Is there really such a thing as Christianity or Islam?

[BrentWil]

We debate Christianity and Islam like they are monolithic things. In really the word Christianity takes into it a wide and diverse range of thought. From Catholics to Fred Phelps, many claim to be the "true" Christianity. However looking at it from a larger picture, the world itself de scribes a large group of people that believe many different things. One can not argue that Christianity means this or that, because the next question is, "which version of Christianity" It is not one movement.

In the same sense, many on this board claim that Islam is evil. The bigger question is, which version of Islam. Islam runs the gambit also. From Sufism to wahhabism, Islam takes into account a huge group of thinking. Some are compatible with the modernity and some are not.

The point of all this is to say, it only hurts us and our security to attack "Islam" as a blanket movement. We must use indirect influences to move more people into a secular and modern world. However, labeling a whole group as evil only hurts our cause. There is no Islam. It is only a word that takes into account many different belief systems. That is the most productive may to understand the world, in my opinion.

[Jade Fox]

1. The real issue is Fundamentalism...

regardless of which religion's version.

A quote:

"Fundamentalism is not really about religion. Between Islamic, Jewish, and Christian fundamentalists, what real cultural difference is there? They all have a static, dualistic vision of the world, with 'Good' battling 'Evil', they all enshrine primitive writings as the basis of all wisdom, they all want to control and enslave women, they all want rigid authoritarian rules and leaders. They cannot understand the concept of emergence, of and evolving universe, of self-creating coherence."

The Chrysalis Effect: The Metamorphosis of Global Culture - Phillip Slater

[caledesi]

2. Isalm is evil? DU doesn't want to be "DUMBED DOWN"....Where

are these 'many' you speak of?

[BrentWil]

4. Sorry, I should have made it clear I was speaking of society as a whole

Not DU.

[rug]

3. IBTMTRT

[BrentWil]

5. What? NT

[rug]

6. This will be moved to to the Religion/Theology Forum before sunset.

[trotsky]

7. Is there such a thing as the Republican or Democratic Parties?

Neither of those is monolithic either. Yes, they have official platforms but not all party members agree with each plank. This does not stop us from arguing that Republicanism is harmful.

[laconicsax]

8. Of course not.

There's also no such thing as science or mathematics. Neither of those are monolithic, and both have numerous branches and sub-disciplines that are quite different. When we say math, are we talking about differential calculus, number theory, or euclidean geometry? When we say science, are we talking about botany or cosmology?

There's also no such thing as food. Crêpes are radically different from peanuts, which are both completely different from soup. They can't all be food. What's more, some "foods" are toxic to different species. I may enjoy chocolate, but if I give it to laconicpuppeh, I'll have a sick or dead dog on my hands.

I'm pretty sure there's also no such thing as fabric--velour is very different from linen, so how can we say they're both fabric?

[rug]

9. Welcome to R/T, Brentwill.

It's another forum. Or isn't.