Posted on 08/14/2006 10:56:48 PM PDT by Nachum
Are Druze similar to Mormons in that outsiders consider them to be Muslim, though Muslims don't consider them Muslim (as nonChristians put Mormons under Christianity but Christians don't consider them Christians)?
interesting
I'm not sure about the Druse but only the most bigoted and insulated Christians see Mormons as non-Christian. By any conventional definition Mormons are Christian. They believe in the divinity of Christ, the virgin birth and the resurrection -- which is more than can be said of many politically correct leaders of mainstream Christianity.
Actually, no. They're not Jewish at all. Druze are of Arab descent, and speak Arabic.
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Society_&_Culture/druze.htmlhttp://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Society_&_Culture/druze.html
They are Ismailists - Islamic monotheism heavily influenced by Greek philosophy and tempered by Hindi tolerance/forgiveness.
I.E., what Islam would be if they redacted all of the insanity from the Qu'ran and adhered to the basic humanist tenets of all mature religions.
"They believe in the divinity of Christ, the virgin birth and the resurrection -- which is more than can be said of many politically correct leaders of mainstream Christianity."
Do they believe that He is the Son of God?
The Messiah?
I don't think so...
So, when is Israel going to integrate their armed forces?
Just wondering, why does the Druze fight for Israel?
Just wondering, why does the Druze fight for Israel?
They realize it's the best country in the Middle East for minorities and for fairness.
And because they think that jihad is a really, really bad idea - oppressing other religions is a *huge* no-no in their book.
Israel, by its nature, is the most tolerant state in that part of the world.
The Druze are very much their own, unique religion (which is largely unknown to anyone but the Druze themselves) and ethnic group. They are quite deliberately vague and secretive about their religious beliefs - sometimes appearing to be Muslim, sometimes Christian and sometimes Jewish - all depending on who is in the majority at the particular locale. The Druze religion's chief symbol is a five-pointed star.
The true believers among the Muslims (like Hizbollah) naturally consider them to be infidels and pagans and thus subject to jihad and dhimmitude, which explains the Druze willingness to serve in the IDF. They are, after all, quite free to practice their religion in peace within Israel - the region's only genuinely western country - without being subjected to persecustion.
The Alawites (who control Syria, even though they are a small minority) are also a separate religion - sort of a bizarre combination of Islam and Christianity - and tolerant of both, which is why so many Iraqi Christians have chosen to flee to Syria since the rise of "democracy" (Sharia) in Iraq. In addition to one of region's largest remaining Christian populations, Syria also has a significant number of Druze, some of whom serve in the Syrian military alongside Muslims and Christians. Contrary to all the of propaganda encountered from neo-Jacobin idiots, Syria - despite the fact that it is a military dicatorship - is actually far more tolerant of its religious minorities than our "good friends" and "allies" in the "war on global extremism" like Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Pakistan are.
The Alawites have a sacred meal of bread and wine where they believe they partake of the body of Allah. This is of course a great heresy to Muslims -- and one can see the crypto-Christian origin of it.
Depends on your definition of insulated, but it should be that most Christians would not recognize Mormons as fellow Christians. Protestants, Roman Catholics, Orthodox, and Baptists (who apparently aren't Protestant) all recognize each other as being Christians, with some debates among them, but they still consider each other Christian.
Even Muslims acknowledge the virgin birth--and could also recognize the Resurrection.
As for divinity, Mormons still seem to not fully grasp what divinity is.
There is also other writings they follow (Book of Mormon), which is not Christian. Granted, Roman Catholics have the Apocrypha which could also be nonchristian, but they still recognize God for being fully God.
The article became even more meaningful when I looked up “Druse”.
Compliments on you being very polite even though you obviously disagree.
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