"Are Christianity And Islam Really That Much Different From Each Other?" website

[MarkCharles]

"It is not unreasonable to conclude that Christianity and Islam are as different as night and day. History has shown us, however, that nothing is further from the truth; they are one. Ultimately, there is no real difference between the two religions. Both focus around monotheism . . . Allah or God. Christians and Muslims agree and disagree on specific beliefs and distinct practices, but when it is all broken down to what is important to them; it is God and how He wants us to live our lives together.

This information is important because not many people really know how different, yet still the same, both religions really are. I want people to know; that even though the religions most practiced in our society may all practice different aspects and celebrate different things, they are still all centered around one thing, God."

http://hs.riverdale.k12.or.us/~dthompso/exhib_03/caitlins/conclusion.html

[snagglepuss]

1. The fact they believe in god is practically meaningless. The central concept

of Christianity is that God became man. That concept is anathema to Muslims.

[MarkCharles]

3. Actually, no, if you bothered to read the sight...

"Muslims believe that Jesus was elected; He is a very prestigious messenger of God. The angel Gabriel is what Christians call The Holy Spirit. Muslims call Gabriel the Trustworthy Spirit. The Islamic religion states, that Mary was chosen, purified, and preferred over all other women to be the one who gives birth to God's chosen messenger, Jesus. All of this is to be done through the command of God, without a father, Immaculate Conception. "

same web site (op. cit.)

[snagglepuss]

12. Messanger of God does not equal God himself. For Christians Christ is

god incarnate. Mohammed could write anything he wanted and Mauslims can believe whatever they want but what Mohammed wrote doesn't make it so. There is no similiarity whatsoever between Christ being God himself in the flesh and Jesus being a messenger. And that is just one substantive difference of many. The main tenet of Christianity is that Christ is the ultimate truth. Christians believe that Christ trumps everything because nothing can trump God.

[LARED]

16. "The angel Gabriel is what Christians call The Holy Spirit"

I realize the website states this, and there may be a very small Christian minority that would hold this belief, but it is clearly not a normative Christian view of Gabriel.

[Bluenorthwest]

5. Some Christians do not hold that dogma either. Sorry.

Koran is chock full of stories of Jesus, and of his Mother Mary. One could say that the Islamic attention to Mary is less than RCC, yet far more than Protestant attention to her story or her person. so the two faiths have much in common. They just do. Holy places, teachers, origins much in common. Much.

[snagglepuss]

13. Which Christians don't believe Jesus is not god incarnate?

[white_wolf]

21. Jehovah's Witness's for starters.

Mormons are a bit trickier, since they believe Jesus is a god, but separate from the Father. Of course, the fundamentalists will contend these two sects aren't Christian, but I don't know who gave the fundies the right to define who is a Christian.

[limpyhobbler]

2. to funny

:rofl:

[ret5hd]

4. they are both fables from a distant nomadic past.

[MADem]

6. There's not much difference--big picture--between Judaism, Christianity, and Islam

if you look at them with the whole "God of Abraham/Ibrahim" perspective.

In fact, Halal, Kosher, what's the diff? It's the bacon eating X-tians who are the troublemakers in that trinity!

But then again, in Islam, ISA (aka Jesus to the Christians) is regarded as a prophet....just not "the" Prophet.

The DEVIL, as always, is in the details!

[xfundy]

7. They do have one thing in common!

They all consider themselves members of a club that "proves" they are better than everyone else.

[MarkCharles]

8. Yes, that seems to be a very common pattern we hear from them. But..

when one group talks about the other, there is such a level of mistrust and demonization, each for the other, it is difficult to see the forest for the trees, nor to see how both are actually so close in much of their doctrine, as well as close in their need and habit of demonizing the other, yet so close in a belief in a supernatural creator, a number of prophets, and a basic "factual" story.

It is interesting to see the Christians recoil at the mention of Islam as basically a religion of peace, and Islam similarly responds to both Christian and Jewish current worldwide agendas. Of course, the most bellicose and technologically advanced militant nations happen to be the Christian ones with the most resources, both financially and militarily. How soon we Americans bring up the 3000 or so deaths of innocent civilians of Christian, Jewish, and Islamic faiths on 9/11/2001, yet we Americans are quick to forget the hundreds of thousands, if not over a million innocent Islamic civilians we have slaughtered in the last 10 years in the Middle East, not to mention over 40,000 additional American and other allied forces who have lost their lives in two major wars.

