With some who oppose Islam they believe that doing things that offend them, like: having booze parties, approving same sex sex as marriage and wearing bikini's in public, is the way to change their religion. This just makes those listening to Imams radical. For them Western society is decadent and must be destroyed. They believe this is virtuous and has reward in the afterlife. For them one must convert or be killed.

We have to enter their mind's view and develop strategies that convert them to reason. The Koran mentions Jesus and his mother Mary, but never mentions Mohamed or his mother; so it is a strategy to have them learn the teaching of Jesus. To have them accept atheistic secularism is not a strategy, it is an ingrained anathema to them.

Josephus,

"We have to enter their mind's view and develop strategies that convert them to reason.,,,"

Erm....that is somewhat hypocritical.

All "Sky God" religions rest on the foundation, not of "reason", but of "faith"

How is believing that Jesus was the product of a virgin birth rational - or employing reason?

How is believing that Jesus rose from the dead days after he was crucified using reason?

How is believing Jesus ascended bodily to "Heaven" using reason?

The fact is that one has to suppress one's powers of reason and rational thought to believe the foundational premises of "Sky God" religions.

And that's the reason I've never been able to "believe"...my rational mind will not permit it.

AJ.

Well, the New Testament is VERY different from the Old Testament. As Is Mise said, you don't know much about it. As I said before, you are entitled to think as you will about religion or anything else, but you need to get the facts straight, or stick to something you know. However, if you did stick to something you know, you could say nothing. But, like the Great Pretender, you are certain to carry on singing. There is, rightly, no censoring of ignorance here.

Hi Poirot,

So many red herrings ! My fridge is full of the bloody things. Maybe I'll have to get a cat.

Thanks anyway,

Joe

Dear Josephus,

You wrote;

“I note several here are not willing to accept that many call themselves christian but do not follow Christ. So they conclude their opinion on evil behaviour being Christian not on the teaching of Christ. There have been many falsely claim to be Christian but serve themselves in lust and power - this is not taught by Christ.”

What you are saying is that we shouldn't use the actions of a certain section of a faith to tar the rest of it.

Could not agree more.

So when the moderates of the Islamic faith, who make up the vast majority, condemn the violence of Islamic extremists as un-Islamic and contrary to the doctrines of Islam we should agree? Or would you have us only exercise that prerogative for those of the Christian denomination?

It is a big ask to have us acquiesce to the notion that highly Christianised nations in Europe who took to the task of slaughtering over 6 million Jews with such relish should not be regarded as Christian, but okay.

You wrote;

“Christ came to fulfill the law of God not the National laws given to Israel”

When Jesus first came it was for the chosen people, the Jews. He would only talk to a gentile when pressed and even then referred to them as dogs. If they deigned to show great humility and subservience then they might be permitted to eat 'crumbs from the table'.

Sounds like the very model of an Orthodox Jewish Rabbi.

Dear JayB,

I find large parts of the Old Testament to be incredibly powerful and insightful. Job is my favorite book by far and you should do your self a favor and have a read.

As to your questions I'm sure we have been through this before and I'm certainly not going to take the time to respond to them all so if you would like to offer me a couple that are important to you I will agree to give fulsome answers.

anyone who can't see that secularist consistently ignore what is obvious (a Creator, a Designer, the corruption of man) simply remain willfully ignorant. They criticise the ressurection and then have the audacity to say the order of this universe came from nothing or even worse chaos. The hopeless lack of evidence from fossils or anything else to support evolution despite their rhetoric exposes the fairytales they hide behind. The ideogoly of feminist/humanist is every bit as much a death cult as Isis. The only difference is they use pathetically flawed pseuso science to cover their gross corruption unlike Isis who claim its Allah. Secularist often use pathetic parallels when trying to paint followers of Christ with followers of Mohammed. The truth is they are far more like Mohammed with his stinking pride and immorality than anyone else.