Beng T

This is a question for non-Christians who know about Christianity. In your opinion what major problems does it have? What is bad about it?

I am asking this because as a Christian i do not have an external and independent view of Christianity, so i want to see if others can see problems with it that i have not noticed.

Please be fair and objective, no Christian-bashing or abuse for the sake of it. And just saying things like "Christians are stupid" is not helpful.

Please also state your own belief system so i know where you are coming from (the objections raised by an Atheist might be different from those of, say, a Hindu).

I have seen some terms on the Facebook social networking site the meaning of which i am unsure of. As facebook is an American invention, perhaps they are American slang terms? Could someone who knows what they mean please explain these terms? Do they have sexual connotations? :

"Random play", "hook up", "whatever i can get"

I have seen some terms on the Facebook social networking site the meaning of which i am unsure of. As facebook is an American invention, perhaps they are American slang terms? Could someone who knows what they mean please explain these terms? Do they have sexual connotations? :

"Random play", "hook up", "whatever i can get"

Monty Python - Argument Clinic:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y05EmK66Gsk

.

The sectarian fighting in Iraq is claiming many lives and giving the Americans an excuse to stay there longer. It also has the danger of affecting other countries in the region, perhaps starting a war between Shia Iran and Sunni Saudi Arabia and the gulf states, to whom America is selling billions of dollars of weapons for them to fight Iran.

I have asked this question already but i am asking it again to get more opinions. See my earlier question for more details:

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AlGRp...

See also this story of Othman Abdul Hafez, an Iraqi Sunni teenager who gave his life saving Shias:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/42149...

What can be done to make more Iraqis have his spirit instead of fighting each other?

Whatever the cause of their conflict, the risk is that it will start a broader war. The USA is pouring billions of dollars of weapons into Sunni Arab countries like Saudi Arabia and the gulf states, and has stated publically that this is aimed at Iran. During the Iran-Iraq war, the USA supported Saddam against Iran. Now that Saddam is gone and Iraq has got an Iran-friendly Shia governmenmt, it looks like the Americans want to use Saudi Arabia to fight Iran in the next anti-Iran war.

A possible way to start such a war is to stir up trouble between the Sunnis and Shias in Iraq. Notice that the Americans are now training Sunni miltia in Iraq who are not under the Iraqi government. The Iranian president has also said that Iran might step in to fill the vacuum when USA leaves Iraq, he also is not helping the situation.

Learn from history: imperialists use tactics like divide and conquer, and during the cold war they fought proxy wars. Don't be a victim of such tactics.

Leveticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14 do not mention if duck can be eaten or not. Is it a "clean" bird under Jewish law?

The UK home office defines terrorist acts as:

"Any act committed,or the threat of action,designed to influence a government or intimidate the public and made for the purposes of advancing a political,religious or ideological cause and that involves serious violence against a person; that may endanger another person’s life; creates a serious risk to the health or safety of the public; involves serious damage to property; is designed to seriously disrupt or interfere with an electronic system."

During World War 2, some German pastors, including Dietrich Bonhoeffer, were part of a plot to kill Hitler using a bomb in a briefcase. The bomb failed to kill Hitler and the plotters were killed by the Nazis. What the bomb plotters did was surely, by modern definitions, a terrorist act. Is terrorism ever justifiable?

http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/content/news_syndication...

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holoca...

In 1967 gay sex between consenting adults was de-criminalised in England and Wales, and the age of consent for homosexual sex has since been reduced from 21 to 18 to 16. However, it is still illegal for humans and animals to have sex under any circumstances, regardless of age or consent. Is this because of Judaeo-Christian religious values (Leveticus 18:23; 20:15-16)? What were the reasons for de-criminalising homosexual sex, and would the same arguments apply to zoosexual sex?

ref: Sexual Offences Act 2003

http://www.opsi.gov.uk/ACTS/acts2003/30042--b.htm

This year is the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the British trade in African slaves. The Americans needed a civil war to stop slavery. Before this, the Christian British and Americans saw nothing wrong with keeping slaves. However, Christians today believe slavery is immoral.