[snagglepuss]

15. More apples and oranges. There are Islamic states, there is a Jewish state,

but there are no Christian states. There are countries that were once part of Christendom and may have Christian majorities but there are no countries where Christian clerics hold power so your claiming Christian states are slaying people is nonsense.


A large part of the blame for hostility between groups can be laid at Mohammed's feet. Islam would have been less divisive had Mohammed simply created a new religion instead of tacking Islam on to existing religions.

[spin]

9. Christianity, Judaism and Islam all believe that man feel from grace ...

in the Garden of Eden.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

10. They are dramatically different

The fact that they believe in God is inconsequential. Many, many religions believe in God.

However, in my lifetime:

Muslims MALES STILL engage in, and see nothing wrong with having multiple concubines, as their holy book states that having multiple concubines is the ONLY way to get into their heaven, and they're proselytizing this;
The Muslim holy book allows beating of women, and they're proselytizing this;
Females are treated as second, third or fourth class citizens;
Females are forced to (at the risk of being beaten, ostracized, or outright murdered) to dress in sheets, while their males dress in tight jeans and hot-looking shirts;
Females have to ask their males for PERMISSION to do numerous activities (and their holy book agrees that this is the way it should be);
And I don't see any groups of Muslim males fighting any of this.

My best friend in college, Maryam, told me the story of her best friend in her country who, at the age of 15, was secretly seeing a boy of also 15. She was very much infatuated, and so was he. They lived in a well-to-do section of town, so there was no lack of education that caused what I'm about to tell next. One night, after she had gone out the window to meet her secret boyfriend, her father found out and decided to take matters into his own hands for her having 'shamed' the family. He went out to his car and waited in the car, silently, in the dark of night. When she returned, as she walked up the long driveway, her father started up the car and ran her over, killing her. He was not sentenced to death because the girl was judged as having provoked the father into killing her. This was the friend of my best friend. My best friend somehow managed to convince her father to allow her to study abroad. She moved, and soon disassociated herself completely and permanently from everything Islamic, Muslim, etc.

The patriarchal bullshit of Islam that harms so, so many women, and subjugates or brainwashes others, is intolerable and unacceptable to me.

Yes, there's a huge difference between Christianity and Islam.

[MarkCharles]

14. Let me guess, you're a Christian!

And you choose to ignore the hundreds of thousands of Muslim's deaths a "Christian" nation like the USA, acting with other predominantly Christian nations, in a military alliance, chose to impose upon the innocent Muslim people of Iraq and Afghanistan in the last 10 years.

You "chose" to ignore the thousands of women who died in back room abortions because of the "Christian" doctrine not to allow women to choose.

You want to make Islam all about men oppressing women, when women did not even get the right to vote in this "Christian" nation until 1920.

Talk about "patriarchal bullshit", have you looked at some of the Christian sects like Mormanism? Such "holier than thou" attitudes seem to be common among Christian women, who cheer and clap at Republican candidates for president who advocate death to those who cannot afford health insurance, or boo gay soldiers in-country asking for equal rights. Are you so special?

Both god-believer religions have oppressed women for hundreds of years, Christianity seem to be less oppressive now than ever before, but the fate of women born to arrogant male believers in any one god has never guaranteed their well-being.

I'll say one think in your favor, your Christian arrogance is outstanding.

[Major Nikon]

17. I suspect you haven't read the bible much

There's plenty of references to all the things you claim are exclusive to Muslims, and plenty examples of "patriarchal bullshit" may be found in Christian societies.

[provis99]

11. that's why they butcher each other more than any other religions.

Fighting is funnest when it's kept within the family after all.

[Silent3]

18. One could say that there are bigger differences within Christianity...

...between the extremes of different Christian sects, than there are between liberal interpretations of Islam and Christianity.

[laconicsax]

19. I know! It's almost like people use their religion to justify their a priori beliefs. n/t

[Silent3]

20. Say it ain't so, Joe! Say it ain't so! :) n/t