And to a Muslim the same. God did inspire the bible. He also inspired the Qur'an. They are damn near the same book. Why can't Christians and Muslim see that simple thing.

I find it very intresting how several civilizatons that had their orgins in the ME have flood stories. I used to think that it was strictly a storie out of the Bible, until in high school my biology teacher brought up some similarities. Maybe Allah is God or Jevoha. I am willing to listen.

__________________
An informed voter scares the Goverment lackeys.

An American first and always a Conservative.

People are unwilling to recognize this fact b/c it is contradicts that from which we are told at an early age. Thus the root cause of this sprawling evil is tradition. And the tradition is fueled by historical atrocities commited by our ancestors. Forgive the past and you start healing the present(sounds like a fortune cookie quote, but it's fact).

__________________
He who makes a beast of himself gets rid of the pain of being a man.
Dr. Samuel Johnson

You have a car wreck. Three people witness it. They all tell different stories. True to each of them. From their perspective that is the way it happened. Many kinds of people saw the floods. I bet science can go back somehow and prove there was a massive flood in that time frame. I don't think it could prove the whole world was drwoned, but I believe the region in question could have been submerged. Allah is God in arabic. YHWH is God in Hebrew. They had the same kind of message. Different languages express different concepts. Where as a rice farmer in SE Asia can name 200 kinds of rice I can name about five. He may have stories that relate to rice. Odd as it sounds rice may be a common metaphor for him. If he told me a story and rice was in the moral I probably would not get it. Another farmer though might get it totally. The languages are different therefore the ME languages that gave us the Books had different metaphors. Same message just different metaphors.

Could not have been said better. I would like to add to this. Forgiveness has to be asked for. This means admitting what one has done wrong. I'm not saying christianity has not acknowledged it's past, but Islam is not fighting Christianity right now. They are fighting the West. The pope can beg for it all he wants, but that is not the war. The war is oil, power, control. Until the west admits the true aims of its missions in the ME, how can Islam be expected to forgive it? (I say Islam for simplicity's sake. As you all know I think Bin Laden and people like him have no idea what Islam really is.)

if you know about the lives and religion of people that are opposed to you because someone of the same faith as you did something horrible to them or someone they know, you can disprove their preconcieved idea about your faith by talking to them. but the problem is that it is human nature to distrust groups because of what one person or a small section of that group do or say.

__________________
quidquid Latine dictum sit altum viditur.

so true. I think that was well put

So far the only fundalmental difference I see between Islam and Christianity it the belief that Jesus is or isn't God in the flesh.
While this is a huge difference in terms of how each religion views salvation it is the only real difference that I can find.
I hope every knows who believes what but just in case:

Christians believe that Christ is God in the flesh, who was ressurected and went to heaven and that Salvation is through him only.
Jesus
Luke 1:26-38
The Birth of Jesus Foretold
29Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. 31You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. 32He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end."
34"How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?"
35The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called[a] the Son of God. 36Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. 37For nothing is impossible with God." 38"I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said." Then the angel left her.
Salvation
John 14:6
6Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me

Islamist believe that Jesus was a prophet. They do believe that he was born to the virgin Mary and that salvation is through deeds and by Allah
Jesus
Maryam 19: 16-21
19:16 AND CALL to mind, through this divine writ,Asad(19,12) Mary. Lo! She withdrew from her family to an eastern place
19:17 and kept herself in seclusion from them,Asad(19,13) whereupon We sent unto her Our angel of revelation, who appeared to her in the shape of a well-made human being.Asad(19,14)
19:18 She exclaimed: "Verily, 'I seek refuge from thee with the Most Gracious! [Approach me not] if thou art conscious of Him!"
19:19 [The angel] answered: "I' am but a messenger of thy Sustainer, [who says,] `I shall bestow upon thee the gift of a son endowed with purity.'"
19:20 Said she: "How can I have a son when no man has ever touched me? - for, never have I been a loose woman!"
19:21 [The angel] answered: "Thus it is; [but] thy Sustainer says, `This is easy for Me;Asad(19,15) and [thou shalt have a son,] so that We might make him a symbol unto mankind and an act of grace from US.Asad(19,16) And it was a thing decreed [by God]:

Salvation:
Surah 5:9
5:9To those who believe and do deeds of righteousness hath Allah promised forgiveness and a great reward
Shura 42:26
42:26 and responds unto all who attain to faith and do righteous deeds; and [it is He who, in the life to come,] will give them, out of His bounty, far more [than they will have deserved], whereas for the deniers of the truth there is [but] suffering severe in store.
Anfal 8:29
8:29 O you who have attained to faith! If you remain conscious of God. He will endow you with a standard by which to discern the true from the false,Asad(8,29) and will efface your bad deeds, and will forgive you your sins: for God is limitless in His great bounty.

__________________
People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vp92vkXcC0w

good job. Keep going.

Thank you; still studying and learning.

__________________
People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vp92vkXcC0w