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and the smug Christians who pop up on threads informing us all of who is going to Hell.

Many of the “smug Christians” are only repeating what God has said, and this is their belief. You of course, don’t have to agree, which is your privilege, as stated.

It’s not today that should concern us, it’s “that day” (Martin Luther).

According to the Torah, the Bible, and the Koran, God said all sorts of things. Here's a mental exercise: pretend just for a moment that there's a fighting chance that Islam is really the right religion. But wait! Can you be a Christian and a Muslim both at the same time? Well, you kind of can. Let me explain:

What Islam requires is that you say there there is no God but Allah and Mohammed is his prophet. Well, since Allah is just the Arabic word for God, that's actually not a violation of your core beliefs: you just say it in English: There is no God but God, and Mohammed was one of his prophets. (Hey, maybe he was. There were LOTS of prophets. You don't worship any of them.)

Now there are other pillars of Islam, but there are loopholes for most of them. For instance, you can't go to Mecca because they won't let you in. As for giving to the poor and praying many times a day, you do that already! (Now, I know that muslims swear up and down that Jesus wasn't the son of God, but as far as the entry rules for Islam, denouncing Jesus ISN'T one of them. That's just one of those irritating left-over snippy-snips from days of old, like the Old Testament prohibition on certain foods and cloth.)

So really, that only leaves ONE THING that Muslims must do that Christians don't have to: and that is to pray toward Mecca. You don't really even have to get down and put your butt in the air like Arabs do... I'm pretty sure that's a cultural thing. Arabs have a thing about butts, as we all know. If you just did your praying in the general direction of the East, you'd be covered both as a Christian AND as a Muslim. This ups your chances of making sure you get into Heaven. It's kind of like buying both fire AND flood insurance, see?

So why don't you just add that one tiny detail to your daily devotions? Don't do anything else different... just, when you pray, face East. Why not? What have you got to lose?

Now you and I both know that you have NOTHING to lose by saying that Mohammed was one of the many prophets and facing East while praying to God, as long as you still believe in Jesus. But you won't do it. Even though you have nothing to lose. Ask yourself why.