As a 26 year old [former] agnostic born into a family of devout South Indian hindu brahmins who has for the most part attended catholic private schools growing up, briefly flirting with Christianity before considering myself to be a certified “doubter,” I’ve officially come to the conclusion that Islam is the only religion today worth adhering to. I believe in one God who created the Universe and everything in it, I believe in the core message instilled into and advocated by all of his messengers, I believe in his angels, his books, and the day when we will all be judged accordingly.
Before I make it “official” and declare my faith in front of two witnesses thereby entering the fold of Islam, I thought it would be interesting to see if anybody here could convince me not to, mainly because I’ve lurked this forum quite often over the past few years, and I’ve noticed that there are many here who have very strong opinions on Islam and Muslims, lots of them negative. I’ve also noticed that there aren’t any Muslims who post here that have mounted any kind of defense, and if there are, I’ve missed them.
If you search Great Debates and the Pit, you’ll find many well-crafted arguments against theism and organized religion in general. Each of these can be applied to Islam, Hinduism, or Christianity equally well. I don’t think any of them can be invoked against Islam without simultaneously indicting other religious belief systems.
Therefore, you’re either due condolences for being seduced by theistic mythology, or you’re due congratulations for finding something that brings you comfort and satisfaction.
There is no god but if you need to believe, one is as good as the other. There must be a religion you can convert to that is less warlike. Take Christianity and Islam out of the equation and go from there.
If it’s strict monotheism you’re looking for, why not try the Bahá’í faith?
From my unenlightened perspective, it’s just as monotheistic as Islam, but without a lot of the medieval garbage that plague other religions. Plus, it is an outgrowth of Islam, so it’s going to be somewhat similar to it.
And, possibly most importantly, it doesn’t have the “us-vs-them” mentality that many Abrahamic religions hold, nor does it seem to have the general intolerance and anger that Islam (or at least many Muslims) currently has.
I see what you’re saying, and whether someone considers themselves to be a Christian or a Muslim, faith is obviously the component that turns a “fairytale” into something considered to be truth. I understand that, it’s just that in my estimation and experience, Islam as a doctrine is more rational than Christianity as a doctrine, and that is taking into account all facets of the religion, both scriptural and structural.
If you’ve just got to be a theist I suppose Islam is just as good or bad as any other. Except I don’t understand why you believe in Islamic angels and books and prophets and such.
I can almost understand a belief in theism where someone believes in a higher power and such. But I have a hard time understanding how someone can believe that God personally talked to a particular person and told that person the Straight Dope, and now that person is supposed to go around spreading the word.
I can’t understand believing that Muhammed chatted with God, I can’t understand believing that Jesus was God made flesh, I can’t understand believing that Moses talked to a burning bush. Why not strip away all the mythology people have imagined about God since the neolithic era and just believe in God without believing in prophets and angels and sacred scrolls and holy cities?
Well, I see warfare as an ugly necessity in certain instances, as unpleasant as it may be. Any religion or doctrine that advocates a philosophy of absolute non-violence, even in the most dire of situations, I consider to be un-realistic, and dangerously idealist.
I personally think it is more rational to believe that God chatted with Muhammed and told him to write a book about it, than to believe that Jesus was God incarnated in human flesh.
Yup. What do you think would happen to me if I were to walk around in an Islamic state wearing a sign that reads “I’m an atheist” or “There is no god”?
Right, and for most of my life, that’s how I viewed the concept of “God,” if God did in fact exist. It’s just that such a deity, if he did create everything thats around us just to step back and let us fend for ourselves without offering us some sort of guidance from time to time, wouldn’t be worth worshipping, let alone recognizing. If I father a child, but I don’t support that child throughout it’s life or even grace it with my presence, can I really claim to be that childs father and expect no objection?
To me Islam is first and foremost about recognizing that there is one ultimate source for everything that exists, and that is God. If somebody can’t quite come to grips with that inital idea, then it would make no sense trying to convince that person to believe in other aspects of the faith, like angels, prophets, revelations etc. I don’t think that even the most pious of believers could credibly claim to wholly “understand” things of that nature for the simple fact that we weren’t meant to.
What attracted me to Islam is that it recognizes this pretty much right off the bat, and the Qur’an presents itself in a way where you can choose to believe in it and reap it’s benefits, or you can reject it completely and go on about your merry way. Muhammad was never commanded to convince or convert in the Qur’an, but simply to warn and organize those who responded to the message.
I could never come to grips with the doctrine of the trinity or a three-in-one God, just as I could never come to grips with seeing my reasonably educated family members giving food, money, and flowers to statues and idols.
