HHS Rally DC
On Friday I posted photos from the religious freedom rally here in San Diego. Joe at Shameless Popery just posted pictures from the DC rally. Check them out!
Tag: religion
Jesus vs Religion – Final Thoughts
I know, I know….this topic has been done to death, but I wanted to offer some closing thoughts on Jeff Bethke’s Jesus > Religion YouTube video…
The Catholic Response
A great little follow-up to the “Why I hate religion but love Jesus” YouTube video I briefly commented on a couple of days ago:
UPDATE: It appears that the chap who made the original video has had a change of heart…
Jesus = Religion
The following question is asked by the artist on the YouTube video “Why I hate religion but love Jesus”:
“What if I told you Jesus came to abolish religion?”
Hmmm…well, I guess I’d probably tut and then roll my eyes.
Next, I think I’d open my Bible to Matthew’s Gospel:
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them” – Matthew 5:16-18
I think I then might flip over to the Epistle of St. James:
Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world – James 1:27
Introduction to Islam (Part 4 of 5: Religion)
This blog entry continues the series I began a few days ago to provide a brief overview of Islam.
In Part 1, I began by looking at Muhammad and the origins of Islam. Next, in Part 2, I looked at the message of Muhammad that is recorded in the Qur’an. Yesterday, in Part 3, I looked at what constitutes Islam’s core beliefs. Today I would like to look at the highly developed code of Islamic observance.
I have done my best to ensure factual accuracy in all these posts and have used Islamic sources as much as possible to ensure that I’m not propagating Christian misconceptions of Islam. I did send this to some Muslim friends for comment, but I have yet to hear back. If you are a follower of Islam and believe that I have misrepresented your religion, please drop me an email and I will remedy the situation.
There are many obligations associated with Muslim. For example, Muslims are not allowed to consume alcohol, pork, blood or carrion. The most important aspects of “religion” in Sunni Islam are the “Five Pillars”:
1. Confessing the faith (shahada): This is the basic Muslim creed, similar to the Jewish Shema, but with the additional affirmation that Muhammad is a prophet:
“I testify that there is none worthy of worship except God and I testify that Muhammad is the Messenger of God.” – The Shahada