Careful in Comparing the three "Abrahamic" religions. There are many errors on all sides.

Submitted by Abarbanel (United States), Nov 5, 2006 at 21:42

One must be careful here. For Christians to identify YHVH of the Tanakh with the religious teachings of the Christian New Testament can be very erroneous. For Jews, the trinity is just as impossible as it is for Muslims, and constitutes a fundamental contradiction with monotheism. For Jews, the idea of an anthropomorphic deity borders on heresy and idolatry, as do all the images found in many Christian Churches. In that sense, Judaism resembles Islam more than either religion resembles Christianity.

That said, the lack of humanism in Islam sets it distinct from both Judaism and Christianity. The basic equality of all humankind is absent from Islam for whom basic human rights are not the same for Muslims and Non-muslims. This violates basic principles of Judaism, which were directly inherited by Christianity.

The concept of Allah being the same as YHVH can be also questioned. I understand that Allah is the same as the Arab moon good Alati, so the cry of Allahu Akhbar, Allah is greater, does in fact compare Allah to the other Arab gods, and brings its monotheism into compromise.

Bottom line is we have three distinct religions, each with its own approach. Like other readers, I am suprised at the pope's acceptance of basic Muslim dogma. It would seem that either the pope has a fundamental ignorance of Islam, or else the statement was politically motivated.

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