jquader wrote:The article that I've refered to in the previous post was simply to explain MM that when people who call themselves as scholars and stand for the debates themself dont beileve in questioning so how can one expect a common man/woman to be an active part of an argument that cannot be finished till eternity...
My point is...on what basis do they call themselves as scholars? Just by knowing some verses and their tranlations?
jquader wrote:WTF??? HP wrote:I would like to question the wisdom of holding such a debate in public when tempers are running so high all around? Shouldn't comparing religions be better left to the theologists and their research data? Clearly, this debate had been given zero rational thought before being organised. And from the sound of it, this seems to be a forum where the desired result was showing either of the religions as one-up on the other. Disgusting.
Dr. Zakir Naik is simply trying to correct the beileves of the common Hindu people and it doesnt mean that you shouldn't correct anyone simply because these kinda tempers are going all around the world...
To correct the believes of someone, your point should concentrate on why they are wrong and not on what other religions say and why they are better. If correcting someone is the desire, the one-upmanship should be absent.
jquader wrote:when you(referring to HP) had the brains to correct someone for doing so n so then why dint you prove this earlier on the forums when one of its members was using a picture that was extremely offensive as his avatar (now dont temme that you never came accross that post)
Well...I do have the brains to correct a lot of things but most of the time, I choose not to do so. The reason being that trying to create an issue when none exists will just flare up things further. And I'm sure that many people here didn't really notice the avatar in question. Now that you bring it up, a lot of them would surely be curious. Good that you had the better sense not to name the member or the thread. Further, the issue was already in consideration by the moderators and they had warned the user for his avatar by the time I saw it. Do you still think I should have done something just for the heck of it?
jquader wrote:Dr. Zakir Naik is renowed as a dynamic international orator on Islam and Comparative Religion.
Well....you have a choice to respect him as that...but since I do not agree with his views, I need not respect him....or is there some force? I see a person here who claims that the followers of one faith are superior to the follower of another. And doesn't the Quran itself say that all human beings are the sons and daughters of Allah and they are all equal? Isn't he contradicting the Quran by saying what he said about "they" (muslims) being spiritually more elevated than "you" (hindus)?
jquader wrote:I appreciate Sri Sri Ravi Shankar who has admitted that, "I may not have read many books as Dr. Zakir Naik has." he is a man of wisdom thats why he dint pull the arguement when he felt that he doesn't have enough knowledge to argue over something.
I would have done the same here and I see nothing wrong with what Sri Ravi Shankar did. Infact, he should have seen the futility of the debate even before it started.
jquader wrote:So by this I SIMPLY WANNA TELL HP THAT BEFORE YOU BLURT ANY OF YOUR CRAP, FIRST AQUIRE KNOWLWDGE ABOUT WHO YOU ARE BLURTING
You seem to have great regard for this wolf in sheep's clothing, don't you?
jquader wrote:True... people today though are successfully educating themselves but still keep their mind-set confined and dont think upon researching and finding out the difference between "Truth and Blasphemy"... The research that you do should be so efficient that it should be able to clearly explain the basis of what you say.
The description fits you to a T.
jquader wrote:First, you define yourself what you mean by faith?
Faith is not anything that whispers in your mind... Faith is formed by divine laws and judgements established on the grounds of authentic scriptures and not anything, anyone may proclaim one fine day.
To me, faith is what whispers in my mind. To me, its my conscience.
As I say that, let me also add that to me, my faith is not what someone proclaims one fine day.
jquader wrote:WTF??? HP wrote:I really didn't know Dr.Zakir Naik was the author of the Quran Shareef. .
I'm forced to pity on your ignorance about Islam and Quran and you being so absurd to state the above line...
I didn't state that on the basis of my knowledge of Islam or the Quran. The statement was made on the basis of Dr.Naik's contentions that muslims are spiritually more elevated than hindus.
jquader wrote:what you've mentioned in that line above will be considered as awfully offensive by any muslim who reads this and for this you either need to apologise or else the mods shud delete the sentence from your post.
