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<p>I am not. I am fully aware of the logical recursion that results from ANY attempt to rationalize existence. By the laws of logic, the universe is utterly impossible.</p>
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<p>I am happy to use a different term if that is what you prefer. But a true absence of belief in the supernatural would lead to conclusions which I do not think you hold, for example:</p>
<p>“There is no such thing as free will, as our brains are merely part of the general rush towards greater entropy, which always acts according to mathematical laws.”</p>
<p>^ LOL. good job on refuting all of those arguments :)</p>
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<p>Unlike, Christianity which I believe is very, very misguided/corrupted since It has changed so many times by people…its lost its original message and teachings. But the bible is still one of the three holy books sent down by God though (including the Torah & Qur’an). Except the Qur’an has NEVER been changed since its revelation.</p>
<p>To answer your question, I know there are different sects of Islam like Sufi and Shia(or shiite) (the majority are in Iran)…but they make up their own theories and beliefs (well, they change it around a bit…but that’s still haram) which hold no merit at all…so they’re not even technically “true” muslims (long story). But the majority of mainstream muslims (around 90%) are sunni. Personally, I’m a sunni muslim and basically we still believe in everything in Islam without changing anything…</p>
<p>The Qur’an is also the very last revelation by God…so it would only make sense.</p>
<p>haha, sorry…I just realized I didn’t really answer your question :)</p>
<p>Basically, there’s a ton to Islam. Christians and Muslims still believe in God but there’s so much more to it. First thing is that we believe that there is “no God but Allah & Mohammed is his messenger” (La-illa-il-allah). We don’t associate ANYTHING with God (Allah) because that would be considered as a major sin. Muslims also follow the teachings of prophet muhammed (keep in mind that we DON’T worship him)We also have 5 pillars (fundamentals) of Islam that most muslims should be able to follow like:</p>
<ol>
<li>Praying 5 times a day.</li>
<li>Going to Hajj —you know, that pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia–it’s a once in a lifetime thing–it erases all of your lifetime sins (if God accepts it though haha).</li>
<li>Paying Zakat (an annual type of charity you give to the less fortunate)</li>
<li>Fasting during Ramadan</li>
<li>The testimony of faith (the shahada :there is no god but Allah & Muhammad is his messenger) (La-illa-il-allah)( p.s. people say this to confirm that they are a muslim or if they want to convert) —I should have listed this as number one but w/e…</li>
</ol>
<p>The topic of Islam is so broad I can’t explain all of it on the top of my head…but I should be able to answer most questions regarding it.</p>
<p>Also, I’ve heard/read that most atheists convert to Islam…Honestly, I’m not trying to convert anybody but it makes sense…to me…even backing up some scientific explanations if you do the right research. I’d probably be questioning the existence of God myself if I wasn’t a Muslim…lol.</p>
<p>P.S. : Christians associate something with God–Jesus. They also believe that he’s his son…we believe that’s utterly and completely false…How can God have kids??! He can’t. In addition, we believe in Jesus too…but as a Prophet…and the story about him is a bit different as well.</p>
<p>Evolution isn’t a “belief”. Although evolution is in fact a theory, it does not go against religion. Hell, many evolutionists are religious. Evolution is the mutation (change) of genes over a period of a time. It nowhere says that “evolution defies religion”. You can still be religious and believe in evolution. The only type of evolution that goes against religion is Chemical Evolution-- which is the belief that the first organism came from the vessels of the sea. Evolutionn happens all the time. Diseases and illnesses are all examples of evolution. The way our body becomes immune to diseases that occured hundreds of years ago, etc… It’s not that “we came from a monkey”, that is not evolution. Anyway, evolution said that we evolved from a apes.</p>
<p>^^ So I guess you, as a Sunni, would view the Shiite faith similarly to the way I, as a Protestant, view the Catholic faith? In other words, they started with the real thing, but then added to it and claimed the additions to be just as sacred as the rest, with the result that they now have something far from the actual truth? I’m just curious (and need a change of brainwork before I can get back to Evolution/Naturalism).</p>
<p>EDIT: I see you answered it while i was typing this lol.</p>
<p>^^ I agree with that. Actually, even chemical Evolution doesn’t defy God if God made the chemicals. You can be religious and an Evolutionist without contradiction. However, I don’t believe Evolution is supported by the evidence. Maybe I’m wrong. Even if I am, my religous beliefs would remain the same.</p>
<p>I don’t know the current state of affairs in this discussion thread, but based on the title, I’m gonna say what I said in the other thread:</p>
<p>Some people categorize religion and science as mutually exclusive, which I find to be misguided and false.</p>
<p>Yeah, chemical evolution does not necessarily defy God but it is the closest. I’ll write this in terms of a religious follower. Even if evolution says that the Earth was “created” over a million years ago and the bible says the Earth was created in 7 days. Also, in the bible there was no sun while the Earth was being created-- right? I’m not religious and haven’t been to church for awhile so I may be wrong about the sun part. Anyway, who is to say that those 7 days were a million years? Since there was no sun to tell time, 7 days can be a billion years. There are many ways to bring evolution and religion together. You just have to take the little things to account.</p>
<p>@eastafrobeauty: Christianity isn’t quite that simple, but anyway thanks for the summary of Islam. The main thing I was wondering was how you viewed members of other muslim sects. Are they “Muslims, but misguided” or “possibly Muslims, but wrong” or “not part of Islam at all?”</p>
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<p>Yeah, because everyone interprets the Bible literally, right?</p>
<p>Uhm, actually yes. If you’ve ever heard of the Scopes Monkey Trial, you probably would have known that people do take the bible literally.</p>
<p>And when exactly was the Scopes Monkey Trial?</p>
<p>And people in the trial = everyone, right?</p>
<p>I never said everyone, you did. I have many, many friends who take the bible literally. And I mean they follow every word. And as I said before, I never said everyone…</p>
<p>@MosbyMarion: haha, yeah!!! I mean of course Christianity 100% was true at one point but it started to become more & more fabricated by others…changing it around…making up their own rules…and i’m assuming/guessing probably changing major parts while people were distributing copies and translating it from one language to another … —considering they were able to take advantage of people since many were illiterate back then.</p>
<p>I’ve also thought it was kind of stupid how Christian people randomly decide to make sects…Orthodox (greek, ethiopian you name them), mormon, baptist,lutheran, jehovah’s witness etc etc. etc.</p>
<p>^I agree eastafrobeauty. Hell, Christmas is not even actually a Christianity holiday. It was from the Paganism belief. Plus, Religious historians even said that Jesus was not born on Christmas, but they do believe that it was the day he was concieved.</p>
<p>Sects arent limited to Christians; Muslims and Jews have hundreds of different sects as well.</p>
<p>Easter is another Pagan holiday.</p>
<p>^ nope. see my post on the previous page. There’s like Sunni , Shia/Shiite (minority) & sufi (also minority)…but the majority of muslims know and don’t consider shiite’s and sufi’s as legit muslims.</p>
<p>I totally agree about Christmas & easter…Jesus wasn’t even born in December.</p>
<p>Sunday is also inherited by the Sun God. Yet Christians use it as their traditions.</p>
<p>True, but each of those breakdown in seventy or so factions</p>