02-23-2005, 02:17 AM
Kevin,
I don't know what gets into you from time to time, whether it is another frustrated meeting with your father or what, but your challenges would mean more if they were given in person or with more respect to what debate is intended to be. A debate is not intended to insult but rather to exchange ideas. You have not given anybody any reason to believe that you want to do anything but argue. This is not debate, that is politics.
It comes across as rather sophomoric when one pastes dictionary definitions of common words. This is a ploy that I have seen hundreds (maybe thousands) of times with members of the Mormon sect. It does not further an atmosphere of fruitful debate.
The attitude you have is condescending and hateful. At your level of education you have no reason to be condescending. I am rarely condescending; it serves very little use in a forum like this or in my career.
If you believe the atrocities which have been attritibuted to the Muslims did not take place you are indeed, extremely, prejudiced. Do you seriously believe that the entire non-Muslim world made this stuff up? Surely, you are not that naive. The chip on your shoulder is not very becoming of someone with the ideals to which you one day wish to aspire. It is a rather unattractive quality.
I wish you would take an objective look at the origins of Islam, Judaism, Christianity, or even Mormonism. Then you will be able to make an informed decision, the kind of decision you have not made. The religious conclusion you have arrived at was one of a more visceral response than a cognitive decision.
I have read, with interest, your sojourn through the various faiths. Whether it was your intercourse with the Jewish physician (from, I believe, Maryland) or your discussions with those in this forum I have not sensed a longing to learn. I have sensed a yearning to lecture or find out some fact to spring on an unsuspetcing subject sometime in the future. Presumably, to show your own intellectual superiority.
Usually when I hear young men give opinions which I know is a parrotry of something they have been told I know that that young man is probably not smart enough to arrive at a reasonable conclusion based on the facts at hand himself. Kevin, you may be bright enough to arrive at these conclusions (you probably are) but these cut and paste jobs you do are very revealing. It reveals an inability to form opinions of your own.
You have the underdog mentality where you root for the underdog simply because he is the underdog and no other reason. I am at a loss in knowing what defect there is in your past to lead you in this path. Sometimes, my young friend, underdogs are underdogs for a good reason; they truly are inferior.
I give talks, speeches, and lectures frequently to men and women with at least 7 years post graduate education- post college graduate education (all with earned doctorates). I rarely come across people with the hatred and agenda I sense in you. Most, simply, want to learn. They may ask provactive questions (something you do at times yourself) but they rarely do this with venom.
I own a business which employs 22 people, all of whom respect me. They respect me not because of what I know or how much I can pay them. They respect me for who I am. I am not mean spirited, vindictive, or capricious. I am fair and treat them with respect. This is something that I hope you can do one day; respect others with differing opinions.
I employ three physicians, a nurse practioner, two nurses, a lab tech, and 15 other people. Physicians have their own mind and arrive at diagnoses in a systematic way. They do not always agree with each other, so they ask each other questions (second opinions). I hope that one day you will be mature enough to ask for a "second opinion" about a belief you may hold.
Your agenda is not to further Islam. At this point you may have convinced yourself that this is your true agenda, it is not. Your agenda is to prove how smart you really are, it's just that Islam has been your favorite subject the last two or three years. You major in the trivial and ignore the big picture.
Here is the big picture. Look at the world scene and tell me one nation, governed by Muslims, which has advanced the cause of peace. Egypt can't even claim that. True peace will only be found once you meet the Prince of Peace.
I hope you meet Him some day,
Keith
I don't know what gets into you from time to time, whether it is another frustrated meeting with your father or what, but your challenges would mean more if they were given in person or with more respect to what debate is intended to be. A debate is not intended to insult but rather to exchange ideas. You have not given anybody any reason to believe that you want to do anything but argue. This is not debate, that is politics.
It comes across as rather sophomoric when one pastes dictionary definitions of common words. This is a ploy that I have seen hundreds (maybe thousands) of times with members of the Mormon sect. It does not further an atmosphere of fruitful debate.
The attitude you have is condescending and hateful. At your level of education you have no reason to be condescending. I am rarely condescending; it serves very little use in a forum like this or in my career.
If you believe the atrocities which have been attritibuted to the Muslims did not take place you are indeed, extremely, prejudiced. Do you seriously believe that the entire non-Muslim world made this stuff up? Surely, you are not that naive. The chip on your shoulder is not very becoming of someone with the ideals to which you one day wish to aspire. It is a rather unattractive quality.
I wish you would take an objective look at the origins of Islam, Judaism, Christianity, or even Mormonism. Then you will be able to make an informed decision, the kind of decision you have not made. The religious conclusion you have arrived at was one of a more visceral response than a cognitive decision.
I have read, with interest, your sojourn through the various faiths. Whether it was your intercourse with the Jewish physician (from, I believe, Maryland) or your discussions with those in this forum I have not sensed a longing to learn. I have sensed a yearning to lecture or find out some fact to spring on an unsuspetcing subject sometime in the future. Presumably, to show your own intellectual superiority.
Usually when I hear young men give opinions which I know is a parrotry of something they have been told I know that that young man is probably not smart enough to arrive at a reasonable conclusion based on the facts at hand himself. Kevin, you may be bright enough to arrive at these conclusions (you probably are) but these cut and paste jobs you do are very revealing. It reveals an inability to form opinions of your own.
You have the underdog mentality where you root for the underdog simply because he is the underdog and no other reason. I am at a loss in knowing what defect there is in your past to lead you in this path. Sometimes, my young friend, underdogs are underdogs for a good reason; they truly are inferior.
I give talks, speeches, and lectures frequently to men and women with at least 7 years post graduate education- post college graduate education (all with earned doctorates). I rarely come across people with the hatred and agenda I sense in you. Most, simply, want to learn. They may ask provactive questions (something you do at times yourself) but they rarely do this with venom.
I own a business which employs 22 people, all of whom respect me. They respect me not because of what I know or how much I can pay them. They respect me for who I am. I am not mean spirited, vindictive, or capricious. I am fair and treat them with respect. This is something that I hope you can do one day; respect others with differing opinions.
I employ three physicians, a nurse practioner, two nurses, a lab tech, and 15 other people. Physicians have their own mind and arrive at diagnoses in a systematic way. They do not always agree with each other, so they ask each other questions (second opinions). I hope that one day you will be mature enough to ask for a "second opinion" about a belief you may hold.
Your agenda is not to further Islam. At this point you may have convinced yourself that this is your true agenda, it is not. Your agenda is to prove how smart you really are, it's just that Islam has been your favorite subject the last two or three years. You major in the trivial and ignore the big picture.
Here is the big picture. Look at the world scene and tell me one nation, governed by Muslims, which has advanced the cause of peace. Egypt can't even claim that. True peace will only be found once you meet the Prince of Peace.
I hope you meet Him some day,
Keith