I think the problem in the west is the lack of balance between religion and secular life. Both are needed, or at least, in my opinion.
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> On Jul 9, 2015, at 4:36 PM, Carl Jarvis <carjar82@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Greetings my friend,
> I found your following comments very interesting. You said: "...with
> this. I may suggest though that you may need to impartially assess
> what you read here. I did once to prove to myself the genuineness of
> the faith
> I found myself born with. I totally dismissed the fact of being Muslim
> and I gradually began to critically assess my belief system without
> being emotionally
> affected. I ultimately reached the conclusion that Islam is
> fundamentally constituted on the basis of solidity and consistency..."
> In so saying, Mostafa, you make a clear case that it is impossible to
> devoid oneself from ones deeply ingrained beliefs, and clear the mind
> so as to be totally neutral. I suggest that it is impossible for the
> human mind to be rendered to a state of a clean slate.
> When I was a "born again" Christian, I could express my Faith exactly
> as you have expressed yours. But after years of practicing my Faith
> in God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, I was confronted with
> so much evidence disclaiming the very existence of the God that
> Mankind worships in His many forms and within so many diverse
> religions, that I also stepped back, even as you say you did, into a
> neutral corner and examined closely my Faith. And from my neutral
> place I came to the conclusion that the God we all worship, in all of
> His forms, is Man Made, created by Men. Created for the benefit of
> supporting Mans position as the superior creature on Earth. Man over
> Woman. Even though it is Woman who gives life, taking the sperm
> offered by Man, and transforming it into Life. Caring for that Life
> within her body and bringing it into the world where She continues to
> care and nurture that Life, shaping and molding and teaching it to
> become a part of Life.
> But remember, we're talking about our belief that we can take a
> neutral stance within our minds, and be objective. I was raised by a
> father who was a Marxist and an avowed Atheist. My mother was a
> nominal Christian, when I was a child. Later she moved toward
> Agnosticism. So, even though I might say that I cleared my mind and
> looked objectively at my beliefs, you must admit that I was strongly
> influenced by the world around me. My Father and Mother. Not to
> mention the Christian influence that was predominant in the USA.
> Torn between my Father's Atheism and my Christian environment, I
> attempted to clear my mind and become objective. Turning away from my
> Father's teachings, I embraced Christianity. But as I said, the
> evidence began to pile up indicating that the God we worship is a
> Man-Made God. I am willing to debate this Truth with you, but I can
> already tell that neither you nor I are really able to be neutral in
> our thinking. What we will do is to press home our own position,
> declaring the other person's position to be False. Striving to
> explain the Wrongness of it. Becoming even deeper entrenched in our
> own Beliefs.
> In conclusion Mostafa, I would suggest that neither of us knows Truth.
> Neither of us have the real knowledge of this complex Universe, how it
> came to be, where it is going, and what our role is. Our existence as
> a Human Race is far too short to give us enough information. Perhaps,
> if we survive our own foolishness, we will know more in a thousand
> years. But even then, we are such an insignificant piece of the vast
> reaches of whatever this all is, that we may never know.
>
> Carl Jarvis
>
>
>
>
>
>> On 7/8/15, Mostafa <mostafa.almahdy@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> Dear respected Pastors and casual recipients, peace be with you. Please, pay
>> attention to the subsequent proposition. Today I would like to inshallah
>> proceed on dissertating the concept of the son and the sonship. In basic
>> terms, the sonship of Christ to God is the most perplexing doctrine for me
>> in the Christian creed. For that I do not fathom how Christians believe it.
>> At its inception, I would like to initiate my argumentative assertion on
>> rational fundamentals. First, what does the term son of God actually mean?
>> In order to illustrate on that regard, let us first examine the three types
>> of sonship. 1. The sonship of lineage. The sonship of lineage is what we can
>> define as offspring generated by procreation. I am uncertain of how to
>> comprehend the Christian proclamation of Christ as the merely begotten son
>> of God. The verb beget signifies the explicitly physical import of engender
>> or making children. Of course, that does not belong to God. I never
>> understood them when they say, "Begotten not made". What do you mean? I do
>> not think that any sensible individual would agree with that claim. 2. The
>> metaphorical sonship. Metaphor is the usage of terms to denote figurative
>> meanings for rhetorical emphases. So I could be the son of Egypt or the son
>> of the nile. It does not mean I am the son of the land or I am a minor flow
>> born out of the river. It just emphasizes my patriotic disposal
>> metaphorically. Someone can be defined by the parents of his best friend as
>> their son metaphorically. We all could be attributed to God as His children
>> in just a metaphorical manner. We are the children of God as being His
>> creation and the ones possessed by His mightyness and gracefulness. We are
>> the ones that He cares for and He provides sustenance to prolong our
>> aliveness. So without any doubtfulness, the second type of sonship is
>> enormously repudiated and it certainly cannot be divinely associated. What
>> we now have left is the sonship of adoption. 3. The sonship of adoption. The
>> sonship of adoption is the legal procedure to solemnly legitimatize the
>> parental relationship between persons not related by ancestry. Of course,
>> this type of sonship is forbidden in Islam. Could any of that be possibly
>> attributed to God? I honestly do not think so. These are the only types of
>> sonship. So which one of these would you Christians attribute to God? I
>> could not find the perfect solace for Christians in their attempt to explain
>> what does the compound term the only begotten son of God actually mean. I
>> am attempting to apprehend its significance up and down the line. The Noble
>> Koran has constantly encourages me to reflect and to implement my
>> intellectual factors. The Koran remarkably reprobates all prejudicial
>> assumptions and it certainly appreciates noetic discernment. The Koran asks
>> the rhetorical question: How can God bear a son whilst He glory be to Him is
>> eminently exalted above any temporal portrayals? But then the Christian
>> missionary is going to shout, God can do anything. Well, God does not do
>> ungodly things. He only does what is appositely befitting His glorious
>> transcendence. But, God still can do anything, the Christian missionary
>> insists. Well, can he die? Can God create something that he does not have a
>> rule on? Can God betray? Can God lie? I primarily base my argument on
>> substantially solid parameters. I do not want to hear typical missionary
>> sentiments in response. I would rather want to hear respectful responses.
