might, unless we apply it only to what might be described as 'nominal/cultural' Christians/Muslims.

Mr Nazrallah and company are certainly not the 'cultural' types, they are the hard core, driven "The world and all it contains belongs to Allah and HIS MESSENGER" and they are also connected to and reliant on Iran/Syria for their social and Military programs.

So, as with most areas of conflict in the world, the main combatants at the cutting edge of battle are usually either proxies for other interests, or allied with other parties in a way which involves selling a piece of their own soul for the sake of expansion or security.

Sheree, you are just 18,born in Australia and have grown up in a time of peace. You were not even alive at the end of the Vietnam war, which I participated in. All I'm saying, is that for you, the thought of human conflict must be horrifying.

But your life has been a treasured luxury rather than the norm.
Even the peace you enjoy is based on terrible conflict and dispossession of indigenous land.

I appreciate your kind thoughts about them all getting together, but am not optimistic that it will achieve much. As Yuyutsu said in another post. "Its a war where one side must survive and the other die" Sad, but true.

"But having judged all religions I would say the one religion with most hope is the youngest of the 3 (Islam)".

This statement shows clearly that you are arrogant,ignorant and untruthful. All religions? Which ones? What is your judgment based on? What hope does Islam offer? Please provide answers to these questions to back up your statement.

Allah is a word used before Islam was proclaimed by Mohammed. It is a generic word for god.