reply to Jules

Submitted by jennifer solis (United States), Sep 7, 2008 at 16:36

Thank you for your interesting reply.

Reading the exerpt provided from your essay reveals to me a thoughtfull, educated and contemplative young person.

One word: motivation. You bring up an astute doctrine, common to both Islam and Catholicism; what a person does, here, during our lifetime, according to these two religions, affects our eternal state. It can be argued this is largely what motivates the "doing of good" rather than the "doing of bad".

In fact, all religion, since the dawn of humanity, is based on gaining the approbation of God or "gods" - with the belief that our "good works" will be rewarded with blessing, now, and/or in the after-life. This motivation at it's core, I suggest, is disingenuous; an individual is "doing good" largly because he hopes he will, in the end, be the beneficiary.

In any case, deciding to "do good" is not possible without an individual's volition. Islam not only instructs fighting the "unbeliever" who rejects Allah, Islam states if you die while killing him, you are guarenteed eternal Paradise (Qur'an 9.111). So, take AWAY another's volition, kill him because of it, and you are eternally REWARDED for this.

This is unique to Islam.

I would also point out, 10 - 15% of Muslims, world-wide, are considered by not a few experts (Daniel Pipes included) to be fundamentalist Muslims who believe in Shar'ia law, and jihad (as it's described above) - this number is 150,000,000, world-wide. That's alot of Islamists that believe Paradise is given to those who kill.

With all the bloody, violent history of Catholicism, the Crusades, etc., there is not a single record of the followers' belief that "Paradise", or the ideological equivalent "Heaven", is given as a reward for killing. None.

I would like to take this opportunity to point out the only religion that does not require "good works" as prerequisite for entrance into "Heaven" - Christianity. This faith is based on what Christ did on the Cross, not what we "do for God".

"For all of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment." - Isaiah 64:6

"For by grace you are saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; and not of works, lest any man should boast." - Ephesians 2:8-9

"There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of Life in Christ has set you apart from the law of sin and death." - Romans 8:1-2

"Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you shall be saved." - Acts 16:31

I truly believe this is at the core of why hundreds of thousands of Muslims, the world over, consider the U.S.A. to be the "Great Satan" - the U.S. is a majority Christian nation, and Christianity is antithetical in principle to Islam. The Bible and it's teachings make clear the need for volition - belief in Christ is the way to Heaven, and this belief is non-meritorious on the believer's part - it gives ALL the credit to God and His Son. Islam, by polar-opposite contrast, demands "good works" for possible entrance into Paradise; it commands killing based solely on disbelief in Allah; it de-values volition (many parts of the world kill those who convert out of Islam), and rewards the killing of the unbeliever with absolute assurance of Paradise, according to the Qur'an.

And they call us the Great Shatan.

Something to think about.

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