wiregrassfarmer

We all have faith. We go to sleep expecting to get up later. Yet people around the world die every day in their sleep. The thought we sleep and later rise is faith. Faith is what keeps us all moving. If you have faith that you will see tomorrow, why don't you have faith in other unseen matters?

Are news stories like this so common?

REUTERS - Muslim clerics in Pakistan's conservative North West Frontier Province want local authorities to expel all women working for international relief agencies in earthquake affected areas by the end of this month.

The clerics accuse the women, including Pakistanis employed by foreign non-government organizations (NGOs), of dressing improperly, mixing with men and drinking alcohol, which is banned in Islamic Pakistan.

"We are not against the NGOs, but we are against them spreading obscenity in society and trying to weaken our faith by corrupting our women," Moazzam Ali Shah, head of Tehreek-e-Islaha Muashra, or Movement to Cleanse Society, told Reuters in Mansehra town.

I can practice my religion without fear of persecution where I live. If I were to move to Saudia Arabi, I could not. Yet, a Saudi can move here and practice his religion without fear. Something wrong there don't you think?

To quote the Koran - But if they (non Muslims) desist (in persecuting Moslems), then surely Allah is Forgiving, Merciful. And fight with them until there is no persecution, and religion should be only for Allah, but if they desist, then there should be no hostility except against the oppressors." (Qur'an, 2:190-192)

If that is the truth, why can't I open a Christian Church in Saudi Arabi and other Moslem nations?

Previous points made - If you don't believe in prayer, how can you be upset over something you believe doesn't exist? If you take offense and reject my prayers by saying I'm doing something to you against your will, can you prove I have affected you? If you, as one prev. answer said, paint my barn a hideous color, you have materially affected me. If the object of my prayer is to bring good things to you, why are you mad, especially since I have done nothing to materially affect you? If you burn a Bible in my name, as one prev. answer said, that does not bother me because I had nothing to do with it and you cannot act in my name.

New points to make - If you are sick (say cancer) and wish to live and I pray you'll be healed, why would you take offense. If I pray you'll be blessed (receive benefits that will make you happy), why should this offend you? I do not pray from a position of moral (or any other kind of authority except the authority to pray) and only wish good things for you.

If you don't believe in prayer, how can you be upset over something you believe doesn't exist? If you take offense and reject my prayers by saying I'm doing something to you against your will, can you prove I have affected you? If you, as one prev. answer said, paint my barn a hideous color, you have materially affected me. If the object of my prayer is to bring good things to you, why are you mad, especially since I have done nothing to materially affect you? If you burn a Bible in my name, as one prev. answer said, that does not bother me because I had nothing to do with it and you cannot act in my name.

I have not, in fact, hurt them and I am, in fact, wishing them well. So how can someone justifiable be offended?