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I have not read the Koran, nor studied its teachings, so I could not comment (other than ignorantly) on this part of your post. (That surely won't stop me from making ignorant comments elsewhere....
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I've noticed LOL.
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Thanks!
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Did your mission trips to Israel and Palestine include active attempts to convert people of Muslim (and/or Jewish) faith to Christianity? (Implications unstated, but clearly implied
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No these were mostly "missions of mercy" - providing physical labor and medical assistence. There was of course always the "hidden agenda" of evangelism, but we were under pretty strict orders NOT to reveal that we were Christian Missionaries, because they usually ended up beheaded or worse.
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Implied implications withdrawn.
I don't believe that I have ever heard of Christian Missionaries being beheaded (or worse) in Israel or Palestine?
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Are you not also a "truth seeker"?
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I hope so. I'm as imperfect as the next guy, though.
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Imperfect as the next guy? I don't know about that. I've only met you once, but I thought you were "above average".
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I hope I listen to truth. The problem is recognizing it I guess. What I recognize as truth may be different to you, etc.
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Agree totally. It's good to recognize and acknowledge differences in beliefs in areas often considered "absolutes", eh?
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I think (my feeling only, no statistical backing) that the possibility of either event is so low as to be "below the radar". More likely to get killed in an auto accident than be singled out and killed for your religious beliefs in either location. The suicide bombings endemic in Israel are not directed at Christians. The current bombings in Iraq are not directed at our people because of their Christianity (and not all are Christians, of course), but because of the occupation of the country.
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Read my answer to John H. If you think Christians and other Western people aren't being killed you are sadly mistaken. It is just not being reported.
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I'm sorry, but I find this difficult to believe. Considering the uproar over a mission plane shot down a few years ago in South America, I can't imagine Westerners being killed with any kind of regularity in Muslim countries without massive publicity.
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It is the death penalty to be a practicing Christian in many muslim countries, including Saudi Arabia and Syria.
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Glad I made it out alive.
I'll give you that one, though. It is illegal to be an openly practicing Christian there.
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I guess I'd have to (sort of) agree with you on this one. I don't beleive that Christians, as a whole, are any more intolerant than any other group.
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True. Also, a lot of people are lumped in to "Christians" that probably should be separate groups. Complicated question.
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Could that also be true about Moslems?
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My experience in the Middle East leads me to believe otherwise. My time in Egypt and Saudi Arabia were both work related trips, and I spent most of my time with the oridinary working class people of those countries. I don't know if this gives me a different perspective from people that travel in those regions in different capacities, for example with the armed forces, or not. I was generally treated very well by everyone. I cannot be mistaken for Middle Eastern, and I was usually alone (or with at most one or two other westerners) while wandering the cities and seeing the sights during our days off, and I never experienced anything that could be even loosely interpreted as hateful actions or attitudes against me.
Again, I have not studied the Koran or investigated what is being taught in the Mosques, but I just did not see anything during my travels that would lead me to believe (as you say above) "that the "Death of the West" is in fact a legitimate Muslim agenda".
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What parts of Saudi Arabia? Don't forget that during Desert Storm there was a proclamation from on high to leave the Americans alone - "they are helping us." A good read for this is "It Doesn't Take A Hero" by Norm Schwarzkopf.
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Jeddah area. Yeah, that area is a lot more tolerant of westerners than other locations in Saudi Arabia, even though it is relatively close to Mecca and Medinah. I was there well before the Desert Storm era.
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Their hate is a cold, professionally indoctrinated, religious hate. How many Westerners are willing to suicide just so they can take down a few Muslims with them? How many Westerners would even think such an agenda as honorable?
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My experiences tell me that this is only evident in, at most, a few radical elements, not in the general population. Again, my sampling was entirely experience based, not scientific study. Interestingly I was in Cairo when Anwar Sadat was assassinated and so got to experience some of the internal turmoil for a few days.
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Yes it's only a small element but they are NOT condemned. In fact they are secretly (and in some cases openly) admired by the rest of the Muslim population. Any radical group like that in America (say the KKK for example) is obviously and rightfully condemned.
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All I can do is refer to my travels there and tell you that I did not experience those things. Not necessarily disagreeing with you, just telling you that I met a lot of wonderful people that didn't (apparently) hate me because of who I was and what my personal beliefs were.
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Ok go ahead - flame away at this "obvious religious bigot."
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Why do you self-label that way? I don't recall anyone else referring to you with those words. (Granted, I have a pretty good case of "selective memory" when I want to.) Sometimes I think you take a martyr stance in these issues.
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You haven't been around that long - I guess you weren't here during the Eagle days
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Sure I was, and I suppose he was one who might have used those words. I'm not sure that any of our current posters would, though.
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My bottom line: fanatics of
any faith can give the majority of followers a bad name. Intolerance on both sides is the enemy.
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Agree 100%
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