h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Hi
I'm also a serious environmentalist. I studied BSc. Maths and enjoy programming. Very importantly, I believe in Almighty God and also that Jesus will return to planet earth sometime soon (I don't have a date!)
I was brought up as a Christian (C of E) and realised that Muhammad was ALSO a messenger of God when I was 24 years old.

I didn't understand your message on my personal space ...
Peace

Peace. The Baha'i believe in a list of individuals called "Manifestations of God". Jesus is dead to them/us.

Ah! So you don't believe that The Qur'an is the word of God, then ... but you DO recognise Muhammad as a Messenger
Peace

That would seem to be correct. I say "them/us" and hedge it by saying that my sources on what would be my religion--which I already disagree with in some respects--are so far limited to encyclopedias. I have looked through the Koran more carefully than I have through the Bible--to say more about myself on this topic. Peace.
Now, I have to take a shower and go get new glasses. I'll be out until you are probably settling down for sleep or later. Talk again tomorrow. Peace be upon you.

I will say that when I was 24 I was lumping all religions together and even told one Jewish woman that she had no particular claim on the Holocaust--someone I barely knew. What irks me about most people who see Jesus the way you indicate is that they seem to think the Jews will either see things your way or essentially go to Hades. We need no more of that. Again, Peace!

Mmm, it's not much good worrying about the environment if all we do is go round killing each other.
It's usually greed or envy that causes this animosity between people and nations. Anybody who is sincere in their belief, whatever it be, will not want to make war and gather territory as they know that they will be judged according to their intentions eventually.
Nevertheless, it is not always possible to 'turn the other cheek'. There's a limit as we have to defend our communities, particularly the women and children.
I'm not happy with the global invasion tactics of the west; I think it shows the lack of balance in the world, and will eventually fail.
Peace

Yes, it is usually, but for a thousand years in Europe it was also the laws. As far as western expansion is concerned, I think that may come from a narrow perspective. There is a Great Game that continues to play itself out. I'm off to chess. I'll be reading until I see things I need to repond to here (specifically) and elsewhere otherwise, and I also have committed myself to do some research before the week turns (9AM Monday, your time).

?

Jumping in on your stated nemesis's one-on-one thread? Ok. "?" what?

When you have your question specified, I'll try to answer it gandalfstwin.

warner: So certain about *your* religion, eh? Why? I'm open to conversation. Just a little. I'm pretty busy.

Why am I 'so certain'? Well faith is up and down. Nobody has 100% faith ... that doesn't mean that I think it unreasonable for somebody to believe 'completely', just not very human, as we're subject to weakness and doubt.

I do have doubts occasionally, but I then analyse what might be 'going through my head', and quickly come to a conclusion (and may God protect me from evil and loss) that the path I'm on is correct and I've been blessed with direction and purpose, and have fear of veering towards disbelief with its consequences.

When I was a Christian, I stopped attending congregations on Sundays etc.(no other family members went except weddings, funerals and so on) when I became a teenager. I didn't stop believing in God, but when I moved to Birmingham UK, it was a new experience for me; substantial numbers of people who had different ideas about religion to my background (Sikhs, Muslims, Hindus, different types of Christian etc.)
When People asked/told me about God, I used to tell them that I believe but I don't have any particular desire to follow anyone's version.

After a couple of years, having contact with people and other religions, I eventually found out how Islam was similar to the Bible; I didn't know before, as the world was quite diferent back then ~35 years ago. I think perhaps that's what strenghened my faith. Having some faith in God already, and then finding out more about Him through the Arabic sources gave me more certainty. It's not reasonable to me that 'the whole lot' is all made up throughout History ... and I also can't see how life on this planet can have entirely come about through chance and no source of intelligence ...

Peace

I'll grant you that I've concluded that the world's religions themselves don't come entirely from a premature mindset. In my opinion, though, they come from a formula from God that we seem as irrational as He did when He was young. You should move along now and consider Baha'i as the next step while you're not too old. A Sen_McGlinn provided a lot of link material on his religion a couple of pages before where the ask h2g2 thread 'Reading/Read "The God Delusion" by Richard Dawkins'. I'll be reading that stuff myself. Baha'i considers all of the religions that precede it as a part of it in a way that I'm eager to understand better.

Who among humans decides who the last prophet is?

Peace

End that sentence that doesn't make sense with "is right now."

>>Who among humans decides who the last prophet is?<<

We have to decide for ourselves ... maybe some of us will decide that they don't know, or there could be one at any time.

For me, it has to make sense and have reason .. I can see plenty of reason for a Prophet to come after John the Baptist and Jesus
(Peace be with them).

Why? Because looking at the history of Christianity ( Did you see the program last night on BBC4? ), we see that the Nicene Creed came from Constantine/Roman Empire, and was very divisive! The trinity is apparently very important, and it's what gives Christianity its 'flavour' and main tenants; not according to Jehovah's Witnesses or Unitarians, though ...

Peace

I'm in the USA, so I don't have that much BBC. I know a lot about the history of inta- and inter-religious conflict already. I'll need to know more than I do to write my book--which I'm planning for release on 21 December 2012 as a kind of joke--but for now I'm fine on the subject.

I wasn't wondering so much about the argument between Christians and Muslims from a position of one of the partisans, as you do; I was wondering about an internal contradiction in Islam. Christians and Muslims both have this problem, though, in declaring their guy *the* guy. One says you can be saved by following the Son of God, the other says what they have is The Last Prophet. Let's focus on Islam. Muhammad couldn't declare himself The Last Prophet, but someone else in Islam could apparently. When did that anomaly come up? Isn't that a prophesy of a negative kind?

The Baha'i think their Bab and primarily Baha'Ulla'h are the guys for our age. They do expect more. When does our age end? My own position is that medicine and society will allow everyone to live essentially forever beginning with your childrens' generation (or maybe with us if we are lucky). There is a quote by an artist named Andy Warhol that I've adapted: "In the future everyone will have fifteen minutes of fame." I say that in the future everyone will be a prophet for fifteen years. I'm first in line. Keep educating yourself. You don't have to risk annihilation by the society you live in by actually converting to Baha'i, but you might read what they say.

>>The Baha'i think their Bab and primarily Baha'Ulla'h are the guys for our age.<<

You seem to know more about it than me ... why?

I don't understand the question exactly. Why do I know something? Why don't you? 'How' would be better than 'Why' for the first. I know awfully little of religion generally. I found Baha'i attractive enough to look it up because a Jewish friend sort of disparaged the religion as a bunch of people getting together and deciding that religions were too divided, and before that when I was told that a certain gorgeous female happened to be Baha'i (which I had never heard of).

Peace

No ... why do the Baha'i think their Bab and primarily Baha'Ulla'h are the guys for our age?

I don't understand it ... what Scriptures were they given (if any), and who was the Prophet of Bah'ai etc.

Peace

I think you would have to look up the sources.

I did refer you to where you could find their scriptures. When I have more details, I'll share them with you myself, but I don't actually know that much yet.

I believe Muhammad's role was a stage in a process that's still ongoing. Muhammad's and Islam's main positive role historically was to provide a part of the world with a higher level of scholarship than any other at a certain time. I don't think that time is now, however, and I think Christianity and Judaism and all of the other world's religions are past their basic prime. As long as they are fighting with each other, that is certainly the case. The Baha'i aren't going to convert the whole world--they're not even going to convert a friend of theirs like me--but if they do anything I would hope that it will be to end the silly bickering and worse that goes on over religion by setting some sort of modern example.