As for Islam, the Arabs were trading in African slaves before Islam started, they continued under Islam, slavery was abolished in Saudi Arabia in 1962, but it continues today in Sudan, Chad and Mauritania where Muslims are still selling and keeping slaves.

What does your religion teach about slavery? If you are Christian, how did Christians come to the conclusion that slavery is against God's will? What does the Bible teach about slaves? If you are Muslim, what does Islam teach about slavery, what does your holy book say about it? If you are Jewish, same question.

see also:

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AmFnH...

This year is the 200th anniversary of the abolishment of slavery bythe British. Before it was abolished, white Christians from Britain used to go to Africa and take slaves to work plantations in the Caribbean. The Church of England even had a seminary in Jamaica supported by slave labour. However, Christians have since come to the view that slavery and racism are wrong and sinful.

On the other hand, Arab Muslims in North Africa are still enslaving black Africans, in places like Sudan and Mauritania, and there seem to be Muslims arguing that it is right to enslave "kaffirs". The South Arican word "kaffer", used as a term for blacks, came from the Arabic. Is there any Muslim anti-slavery movement to oppose this? What is the islamic teaching about slavery and how to treat kaffirs?

Hi can any Muslims please point me to some books or articles about the Islamic theology of sin and salvation? I am interested in finding answers to questions like what is sin, why is there sin, how did it originate, what are humans supposed to do about it, and how does Allah view it and deal with it, what is the result of it (punishment? forgiveness?).

And also the Islamic concept of salvation: what is salvation, saved from what, why do people need salvation, and how does one obtain salvation? Is it related to the sin problem and if so how?

Also, do different schools of thought in islam (Shia, Sunna, Ahmadi, Muwahhidun/Salafi, Ash'arite, Mu'tazilite, etc) have different ideas about these topics. Is there any concept of a saviour, or an atonement for sin? On what basis will people be judged and condemned or acquitted on the day of judgment? Is there a record of sins in heaven?

In an emergency, if a rescuer from outside a car wants to undo a car seat belt to get an unconscious person out of a car, they have to reach across the person to access the seat belt release button located towards the middle of the car. Why do they not design it so the seat belt release thing is at the door side so that it is easier to release in an emergency?

See also:

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AvOuX...

According to the Tanakh, the forgiveness of sins requires sacrifices made in the temple, particularly the Yom Kippur rituals. The Temple was destroyed in 70CE and cannot be rebuilt because of the Muslims and the Al-Aqsa mosque. Could this be a sign from God that sins are now to be forgiven by other means?

The Talmud says that 40 years before the temple's destruction, there were signs associated with Yom Kippur rituals that showed that God no longer accepted them:

http://www3.telus.net/public/kstam/en/temple/detai...

http://www.fivedoves.com/light/4miracles.htm

http://www.ensignmessage.com/archives/mysteriousev...

Christians say this was because Jesus died as the atonement for sins in 30 or 31 CE, thus fulfilling Daniel 9:27 and making temple sacrifices and offerings redundant. Could the modern lack of a temple be a hint from God pointing to this?

Since airliners carry lifejackets but not parachutes, passengers and crew have to stay with them until they crash if something goes wrong. This being the case, would automobile style airbags (and maybe even car style seat belts instead of just the lap belt) be useful in reducing impact related injuries in airline crashes? Reducing impact-caused injuries would also help survivors be more able to subsequently evacuate the aircraft (see for example

http://www.tsb.gc.ca/en/reports/air/studies/sa9401...

which says that some survivors of seaplane crashes drown because they are injured in the crash and can't get out).

In passenger boats they always have life jackets for the passengers, and in the case of ships life boats too, so that in case of an accident the passengers can survive. Why do airliners have life jackets under the seat but not parachutes?

I have been able to access www.hi5.com until about 2 days ago from my PC, but now i cannot. I can access it from the library, but not from my PC or any other PC on my home network, so the problem may be with my ISP (ntl broadband) or could hi5 have blocked my IP address for some reason? Any one else on ntl broadband have the same problem?