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Just out of curiousity-- What, in your mind, is the single greatest benefit that Islam has over Christianity?

Thanks for the question. I am not here to convince you that one is better than the other. That is an extremely personal thing. All I am interested in doing here and anywhere else is to bring to light the vast array of commonalities that exist.

In the end, the only thing that will bring you or me any benefit is our conscience, which should, if we are in touch with it, tell us if we are being kind to one another.

We must be kind to one another and spend some effort to really understand each other. Satan, if you will, exploits ignorance. We should not allow that.

We must be kind to one another and spend some effort to really understand each other. Satan, if you will, exploits ignorance. We should not allow that.

You know what would help with that? It would be if mullahs and ayatollahs and imams all over the world got together and issued a joint fatwa stating that Islam has renounced the concept of jihad against other religions and has proclaimed itself to be for complete freedom of religion in all countries, and condemns all who teach otherwise to being excluded from paradise.

All I am interested in doing here and anywhere else is to bring to light the vast array of commonalities that exist.

Certainly commonalities exist. But true understanding comes in the distinctions; otherwise a wristwatch would be a grandfather clock. The commonalities are good when you ask about instruments that keep time. They're not so useful when you ask about objects you can carry in your pocket.

Now the question about the benefit of Islam over Christianity is useful only in that you've already made your case about the commonalities of both religions. Now, what are the distinctions that make Christianity the grandfather clock and Islam the pocket watch (or vice versa).

You see, if both are 99.99% the same, as you've claimed they are, why do I need my faith in Christ? Why shouldn't I be willing to become a Muslim if there are no real distinctions between these two commodities (for certainly Islam and Christianity are commodities that can be so closely compared as to judge them 99.99% identical!)

I can't stay, so here's the point of my dialogue with you:

You, like most nice Muslims and most nice people who claim to be Christians, are Muslim or Christian WHEN IT IS CONVENIENT FOR YOU.

You accept certain parts of the Koran or the Bible that suit you. "I know it says in the Koran to kill infidels but that really is referring to the enemies of Mohammed. . . ." or "I know the Bible says Christ is the only 'begotten' Son of God but what that really means is Jesus is God's Messenger. . . ."

Cultural Moslems and cultural Christians don't spend too much time actually thinking about their beliefs. The fish doesn't actually think about the water. It's just in it. The bird doesn't think about the air. Its context is the air.

Cultural Moslems and cultural Christians are the same creatures. They pay scant attention to the actual words of the documents defining their religion, and just pick and choose handy items to hang their hats on-- "God is Love", etc.

Now, let's look at FUNDAMENTALISTS-- The Islamic fundamentalist is a very different creature than the Christian fundamentalist. Both have been accused of extremism. However, the Christian fundamentalist is not fomenting civil wars around the globe and seems to be persecuted by fundamentalists of the Islamic stripe in all parts of the world where Islam constitutes a significant percentage of the population.

It is unthinkable for Christian fundamentalists to commit murder in the name of Christ.

We have seen that it is not unthinkable for Islamic fundamentalists to commit murder in the name of Allah.