Christian Scholar: The Bible is More Violent Than the Koran

originally posted by: Specimen
a reply to: Akragon

But that not what God said.

Luke 19:27 "But those enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them--bring them here and kill them in front of me.'"

What God said eh... lol

26 For I say unto you, That unto every one which hath shall be given; and from him that hath not, even that he hath shall be taken away from him.

in the parable the enemy of the king has given nothing to his enemies.... Thus everything shall be taken from them... including their lives

a reply to: Akragon

O, so it is telling me to do that.

originally posted by: Specimen
a reply to: Akragon

O, so it is telling me to do that.

IF you want to take this parable literally... but somehow I doubt you are a servant of the king

Thus... you need not serve him

a reply to: Akragon

O I get it now...So your going to kill me now...Well make it quick and clean, and make sure I look good for the funeral.

I was saving myself for God to kill me, I mean it an honor.

originally posted by: enlightenedservant
I notice you skipped the rest of my post.

The rest of your post was the simplistic worldview that ignores the fact that the vast majority of killings in Iraq and Afghanistan were Muslim on Muslim.

In Iraq, once the dictator Saddam (who was responsible for upwards of a million killed) was removed the US and Coalition were just in the way of the sectarian violence that erupted between the Shia and Sunni neighbours. The US were not the targets of the car and suicide bombers who hit markets.

For last few decades the Muslim world has been extinguishing non Muslim communities as each denomination of Islam seeks to carve a purity in their own domains.

Blame it all on the West and ignore the reality.

To keep this remotely to the OP. Both Saudi and Iran are funding and supporting terrorism and insurgency against each other's interests. Look to Yemen for evidence of the power play, or Syria, or anywhere else you care to look. Sunni versus Shia, where the only casualties are fellow Muslims.

Prove me wrong.

a reply to: Specimen

Not sure how you came to that conclusion...

Like I said, all it means is to not make what you have been given useless

Read the whole parable instead of assuming a meaning from a single verse

originally posted by: randyvs
a reply to: enlightenedservant

That's exactly what we've been saying this whole time.

No doubt you're a sharp one.

Sometimes people only understand a double standard when the shoe is on the other foot.

And to be fair, I'm still a sapling in the forest of knowledge & spirituality. Some of our strongest and sturdiest "trees" are the most overlooked and are taken for granted. Makes me realize our priorities as a society are screwed up. Sorry, getting off topic though.

originally posted by: paraphi

originally posted by: enlightenedservant
I notice you skipped the rest of my post.

The rest of your post was the simplistic worldview that ignores the fact that the vast majority of killings in Iraq and Afghanistan were Muslim on Muslim.

In Iraq, once the dictator Saddam (who was responsible for upwards of a million killed) was removed the US and Coalition were just in the way of the sectarian violence that erupted between the Shia and Sunni neighbours. The US were not the targets of the car and suicide bombers who hit markets.

For last few decades the Muslim world has been extinguishing non Muslim communities as each denomination of Islam seeks to carve a purity in their own domains.

Blame it all on the West and ignore the reality.

To keep this remotely to the OP. Both Saudi and Iran are funding and supporting terrorism and insurgency against each other's interests. Look to Yemen for evidence of the power play, or Syria, or anywhere else you care to look. Sunni versus Shia, where the only casualties are fellow Muslims.

Prove me wrong.

LOL In other words, Islam is the cause of any violence committed by a Muslim, but Christianity isn't the cause of any violence committed by a Christian. Oh and self described Christians steal, rob, abuse, torture, murder, and "collateral damage" people in spite of their religion; yet self described Muslims only do those things because of their religion. Anything I'm missing?

a reply to: enlightenedservant

I was the one who was off topic but in conjunction with
an on topic observation. Despite it being a compliment.
I feel that you are open to the good in Christianity as i
am open to the good things of Islam, buddhism etc.
Our biggest difference is I hope when my time is done
here. I'm as close as I can be to following " The Way".

Not a big difference in the terms this life has to offer.

originally posted by: enlightenedservant
LOL In other words, Islam is the cause of any violence committed by a Muslim, but Christianity isn't the cause of any violence committed by a Christian.

Er, no, that's not what I said. I simply pointed out that the vast majority of killings, mayhem and brutality in the Middle East and North Africa is sectarian violence between different denominations of Islam. That'll be Muslims motivated by their particular religious intolerance towards fellow Muslims who hold a different "slant" of Islam.

The Western interests are not driven by religion, so do not represent Christianity.

There's a reason why "Allah Akbar" has become the oft yelled manta every time a bomb goes off, or a trigger pulled, or a head lopped off. Yes, God is indeed Great.

a reply to: paraphi

You know it would be bliss to go thru life and not
see how vicious catholicism has been. Or that the
knights templars were Christians. But they were.

But did they follow Christ? Of course not. and they all
ended up even farther away from " The way" than if
they never knew anything of him. Truly a trap of their
own making with themselves as the loaded spring.

originally posted by: randyvs
a reply to: paraphi

You know it would be bliss to go thru life and not
see how vicious catholicism has been. Or that the
knights templars were Christians. But they were..

These were years, hundreds of years ago. I think they were very religious and driven by their interpretation of the Bible. Thankfully, in the West such archaic religious brutality is no longer mainstream. Even the Pope recognises that.

