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In 1989, there was outrage across the Muslim world when Salman Rushdie wrote a sentence of two about Muhammad in his book (which I haven't read btw).
How would you compare that outrage with the outrage to this facebook group (which is much worse)? If anything, the outrage now is probably less.
Surely this shows that breaking these taboos is a good thing and eventually Muslims will become immune to the fact that there are people out there who are NOT obliged to respect Muhammad and these people will say and draw what they think about him.
What about the perfectly innocent muslims who wouldnt hurt a fly, but are still hurt by what they view as an attack on their religion.
The statement you make is akin to saying if we keep on hounding them, they will eventually be less muslim than before.
So while I admit its quite a few that do, its not all muslims, so the blanket response many give to this situation is uncalled for.
Oh I agree. I've never been one to suggest all or most Muslims adhere to the fundamentalist view of things. As a matter of fact I know a number of them and they couldn't be further from such positioning.
The very idea of offending a religion is ludicrous though, which is the whole point. Being offended because someone mocked your religion is literally as pathetic as being offended because someone mocked your favourite musician or the political party you happen to support. And okay, some people get passionate about both of these, but that's what leads to debate and discussion, which is the single most important part of freedom of speech, particularly in a democracy, which relies on the free exchange of ideas. Every single claim of offence is purely about stifling debate about a particular subject. It's a way of avoiding having your views publicly challenged, which is why it's so popular in religions, because they don't tend to stand up well when subjected to rational debate.
In a democracy, people's personal belief systems have an effect on us all, because they vote according to them. That's why it's important that they're challenged, publicly. And of course, anything called "everyone draw Muhammad day" is going to attract all sorts of crude, disgusting and downright inaccurate portrayals, but the net effect of all of the drawings makes an important point about taboos and what I would say amounts to idol worship in its most extreme form (ironically in breach of God's commandment).
So Muslims believe that it's sinful to depict the image of Muhammed. So what? It's probably related to them not wanting him to become an 'idol' such as what has happened to the image of Jesus within Roman Catholic churches. He's always either a helpless baby or he's dead on the cross. Wasn't his resurrection meant to be a 'triumph'?
So I could say that it's plain madness that you believe in the Bible. Adam and Eve? Jonah and the whale? Virgin birth? Turning water into wine? Resurrection? Ascending into heaven? That's all quite implausible to me but it's what you believe. Cool. But it's no less mad than believing that Muhammed should not be depicted in any way.
Because they are.
Why are christians so offended by things like this, this and this.
Because they are.
It isn't the offence that's the issue, it's the reaction to it.
Christians do believe though in the death and resurrection of Jesus and his miracles. That is what is central to the Christian faith. There were large numbers of witnesses to these events. Many people have also had supernatural experiences regarding Christianity such as faith healings etc.
Id say the majority of americans believe in creationism.
Well, the Old Testament prophesied the arrival of Christ so, according to you, that must fall under 'myth and legend' too. Kinda pulls the rug out from under the New Testament, doesn't it? Or are you going to pick and choose what is, and isn't, myth as long as it is convenient to you? But I note that you didn't defend the New Testament 'myths and legends', like the Virgin birth, or turning water into wine, or the resurrection from the dead, or for Jesus physically ascending into heaven. Why are these 'miracles' that you defend, more believable than Jonah and the whale?
And regarding 'supernatural experiences regarding Christianity such as faith healings', why are the majority of Christians NOT healed when sick? It seems to be a tiny minority. These 'miracles' are so rare that when they do seem to occur, one can safely put that down to coincidence. And these 'healings' always seem to occur inside the body - not on the physical exterior of a person. So when did you last a man with no eyes see again? Or a person have their amputated arm regrown? Now those WOULD be miracles. Seems Jesus can't quite manage those tricks, huh?
Lol, which resurrection is this then? The one as accounted for in three of the gospels, or the one where vast numbers of others were also resurrected? Or the countless others that occurred in the religions that christianity was plagerized from? As for faith healings, even if there was the slightest bit of evidence for them, how would that be evidence that christianity was true rather than the many millions of other religions?
Well there is literally no defending their religion. The whole thing is a fucking joke. I'm absolutely astonished that the whole thing is still taken seriously.
If Christianity was all a load of rubbish then why is the Alpha course which is a course aimed at athiests and agnostics such a rip roaring success? 15 million have taken the course so far see this: http://www.alpha.org/
That's not 'evidence'. That is conjecture and opinion based on the Bible and someone's personal, but unprovable, experience.
But wait! The guy mentioned the Old Testament! You don't believe in the Old Testament!
And the Alpha Course. 15 million people may have taken the course but can you supply me with accurate figures of how many have MAINTAINED a committed faith afterwards? If it's just 1% of that, I'd be surprised.
That's not evidence, that's a bunch of powerpoint slides.
I could knock up a few slides about Voodoo or Wicca. Will you swallow that load too?
Lol, aimed at atheists and agnostics? This shit is no different from psychics. The only people who are going to sign up for something like this are people who either already believe it, or aren't sure what they believe, but feel they have something missing in their lives. It was designed as an introduction to those interested in the Christian faith. That doesn't sound like a description of atheists to me. You have to at least suspect that a god exists before you start getting into a religion for which that is a core belief. And the Alpha Course must be doing a rip-roaring trade, which is why your religion has declined consistently for decades. Fewer people go to church, and more and more people specifically identify themselves as non-religious. If anything, the Alpha Course is a symptom of a failing religion desperately trying to hold onto its numbers.
That book changed my view of christianity completely.
I was made to attend church as child but did not stick with the religon. By the age of about 12 I no longer thought that the story of Jesus was true. It was only when I started doing my own research into the matter that I later changed my mind.
I have also heard too many first hand stories of things like faith healings etc to know that there must be some truth to Christianity.
Oh come on, dude.... really?
Sam Harris has an excellent rebuttal of these claims: extract from larger speech here.
Check out the fellow he's talking about: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sathya_Sai_Baba
You know you never hear about people who have lost limbs which faith healing helped them regrow...