Look, I'm not saying that there is no good in Islam or any other religion for there most certainly is and a great deal of it; all I am saying is that there is one God and He has one Gospel and any religion that attempts to segregate the principles of the Gospel into many diverse paths cannot be in a position to rightfully wield the authorized power of the priesthood which is the power of God to seal in Heaven that which is sealed on Earth. You cannot teach something on one side of the street and then go to the other side of the street (or the world) and teach the opposite and still claim that you have it all together in truth. If the purity of the Gospel is not in truth than it is somewhere else and is not of God. Such paths have dead ends. Islam, as well as very nearly every Christian religion, abounds in conflict of doctrine and that alone can and does invalidate them as organizations sanctioned by God to act in His name and teach His doctrines regardless of what you choose to call the great creator of Heaven and Earth and all that is therein. Crying "God, God" or "Allah, Allah" does not somehow make right all that is wrong, validate stark contradiction, and make sense of confusion. Truth does not contradict itself and justice is no respecter of persons; Islam abounds in contradictions of doctrine and double standards for its adherents, and justification for violence; simply refusing to speak the truth or acknowledge the obvious does not effectively deny the reality of what is right in front of us all. Devotion cannot be coerced yet coercion by threat of violence is common place in some Islamic communities; violence is not a hallmark of a peacful religion. Such is not and cannot be the doctrine of God so it is the doctrine born of another source. You cannot chant a fallacy into being the truth.
Paragraphs, please!
Let's see. Statement #1: God loveth His children.
Statement #2: Devotion cannot be coerced.
Well, how about the Danites? Blood atonement? The strapping of homosexuals and shock therapy? And don't forget their abandonment in Utah along with the high rate of suicide and homelessness for them. Women being abused in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints?
Violence is not the hallmark of a peaceful religion.
With your reasoning, you try to narrow religion down into Latter Day Saint Christianity, of your Church variety as opposed to the Church of Christ Temple Lot, or the Community of Christ, or the Restoration Branches.
The Ahmadi Muslims are just like you. Except that even though they spout propaganda for their Cause, UNLIKE your religious faith, they have never done any group activity of violence or terrorism. They are one of the biggest sects of Islam, and consider themselves true Muslims because they follow pacifism. Here's a blurb from their website,
www.real-islam.org
"Please do not remain away from God as His nearness is a real Heaven and a great treasure that one can feel even in this world.
In order to unite the whole mankind under the flag of peace (Islam), the divine reformer of the latter days has come. He is the Mahdi for Muslims, Messiah for Christians and the Krishna for Hindus. Please listen to the call of God and become amongst His loved ones.
Islam, like all true religions, taught Love, Peace and Tolerance in its beginning. They are the unholy scholars of the latter dark ages who attributed hatred, terrorism and violence towards Islam. The Promised Messiah rejected all sorts of hatred, terrorism and violence in the name of God and that is the main reason why he and his followers are unanimously declared Non-Muslims by the terrorists and the so-called Muslim scholars of this dark age."
They have the the Al-Mahdi, who is the imam
Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, and he is considered the latter-day imam for this age, and their religion has living imams to guide them on the right path to God. They are well-known for doing humanitarian work and spreading Islam, and are the one group that has translated the Qur'an in more languages than any other Islamic group.
Now I am not arguing that they are right. I am merely stating that your religious claim to truth has too many parallels with other religious groups.
