Lengthy but worthy read! Ping!
we are hard pressed to see what, if any, relation the Christian God and Allah have at all. >>>
none, they are not the same and I thought everyone knew that. We had 1,5000 years to figure this out.
Reform? can a snake become a rabbit?
Bingo, the God whom we worship is NOT the same ‘god’ of the Moslems. Mohammed used the drapery of Judaism and Christianity as a deceptive cloak before he began the slaughter of both groups as infidels to his pagan ‘god’.
Islam can’t be reformed because there is no single supreme (universal) authority today for Islam, and any reformation will need to go against the koran which is viewed immutable. Only the aplication or practice of Islam can be different by muslims which already is the case.
But there are also ‘mohammadans’ like ISIS (salafis) who are purists & emulate mohammad’s actions during early days of islam in every way, not just the penal code of sharia.
Islam can’t be “reformed,” because it is evil and wrong at its root and core.
BTW, the “Reformation” did not “reform” Christianity, but simply divided Christendom, and then we had several different strains of “reformers” killing each other and Catholics with their particular vision of Christianity (and Luther’s vision included polygamy, incidentally).
But getting back to Islam, it’s anti-rational. Judaism, even the violent, vindictive faith of the Old Testament, was never anti-rational, which was why God was able to lead the Jews into a better understanding of their scriptures (meaning, the acts or legends of their forefathers, many of them awful by most standards).
But Mohammed took these things literally because it was advantageous to him, a pagan, to create a syncretist cult that could then be imposed on the militarily conquered peoples. Islam is a combination of Old Testament Jewish law, unmitigated by rabbinic interpretation, pagan imagery, and a few distorted Christian figures. ISIS asserts that “Isa,” meaning Jesus, will come and lead them to victory.
Pope Francis is a simpleton, and he is doing no favor to anyone by pretending there is nothing wrong with Islam at its root and core. Until this is discussed, nothing can happen.