Actually, that kind of belief is pretty much unique to Christianity. The idea that salvation comes from specific belief does not exist in Judaism or really any other religion I can think of. Certainly no major religions. Other religions actually don’t think it’s necessary for the rest of the world to believe as they do.
Robertson and his ilk do not merely hope that Jews will convert (something which I would argue is still an offensive attutude in itself), they believe that Judaism is illegitimate and that all Jews will see the error of their ways and repent when Jesus cmes back. They see being Jewish as a sin. Pat Robertson once wrote a “Left Behind” style apocalypse novel which depicted the Jews in Israel grovelling en masse on their knees and begging forgiveness from Jesus at the end. I don’t see how it can be argued that the suggestion that Jews have to beg forgiveness for being Jews is anything but offensive. It also follows that Robertson’s support for Israel is disingenuous in that he does not respect or care about or want to preserve Judaism itself.
Maybe not as much as Pat, but I would say that your wish is at least misguided and possibley insulting, yes. I don’t know that it’s exactly analogous to fundy support for Israel, though. If there were some circumstance where you pretended to support some theist cause only because you believed it was a step towards turning them atheist (I can’t really think of a plausible hypothetical, though) then I think you would have a comparison which was comparable. Even so, you wouldn’t have a belief that theists deserve eternal torture if they don’t decide to become atheists. Robertson believes pecisely that should happen to Jews who don’t become Christians (so does GWB, for that matter).
That’s exactly the issue for me. His “support” for Israel is entirely conditional, Revtim. You can see that in his comments about Rabin’s assassination and Sharon’s stroke.
There is no “infidels must die” thing in mainstream Islam. Islamic doctrine is that people will be judged by their deeds, not their belief. Islam views Judaism and Christianity as worshipping the same God as Islam, so they are not infidels.
As long as Mr. Robertson believes that GWB and the America Way share the same clear left wing political agenda, then all’s right with the world :dubious:
I do not know what caused Sharon’s stroke, I hope he recovers fully.I think the sad thing is that Sharon’s Party was responsible for the death of Rabin and now after years and many deaths, he has come to finish what Rabin started.
I had 2 TIAs and one small stroke, I am not over weight,I excercise, and eat well, I have a very slow heart rate and undergoing a test in the hospital my heart stopped for a second,not getting oxygen to the brain. after I got home My head went numb,and my nose felt like it had novacain, the MRI showed a slight stroke with very little damage.
Should Pat Robertson have a stroke or some bad illiness( I do not wish it on him) I wonder if he will consider it a punishment from God for being wrong. What about the hundreds of stroke victims who have severe strokes…even ministers… does Pat consider that?
Sad that people even consider anything he says.
Monavis
. . . Can’t recall the thread, but we discussed this in a GD thread and somebody posted several Koranic verses that seem to say pretty clearly all non-Muslims will be damned.
There are no such verses in the Koran. The Koran doesn’t contain the word “non-muslims.” When the Koran speaks of "infidels, it is generally referring to idolters of the time and it does not include Jews and Christians. Jews and Christians are not called “infidels” in the Koran. Islamic belief is that only people who have received a full and complete understanding of Islam and still reject it will be punished. Anyone who has not received a “messenger” from Allah who can explain Islam in a complete and thorough way will be judged fairly by God after the resurrection.
The Christians and the Jews of the People of the Book in our times are indeed those referred to in the texts of Shari`ah, in both the Qur’an and Sunnah, as “Ahlul-Kitab. They are to be reckoned as unbelievers just as they were in the lifetime of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). They are the people of the corrupted Torah and Injeel, as evidenced by the fact that Allah called them “People of the Book” despite their being unbelievers and their books being corrupted. Following are some Qur’anic verses that prove this fact:
“O people of the Book! why do you reject the Signs of Allah, of which you are (yourselves) witnesses?” (Al `Imran: 70)
“O people of the Book! There has come to you Our Messenger, revealing to you much that you used to hide in the Book, and passing over much (that is now unnecessary): There has come to you from Allah a (new) light and a perspicuous Book.” (Al Ma’idah: 15)
You need to reread the part about how people are only considered “infidels” if they have been fully informed about Islam and still reject it. Mainstream Islam does not teach that Christians and Jews can’t go to heaven. You’re wrong. I know you have some kind of hard-on for Muslims but you’re wrong.
No, You need to read up on what Islam Online says.
It’s a mainstream Islam site. It answers questions to muslims and non-muslims. Questions like:
And You need to read up on what Islam really means by ‘people of the book’ - or ‘Ahlul-Kitab’.
I didn’t get that quote from some right-wing site, you know.
Btw: I suggest that from now on, we shall call every apologist or sympathiser to a religion that is homo-phobic, xenophobic, anti-semite and discriminative towards women - in short: a conservative and reactionary belief: a Right-wing nutter.
I’m not sure what your point is with the bit you’ve quoted. So one lay person asked if the term “People of the Book” still applied to modern Christians and Jews. The answer is yes, right?
So what? According to Islam, Jews and Christians are just fine and can obtain their eternal reward on their own merits.