>> Why the Creator, the Sustainer and the Providentially Maintainer of this
>> prodominantly vast universe would bear a son? Isn't He Providentially
>> Almighty and unambiguously Omnipotent? So, why would He glory be to Him
>> need anything like this? Isn't He glory be to Him Providentially Omniscient
>> and unevenly Omnipresent? This is a prodominantly demanding precedent so the
>> missionary would thoroughly discern the genuine concept of monotheism. God
>> Almighty is basically fully able to give us life and He is fully capable to
>> make us pass away. He Providentially Cares, Sustains, Maintains and He
>> utterly Provides without any secondary discretion. So if He glory be to Him
>> is able to do everything independently, why then He can't forgive our sins
>> without any discretion? I believe it is a quite valid question to ask. So
>> why can't you just think? Think, think, think, please, just think. It is not
>> what you know it is what you do with what you know, how much you use your
>> head. As a sensible man despite my faith, I have every cause to basically
>> disintegrate the tenets you believe to assess them. I am attempting to
>> promote the diamonds of the doubtlessly unfeign monotheism. The concept is
>> quite distorted in the Christian creed and therefore, I want to decisively
>> clarify its implication to lay Christians, to Pastorate Members and to even
>> average Muslims. It is indispensable in Islam to learn, to be edified so you
>> would devote yourself to worship correctly. It is unforgivable in Islam to
>> bear associates with Allah glory be to Him. Lay Christians and pastorale
>> mortals may not comprehend this concept properly. Islam advocates for
>> coalescing between faith and intellect. Intellect without faith is pride and
>> faith without intellect is absurd. Both faith and intellect must go together
>> side by side. Christian Theology is held accountable for temporally
>> depicting the divine being into terrestrial caricature. It is something I
>> as a Muslim consider absolutely blasphemous. I hope this concisely composed
>> theological synopsis aided some of you at least to recognise the difference.
>> This essay aims to develop elementary comprehension of What Islam teaches
>> concerning doctrinal tenets of the monotheistic faith. You may possibly
>> agree or disagree with this. I may suggest though that you may need to
>> impartially assess what you read here. I did once to prove to myself the
>> genuineness of the faith I found myself born with. I totally dismissed the
>> fact of being Muslim and I gradually began to critically assess my belief
>> system without being emotionally affected. I ultimately reached the
>> conclusion that Islam is fundamentally constituted on the basis of solidity
>> and consistency. Authoritatively, it stands on a stable platform which
>> consists of spiritual concepts, juristic tenets and intellectual
>> development. I exhibited simple logic so it can inshallah be fitting to
>> impress lay and pastorally individuals simultaneously. Monotheism in Islam
>> is quite simple and straightforward. Islamic monotheism is critical of even
>> potential association. So in the orthodox Sunnite, it is strictly
>> prohibited to pray nearby a tomb so it's to avoid designating minor
>> association even potentially. Yes indeed, that's how Islam is quite careful
>> and critical of any potentiality of bearing association. I hope that wasn't
>> quite lengthy. I hope that wasn't offensive or unsolicited. Eventually, I
>> sincerely repent to Allah glory be to Him from every single sin I commited
>> either deliberately or incidentally. I pray to Allah to open the portal of
>> guidance for everyone who receives this. As we blessedly witness the last
>> ten days of Ramadan, we are graciously besieged by Allah's
>> inexhaustibleMercy and Forgiveness. Thank you for reading. Thank you for
>> your time, attention and courtesy. Peace and blessings be with you. Mostafa
>> Almahdy, a formally certified Muslim Theologian from Al-Azhar University. I
>> love Allah. I love Egypt. I love my fiance.
>> ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
>>
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