• Sen. John McCain recruited the support of an evangelical minister, Pastor Rod Parsley, who describes Islam as "anti-Christ" and Mohammed as "the mouthpiece of a conspiracy of spiritual evil."
• Parsley is the pastor of the World Harvest Church of Columbus, Ohio.
• At a campaign appearance in Cincinnati, McCain introduced Parsley as "one of the truly great leaders in America, a moral compass, a spiritual guide."
• Quote from Parsley’s sermon, "Islam is an anti-Christ religion that intends through violence to conquer the world. America was founded with the intention of seeing this false religion destroyed, I believe Sept. 11, 2001 was a generational call to arms that we can no longer ignore."
• Parsley's views and his connection to the McCain campaign are now beginning to show up on Arab Web sites and newspapers.
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From the interview:"Islam is an anti-Christ religion that intends through violence to conquer the world," Parsley says on the DVDs reviewed by ABC News.
Which I believe to be true, to one degree or another. By its own admission Islam is against Christianity. The actions of Islamic clerics and rabid followers give credence to this. So far, so good. But Parsley continues:
"America was founded with the intention of seeing this false religion destroyed," Parsley says, "and I believe Sept. 11, 2001 was a generational call to arms that we can no longer ignore."
Now just how would Parsley know this? Has he been given a holy vision that he has yet to reveal to the world in general? America is made up of two continents, North and South, and was not 'founded', and never will be. The United States was founded.
What is the attraction between politicos running for office and lunatic snake handlers?
And yet some of the followers of the faiths co-exsist with nary a problem and the faiths share common traits and common prophets, and others fuss and fight about this or that.
"Islam is an anti-Christ religion that intends through violence to conquer the world,"
??????? I doubt that comment speaks to all Islamic people. I personally don't know any up close & personal enough to wager a guess, but Cat Stevens converted to Islam many years ago, and he's a man & voice of peace, not violence. I imagine there's a few others. Isn't this kind of like saying that all muslims want to kill Americans? A generic, blanket statement that is not true. Kind of like saying that all Baptists or Christians handle snakes when they worship or speak in tongues - they don't. Some do, most do not. Isn't Mohammad considered the Islamic version of God? (I really am not sure.) Most religions worship a form of God - and it's been my understanding, that while they may call him by different names, it is still the same God. Perhaps I am wrong.
Muslims do not worship Muhammad. According to Islam, Allah dictated the Qu'ran to his prophet/messenger, Muhammad.
Muslims as well as Christians would be offended to say that they worship the same God. Allah and YHWH are not the same, they each have opposing attributes and characteristics. Since A cannot be non-A in the same sense at the same time, they are not only different names, but also different deities.
To demonstrate this even further, attend, watch, read, or listen to an academic debate between a Muslim and a Christian scholar. Youtube is a good place to begin.
Just a thought experiment here. If you believe that there is one true God, and that your way of celebrating God is the only way that is right or true, then I could see where you are coming from. But even then, if you believe that there is one God, and someone else is trying to celebrate as well, and each religion shares a common background, then I would think that you would assume that they are celebrating the same God, but just going about it a different way?
I have attended live debates between Christians and Muslims. All have been respectful, and with many points of commonality. Many points of disagreement, too. But many folks in attendance seem to have used a derivative of the phrase "we are all celebrating -God, Allah-" So I disagree that de facto, Christians and Muslims should and/or are offended when comparing Gods, because not all (maybe even most?) are offended in the least. In fact, I personally find the points of commonality a very comforting thing.
Your point is well-taken. I agree that there are some commonalities. In order for constructive dialogue and debate to take place, Muslims and Christians should talk about the issues where they agree and proceed on that basis of agreement. However, I don't think they should just leave it at that and ignore those differences. Because that would be too simplistic of a reduction.
In addition to the areas of agreement, I also believe that the fundamental differences need to be discussed i.e. the unitarian view of God in contrast to the trinitarian view of God. In the debates I've mentioned, I think we can see this happening.
Due to ignorance and bigotry, both sides are guilty of misunderstanding and misrepresenting each other's views, thus the need for open and honest debate and dialogue. What should not be done is to do what people like Parsley have done by making inflammatory statements that destroy one's credibilty and ruin some opportunities for dialogue
Although, I do believe that people need to becareful not to "paint with a broad brush", I admit that I was guilty of that by stating that "Muslims and Christians would be offended" and I stand corrected. Then again, I wonder how is it that Islam regards the Christian position as blasphemous for affirming that Jesus was both fully human and fully divine while Christianity regards the Islamic view as blasphemous for its denial of Christ's full humanity and full divinity if blasphemy is not an offense which in some countries is still punishable by death?
Islam is a belief system, it is the followers, some, how find the statement that a man could be thought of as God, or the son of God.
The Muslims I know, hold that Jesus was and is a prophet of God, but a man none the less, and let those who choose to think or belief he was the son of God and God to some and not condemn or try and change their minds.
It is the people on the extremes that take positions that say he or she is wrong, instead of seeing that we all have different ways and different faiths.
"In order for constructive dialogue and debate to take place, Muslims and Christians should talk about the issues where they agree and proceed on that basis of agreement."
Funny thing, is that they do, I have been to some discussions in groups and people speak to each other and actually listen.
Really....
Speaking to both followers of the faiths, I have heard that there is but one God. Some say that a human was born and then a following started, but yet, there is one God, and other believers say the words of God were handed down to others and still there is only one God.
Funny, thing, too is that followers have so much in common, biblical persons, consider most of the same people in the bible to be prophets and so on.
They would be offended?
Well, maybe, some that are blinded by their own light, but I dare, say that the regular folks that we do not read about, just go about thier lifes and wonder why people paint false pictures of people, or paint with such a wide brush.
What Would Abraham Do????