You don't see the Pope screeching out Fatwa's to consign an author to death, or the Archbishop of York yapping on about stoning adulterers. You don't see half the population of Europe being hunted and for deciding not to follow Christianity i.e. apostasy and you don't see satirists murdered.

There's the past and there's the present.

originally posted by: randyvs
a reply to: peter vlar

And still I have to point out that to follow Christ is what
being a Christian is all about. Do you believe anyone can
follow Christ in that manner? I want a yes or no from you Peter
seeing you put yourself in this position. Just be as straight
as burbon on ice. You know scripture.

With literally, 10's of thousands of denominations of Christianity, what I think doesn't matter. The whole "real Christian" meme bandied about is little more than a strawman thrown out by one person who believes that they are a true Christian and following the scripture as they were taught to interpret it. If you want my honest answer, I don't think the vast majority of Christians are actually Christian in the sense of what scripture teaches. But again, there are 10's of thousands of varying interpretations of very similar works of scripture. Some with minor differences, some with vast discrepancies in how the passages are interpreted. The bigotry, judgmentalism and outright hypocrisy exhibited by the overwhelming majority of "true believers" I know is absolutely stunning to behold. And every single one of them believes they are following the most accurate interpretation of the word. With that many denominations, who decides who a real Christian is? It's all subjective and arbitrary at this point 1636 years after Laodicea.

originally posted by: paraphi

originally posted by: enlightenedservant
LOL In other words, Islam is the cause of any violence committed by a Muslim, but Christianity isn't the cause of any violence committed by a Christian.

Er, no, that's not what I said. I simply pointed out that the vast majority of killings, mayhem and brutality in the Middle East and North Africa is sectarian violence between different denominations of Islam. That'll be Muslims motivated by their particular religious intolerance towards fellow Muslims who hold a different "slant" of Islam.

The Western interests are not driven by religion, so do not represent Christianity.

There's a reason why "Allah Akbar" has become the oft yelled manta every time a bomb goes off, or a trigger pulled, or a head lopped off. Yes, God is indeed Great.

But that's the part you're missing. The issues in the Middle East are over geopolitics, trade deals, ethnic grudges, nationalism, and much more than religion. As examples, Iraq & Iran are both Shiite-majority but they fought the Iran-Iraq War throughout the 1980s over nationalism, territorial disputes, and politics (with some ethnic Arab vs Persian rhetoric). And Turkey & the Kurdish people are both Sunni-majorities but they still are fighting over territorial disputes and ethnic grudges.

Saying "Allahu Akbar" is proof of anything is no different than me saying "In God We Trust" on American money is proof of the same thing.

originally posted by: paraphi

originally posted by: randyvs
a reply to: paraphi

You know it would be bliss to go thru life and not
see how vicious catholicism has been. Or that the
knights templars were Christians. But they were..

These were years, hundreds of years ago. I think they were very religious and driven by their interpretation of the Bible. Thankfully, in the West such archaic religious brutality is no longer mainstream. Even the Pope recognises that.
You don't see the Pope screeching out Fatwa's to consign an author to death, or the Archbishop of York yapping on about stoning adulterers. You don't see half the population of Europe being hunted and for deciding not to follow Christianity i.e. apostasy and you don't see satirists murdered.

There's the past and there's the present.

But you do see self described American Christians calling for killing abortion providers, calling for killing LGBT people, calling for nuking the Middle East, calling for wars against numerous countries, etc. It's ridiculous that you keep overlooking this.

a reply to: paraphi

There's the past and there's the present.

And as anyone knows they are connected.

a reply to: peter vlar

And you didn't answer my question IMO.

a reply to: enlightenedservant

The test is how often that is acted upon v. how often it is just talk.

a reply to: randyvs

I did though,but to try and clarify for you... I think nearly all Christians are hypocrites on one level or another and an extremely large majority of them act in ways that are decidedly nonChristian and rather counterintuitive to the message attributed to Christ. In all honesty, the average LaVeyan Satanist acts more in accord with Christ's teachings than the average modern Christian. Furthermore, the crux if my earlier point was that when there are 10's of thousands of denominations of Christianity across the globe with many differing interpretations of scripture, it's disingenuous and arrogant for any of you to say that any of the others are or aren't "real" or "true" Christians. You know that I actually like you and consider you a friend randy so the tirade isn't in anyway directed at you. In my personal dealings with you, you have shown me far more courtesy and respect than I typically encounter with people who identify as Christians. For that, I genuinely say thank you for showing me that not everyone of your faith should be stereotyped or generalized. I would ask in return that you apply that same outlook to followers of Islam. Just my 2 cents. Take it for what you think it's worth brother.

Perhaps though you were seeking a much simpler answer? In that regard, no I don't think that those people are acting in accordance with scripture. I don't think that the vast majority of Christians are any different though in their own fashion.

originally posted by: peter vlar
. . . the average LaVeyan Satanist acts more in accord with Christ's teachings than the average modern Christian.

I'm atheist, and probably more Christlike then most Christians.

I believe everything is energy, every thought an action. What you think is what you put out, what you feed the universe (or energy consciousness).

I can't smile and say "pretty things" to your face, while thinking otherwise. My thoughts have to be pure and real.

originally posted by: enlightenedservant
Saying "Allahu Akbar" is proof of anything is no different than me saying "In God We Trust" on American money is proof of the same thing.

Yeah, I remember all those reports of extreme christo-fascists telling "In God We trust" before they started shooting up their cubicles in some kind of workplace violence.