I do not see anything in my post that should offend muslims in general. If the mods feel so, they are free to delete this post. I'll cross the bridge when we come to it.
jquader wrote:WTF??? HP wrote:Or is he trying to say that it was a collective effort of all muslims? Who is the "we" he's referring to as having reached a higher level of consciousness? I'd like to meet this person. If you really have reached a higher level of consciousness, Mr. Naik, you would not be discussing such topics with confrontationist attitudes.
And again I pity your ignorance for makin out from no-where that Dr. Zakir Naik's attitude was quarralsome or as stated by you was confrontationist and this word which u've used can surely b applied to ur attitude in this post and your views on Dr. Zakir Naik.
In a discussion where you are comparing two schools of thought, you call your thought the better one of the two. Isn't that attitude confrontationist?
As far as my attitude towards Dr.Naik is concerned, I'm not ashamed of saying that it is confrontationist. Because he chooses to call himself a comparitive theologist and has a superiority complex vis-a-vis his own religion.
jquader wrote:If you've ever seen any of his lectures he is not a person to behave in such a way
He is a very polite person on the face of it, but are his views polite?
jquader wrote:but infact he was trying to correct that belief of hindus who make most of their things "their god"....
All I can say is....Charity begins at home.
jquader wrote:When you have faith and fully believe the existance of god then why dont you beleive in the unseen rather than makin different forms and trying to concentrate on it....
When did I ever say that I worship idols? The last time I went inside a temple was when I was in my 10th standard. And the last time I prayed before a photograph or an idol was a year later to that. Infact, I don't owe you an explanation on this, but I guess you need it.
At the same time, I also say that let the ones who do it be. Its a part of their spiritual evolution and let them go through it. Are they harming anyone or disturbing the world's harmony by doing so?
I'd like to revisit my reply to the last statement quoted by you here. Charity begins at home. And there are many ills pervading Islam that are actually disturbing the world's harmony and harming people. Why doesn't Dr.Naik try to correct those things to begin with? If he does that, he'll earn far greater acceptance among people of other faiths too.
jquader wrote:WTF??? HP wrote:All I can say is that my knowledge of Islam may not be as much as Dr.Naik's but my faith in God and his works is anyday higher than his.
How can you be so sure of anyone's faith in god... its that only Almighty God who can judge a person's faith...
You expect a person to understand God himself. And you say that the same person cannot analyse a person's faith? Stop kidding me....
jquader wrote:HP this simply proves that your understanding is partial and u are being stubborn to prove your points for which you are opting the ways to abuse others... When you do a research on all the religions thats when you acctully know what faith is?
I consider faith to be beyond the confines of religions. And hence, one need not research on religions to come to terms with the concept of faith. Again, you expect one to have faith in God as naturally as one breathes, but you also say that to understand the concept of faith by researching religions? Let's meet up and I'll help you break the shackles of those confusions.
vakibs wrote:What a pity !!!! ? If we can not hold a debate such as this in India, of what use is our democracy and free speach. We can very well call ourselves the divided, theocratic republic of India (instead of united, socialist, secular republic of India)
If anybody thinks his religious sentiments are hurt by listening to this debate, they can very well avoid this. I believe discussions such as this should actually increase. They are helpful for us to be aware of each other's principles.
In ancient Athens, debate was a favorite pastime and people discussed several issues including spiritual / religious / moral issues. This is not something to be left to self stylized philosophers.
I'm not against the concept of debate in principle. Heck...I'm one of the most voracious debaters on this board. What I found disgusting in the debate here was the objective behind it. Rather than discuss inane similarities and differences between religions, the thrust should have been on trying to explain to the common man the real meaning behind it all and the reasons why it is similar or different.
Instead, this debate went on the lines of quoting verses and their translations (something for which I don't need knowledgeable people...the internet itself is a huge resource). And nothing beyond that. And finally, the games of one-upmanship begin which makes me nauseate.
Moreover, I consider religion to be something very personal to an individual. And healthy debates on religious issues should never be judgemental according to me, which this one was. Instead of talking about what and why, this debate transgressed on the domain of right and wrong, which I find to be bad timing considering the hate campaigns flowing around.