Doggtag ... "I was "asked to leave" a so-called christian church when I asked why God needed hard currency (the same kind of hard currency the preacher man used to buy his half-million dollar home and his Lincoln.)" I've had a similar experiance with organized religion. I went with my Mom to her church last Mother's day, and heard quite a preacher. "We have turned our youth into murderers" and "all the mothers of this country should call their children home, or answer for their sins" was a couple of lines he used when somehow(???) the war in Iraq turned up in a mother's day service. I had already given my girls a twenty to put in the collection plate when it came around. That didnt stop me from standing up, walking up front, and getting that twenty back though. So, while I wasnt asked to leave ... you can bet your keyboard I'm never welcome back there! Another favorite of mine .... I was flipping thru one night and stopped on the "preachin' channel". I forget his name, white guy that tries to sound black though, Parsley??? ... anyway, he was talking about how prayers can be answered. His example of how God had blessed him ... I prayed for a car ... and God gave me a car. I prayed for a new car ... and God gave me a new car. I prayed for a Cadilac ... and God gave me a Cadilac. I prayed for a Mercedes ... and I stand before you today, the proud owner of a new Mercedes! I guess no one in that congregation stopped to wonder who paid for it.

"Can you show me one muslim country with a modern democracy, a high level of science or a strong economy ?" If you have known the world better or at least have read this board you would have known that there are many modern muslim countries. Let me count some of them. Turkey, Bosnia, Azerbeycan, Kazakistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kirgisiztan, Bahreyn, Malaysia.

Noone can ask a person to leave a mosque. As in Islam a mosque belonged to God not any men. Everybody including non-Muslims can go there any time they want of course with showing proper respect. Islamic scholar Bektasi and Mevlana both were living at 12th century preached that all Sinagogs, Churches and Mosques are God's places and therefore holy. All 3 religions are in fact different aspects of 1. Bektasi even prayed with Christians in his mosque or in the neighbor Church.

Why are you so agressiv ilpars ? Even if Turkey is on the good way we just don't have the same definition of a modern country. Human have rights to not believe in Allah, even if this is not allowed by your religion.

..I prayed for a car ... and God gave me a car. I prayed for a new car ... and God gave me a new car. I prayed for a Cadilac ... and God gave me a Cadilac. I prayed for a Mercedes ... and I stand before you today, the proud owner of a new Mercedes! I guess no one in that congregation stopped to wonder who paid for it... "Oh Lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz ? My friends all drive Porsches, I must make amends. Worked hard all my lifetime, no help from my friends, So Lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz ? Oh Lord, won't you buy me a color TV ? Dialing For Dollars is trying to find me. I wait for delivery each day until three, So oh Lord, won't you buy me a color TV ? Oh Lord, won't you buy me a night on the town ? I'm counting on you, Lord, please don't let me down. Prove that you love me and buy the next round, Oh Lord, won't you buy me a night on the town ? Everybody! Oh Lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz ? My friends all drive Porsches, I must make amends, Worked hard all my lifetime, no help from my friends, So oh Lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz ? That's it!" - Janis Joplin swhitebull - Im dating myself here!

"My God isn't short of cash, mister!" -U2, Bullet the Blue Sky dating myself as well, but not quite as ancient as Swhitebull...

Is holy war people killing people because God wants them to, or does he need their help killing people??

Humans have right to believe and not to believe anything. My religion says nothing against it. While you know nothing about my religion, you are trying to explain mine religion to me. I do not like your ignorancy and prejudgements. If not liking these traits makes me agresive; sorry but I can not help it.

Not everyone who "pratices" religion is a shining example of that religion. Humans learn more from when we are flawed than when we are perfect.., unless we are too proud, arrogant, and ignorant to admit we made any mistakes. Not everyone who has enough money to construct a church, a mosque, a synangogue, a temple, is a true "servant" of any god. Some of them are just proving their audacity by showing off their wealth to the world, and trying to justify their greed through the temple they just built. It's called "buying salvation." Whatever Divine Being(s) created the cosmos, humans don't necessarily have any real authority to "declare" which part of the Earth is truly holy, and which is desecrated or an abomination. And evolution spent millions of years shaping the plant and animal kingdom, regardless of whether people believe it took six days or not. So no humans have the right to decide which plants or animals Nature spent an eternity perfecting are "clean" or "unclean". Feel free to worship who you want, when you want, how you want, but don't come knocking on my door condemning me for my beliefs, then ask me to give money to your cause. And don't go blaming me for the faults you see in the world: ask yourself instead what can YOU do to make a difference. I never had any Muslims, or Shintoists, or Buddhists come to my door looking for financial backing for their cause. Maybe a few others could learn from that. "God" does not "need" your gold, even though Cortez tried to use that excuse on the Central American tribes. Nor does any "divine, spiritual entity of a magnificent consciouness beyond the comprehension of all mankind" need hard currency, US dollars or whatnot, to do His/Her/Its bidding. It is only the snake-oil salesmen and con artists who have found an effective way to manipulate us out of the money WE busted a sweat to earn, so they DON'T have to bust a sweat. And coming out of the Dark Ages when education was not allowed to anyone outside the upper and religious castes, naturally when someone comes forward representing "the church" and tells you never to question their authority, lest "god" strikes you down for your insolence; naturally you will be more easily controlled and manipulated living in such ignorance. But this is the drum I have chosen to beat, based on what I have "witnessed" and experienced. You have just as much right to get on my boat as I have to refuse getting in yours. 'Nuff said.

"Turkey, Bosnia, Azerbeycan, Kazakistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kirgisiztan, Bahreyn, Malaysia. " Most of these countrys are in terrible conditions! Turkey might be on the right way, but half the country is still stone-age. Islam calls us the house of war and values our lives lower than animals. At least the fanatics say that. The others who pretend to think different don't think loud enough for me and I hate Islam for that!