Why Do Muslims Praise Allah?

I suppose my statement was based upon the recent proliferation of Muslims killing people who will not agree with the version they want them to. Or perhaps the everlasting Suni/Shiate dance of swords. I agree Christians can be pushy obnoxious busybodies....but they generally leave your head in place.

 

If people were scared of the idea then no one would question it..

 

almost no one DID question it for most of that 1700 years. the few who did were either powerful enough to get away with it, or dead shortly thereafter. it's only been in the past generation or two that the average person raised in a 'Christian country' has realised it can (and should) be questioned. and look what's happened now that fear has been removed from the equation!

 

I guess maybe I have been lucky. Even the very pious muslims I've known have been entirely disinterested in converting me. Perhaps it's a cultural aversion to telling others what's good for them, in a personal or social setting, I don't know. Either way, there's far more graciousness (not to mention humility, manners, and plain decency) involved than there is when a little old Christian lady tells you you're going to burn in hell if you don't cuddle up to Jesus.

 

mmmmm ok, you're wrong but whatever....

If you're right the we live in a stone age...

 

actually, we're just now leaving the medieval world. well, much of Europe is - and Canada, Australia, New Zealand, etc.

 

In what universe is religion NOT compatible with reason?

 

I've only been to this universe so far, so probably not the best person to ask. But since you did, I would submit that reason and religion don't make good bedfellows.

 

there are at least 95 biblical verses which instruct its followers to praise their god:



http://www.openbible.info/topics/praising_god

 

these gods and their insane appetites for worship .... they're like insecure teenage girls, demanding boyfriends tell them they're pretty at least once a day. I wonder why the dudes who invented them didn't consider that this would eventually be seen as pathetic vanity and neediness. and I wonder why they didn't weigh that against their parallel claim of perfection and omnipotence. it's almost as though these dudes were just primitive men, living in primitive times, with no access whatsoever to the gods.

 

I'm done with you.

 

The need to praise any god (whether in the Bible or Koran or anywhere else) is something that is totally illogical. You have to wonder why would a god who is able to create trillions of stars spread out through an interminable range spanning an eternity of light years need to be praised like an immature child? It makes no sense whatsoever.

 

debate forum theists aren't what they used to be

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hence reason and religion not making great bedfellows. apply even the least bit of reason to any one of these questions and the house of cards comes tumbling down. but as they say, if someone doesn't reason themselves into believe, you can't reason them out of it.

 

Do Muslims not believe in eternal damnation for non-belief?

That is one of my main problems with Christianity. They claim god is an all loving, all merciful being that asks for nothing, but if you do not bow down in worship to him he punishes you for all eternity. Even if you lived your life without sinning, not worshiping god gets you damned. That is not love or mercy. That is why we consider people who crave control and attention and punish people for not giving to them to have a "god complex".

 

That would depend on why someone doesn't believe in God.

 

Actually, it's pretty much due to the Islamic view that belief (or disbelief) is solely between and individual and God; and people are free not to believe:

 

because said god gave really muddy directions on how to find him, then hid. would that suffice?

 

I've always appreciated that. It's allowed me to spend many lovely hours in beautiful mosques around the world, without anyone disrespecting me or my privacy by quizzing me one why I'm there. Such a contrast to the invasive quizzing I've received the minute I walked into some protestant churches.

 

Speaking as a Christian, worship is part of nurturing a relationship with God. That is because that is what God wants more than anything else - an eternal loving relationship with his creation. He also wants his creations (us) to have loving relationships with each other. According to Jesus, that is the whole point of the Mosaic law and the essence of the all the prophets' messages.

Unfortunately, many use the messages to control others for their own nefarious purposes.