The War On Terror Will End When.........

I hope I won't derail the conversaton so far, but I wanted to take another look at Message #26. What I think you’ve been getting at is that, either (1) the Muslims are right and they’re going to take over the world, or (2) the Christians are right and the Muslims are the evil church prophesied about in Revelation? But, you believe your observation that the Muslim prophecy apparently coming true is sure evidence of the prophecies in the Bible? How do you know it’s not just the Muslim prophecy being fulfilled? How is this not blind faith?You still can’t rule out the possibility that this whole drama was prophesied by a third religion in a text that has been lost due to apostasy (which the true God of that religion has not yet seen fit to restore), and that this whole conflict is actually a testament to the truthfulness of that religion. And, if various interpretations of an event see it as fulfilling various prophecies, how can you be sure that your interpretation is right? How can you be sure that any of them is right?Remember, when two viewpoints clash, the only conclusion you can safely come to is that at least one of them is wrong: but there is no rule that says somebody has to be right. If you can interpret current events as proof of biblical prophecy, and Muslims can interpret it as proof of Mohammad’s prophecy, why can’t I interpret it is proof of neither? Why can’t Rahvin interpret it as proof that the gods are going to war (Ragnarok”you’ve got to admit that it sounds pretty compelling)? Why can’t Grizz interpret it as proof only that the whole world has a hanger up its butt and needs to start thinking more rationally? And who are you to dismiss their interpretations as irrelevant?

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I'm Thylacosmilus.Darwin loves you.

As a Mormon, I have no problems with continuing revelation and lost scriptures: that's how we got our start, and we believe there are still more out there to come!But, seriously, the "third-religion" scenario wasn't meant to be taken seriously: it was a hypothetical situation. See, you're seeing all these events as fulfilling Christian prophecy, and Muslims see it as fulfilling Muslim prophecy. You're saying that, since Mohammad's prophecy seems to be coming to fruition (Muslims are taking over the world), Islam must fit into your prophecy somehow. So, you've subsumed their prophecy into yours. What if I told you that Mormons have additional prophecies about the "signs of the times" recorded in our scriptures, many of which seem to be coming to fruition, as well? I could easily say that my religion's prophecies subsume yours by the same way that your religion's prophecy subsumes Islam's.So, like it or not, your belief in your religion's prophecy is still based entirely on faith. The only way you get out of the "faith only" mode is if you can definitively show that the "signs of the times" only fit your prophecy, and not anyone else's. Timing is not the issue. If you're a Protestant, you believe that the churches that came about during the Reformation are better than the church that existed before. If you're a Catholic, you believe that the religion that Christ started is better than the religion that existed prior to it. Either way, you already believe that "first" does not equal "most accurate." Muslims likely believe that their religion is a vast improvement on what came before it, just as you believe yours is better than the ones that came before it, and as I believe mine is better than the ones that came before it.

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I'm Thylacosmilus.Darwin loves you.