DB and FH,

Glad to hear that all went well and that it was an interesting experience - and no dead bodies at the end of the meeting.

DB, at least you still have hair.

FH, be kind to old folks....

Kactuz

It's been said that we have more things to unite us than those things that divide us, or at least that's been my attitude to life.

Nice to see a hint of harmony on these pages, if even for a fleeting moment.

I take it that neither side saw wings, horns or haloes growing on the other?

Fellow Human,

Either that means you are not a follower of Mohammed, or you are, but depart from his ideas and practice (convert or die). Isn't the aim of Islam to convert the world to Shariah law? And isn't the only way to do that to use the sword, if not now, then when the majority of the world is Islamic (has majority political power)?

There are many humans doing different things. This doesn't mean "human" means "humane" or "democratic." The use of "fellow human" is misleading, if it is intended to give the idea that it means 24-7 nice guy, whatever the political majority.

Say 90% of the world is Islamic, project the fate of the l0%. Could they live under non-Shariah law or not (in your view)?

BD and FH, this is great news. It's surprising how moved I was when I read this, given that I've never met either of you. As someone else said (was it Belly?) this is cause for hope. If you two can connect anything's possible.

I really do hope you remain friends and help others understand how little is ultimately achieved by closed minds.

A toast to you.

BD, I've not got any interest in doing a bible study on your terms. Your arguments sidestep the basic reality that you persistantly attack Islam because of the violence in the quran (their core documents) while sidestepping or claiming justification for the violence in the bible. No doubt many muslims could find justification for the violence in the Quran as well. History has shown that some christains are quite capable of using the bible to justify violence against others.

What it really boils down to is how people choose to live, not what others read into their religious texts.

You are correct when pointing out that a 'Pharaoh who knew not BD' might arise. On the other hand the risk in Australia is much more likely to be a 'Pharaoh who knew not FH'. Those who want to portray all of those who consider others a risk because they do hold differing beliefs and they don't happen to know the individuals. I've not noticed any muslims in the likely line up to be the next PM.

R0bert

BD, I forgot to address a point from your post that always fascinates me.

"It just seems you are placing yourself above God. (no offense there) You are asserting "God SHOULD have revealed Himself 'this' way..to my liking"

A point where you and are far, far, far more often in agreement than disagreement. I'm not sure how many idea's of god are in the human space - not just the main religions but every individuals interpretation of their faith. Even within the framework of a bible based monothiestic belief centered on the christian trinity and the person of Jesus Christ there is a massive number of viewpoints about the character and revelation of god.

But lets be kind here, assume that there were only 1 billion differing ideas's about god which have been held to date and that about 1 million of them were broadly interpretations of the christain god of the bible. A massive understatement I expect. Those idea's include athiesim and agnosticism.

You reject to some degree or other 999,999,999,999 of those ideas. You have used your intellect, world view, experience etc to decide that from what you have seen the evidence best fits one view. You are I suspect open to the possibility that you may have some of that detail wrong so will consider the possibility that one of 1000 or so other interpretations of how god has been revealed may be correct and place yourself above 999,999,999,000 of those ideas about god.

I also take the view that one understanding is the best that I can find but I may be wrong in some detail so I can accept the possibility that some other views may be correct.

My placing myself above your god to decide how he or she should have been revealed is no different to what you do to the gods at the heart of beliefs that you don't hold or to the god at the center of many other monothiestic, bible believing christain's understanding of the nature of god.

R0bert