Muhammad cartoons... now this is a good way to do it!

[WarriorAngel]

In Iran a university hosted a seminar on "how to be a suicide bomber." It was complete with lectures, mutli-media instruction, and at the end a sign-up sheet. Hundreds of Muslims, male and female, attended and at the end over 200 signed up as individuals willing to accept assignments as suicide bombers.
So where, may I ask, in the non-Islamic world could I find a university training Christian, Hindu, Taoist, and so on suicide bombers?

 

[Anthem]

no, that's where you are quite wrong. I can tell you what the church teaches on a certain matter as there is a source of authority - the magisterium of the Church (insitituted by Christ to teach us and be Christ's continual teaching presence in the world).

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regarding the rest of your post, you have to understand the difference between the divine and human factors in the church. The human has the propsensity to sin like us all, as it is damaged, but the divine- seen through the sacraments and the teaching on faith and morals is totally of God.

You know what else is totally of God?

when i pray every night to God. I repeat -

I will never again pray to mary.

and I will not confess to a man, it doesn't matter that he's an instrument of God.

I'm as much an instrument of God as any priest.

 

[Veritas]

Many of the radicals are young and unmarried. Thay have nothing to lose, which makes them the most dangerous demographic group on the planet.

Are you speaking for yourself?

 

[drpepper101]

True, it was not really motivated by religion in itself, but religion and national/ethnic identity are completely inter wound, especially in that part of the world. The point is, the Bosnian genocide was motivated by exactly the same attitudes that are being expressed here, that Islam is the enemy of Christendom.


Islam may have cast the first stone, but Islam and Christendom have been at each others' throats for centuries. And isn't it true that the more Christian thing to do would be to build ties with the Islamic world, maybe a bit of understanding, rather that spewing unsourced "facts" which are designed to give a skewed and biased picture of Islam. Not all Muslims are terrorists any more than all priests are child abusers.

Now, I am not saying there is not work to be done, the plight of Christians and apostates in some Islamic countries is quite horrifying, but I really do question what OnTheWay, amongst others, is trying to achieve. Create enough fanaticism that we can finally get together and purge the world of all things Islamic? Well, we tried that once before remember, and it really didn't work out too well. All that OnTheWay is going to accomplish is to increase the hatred on both sides.

Wouldn't the more constructive and Christian thing to do be to criticize where it is due, yes, but also try and build bridges with Islam and reform it peacefully, from within, with understanding and patience. I'm not saying we should not criticise the radical elements within Islam, but to make blanket statements such as "Islam has been at war with the entire non-Islamic world for more than a 1,000 years now." is not going to help anybody really is it?

The problem is that the Muslims of the KLA would not have any problem with that description of the situation. The only time it became a problem is when the Serbs were the victors. However, when NATO showed up to protect them the KLA went right back to their old song and dance.
Christendom and Islam have not been at each other's throat for centuries, Islam has attacked and attacked and Christendom has defended and defended. It is true, not all Muslims are terrorists. The percentage of the Islamic world that takes part in terrorism is large and with their supporters they form the basis of a formitable minority. When one considers that the American Revolution was waged with the support of about 1/3 of the people the radical minority of Islam is more than big enough to take control of Islam. It is pretty clear from the Muslim world that the radical minority is indeed the tread sitting part of the population. How do you form ties with people that firmly believe you need to become a Muslims or they are on a God given mission to kill you?
You cannot reform a religion you do not belong to, and those that try to reform Islam either die or end up living in the west completely marginalized. It has been almost 60 years and they can't even accept that Israel exists, what reforms is it you were hoping for?
OnTheWay has a bit of the Orthodox crusade thing going on. What is accomplished by it? Don't really know if anything beyond some Orthodox venting. What do you hope to accomplish by sticking your fingers in your ears and yelling "religion of peace" over and over? The Europeans have done this to the point were honor killings are common in the streets of Berlin and Paris and authorities are closing female circumcision clinics in Gothenburg and Amsterdam. Perhaps it is time the Orthodox, the Hindus, the Sikhs, the Buddhists, and all the other victims of Islam started speaking up until western politicans couldn't ignore them anymore.