Can i please ask a Christian something please?

[laurzj82]

I believe in God but am very new, have only just started going to church so don't know much yet and I wouldn't yet class myself as a Christian...

All the anti Muslim stuff around at the moment: what's your take on it?

What I mean is, I know that there is one God and that if we believe in him then we will have eternal life in heaven. So muslims wouldn't go to heaven?

But am I right in thinking Christians don't hate other religions right? I hope not as that would be a deal breaker for me. Sorry if this is a stupid question but I really know nothing.

Tia

What "Christians" believe is a hard question, as Christian people believe a whole variety of things some of which I personally would strongly disagree with.

I don't hate other religions and I don't believe that Muslims, Jews, Buddists, Hindus etc etc won't go to heaven. That's for God to judge - not men. I believe that we are all God's children.

The church I go to does a lot of interfaith work with the other religious groups in our community. So for example teachers from the local Mosque swap with our Sunday School teachers to speak to the children. we have interfaith "potluck" meals, services and concerts with members of the local synagogue, temple and mosque. There are also interfaith committees doing joint charitable work in our area.

Our church also aims to be fully inclusive and welcomes LBG members.

I'm a Christian; I believe the Bible is true, and so I believe that the bits of other faiths that contradict that are not true.

So there's lots about Islam that I believe is absolutely correct (e.g. teachings about humility and kindness etc) but I do believe that Jesus is God's son and that it's only through him that we're forgiven and can have a friendship with God. I don't think a Muslim would agree with that.

But I think the Bible is very clear that as followers of Jesus our biggest priority (after loving God) should be demonstrating love to the world. I believe that any sort of discrimination or hate is incompatible with that.

I think it's possible to fervently and utterly disagree with somebody on a point of 'belief' but still respect and love them.

You can be Christian and still of course have love for people of other religions that's defiantly not an issue 😊
It's not a silly question.

I'm not quite a Christian but I go to mass. I think that the anti-Muslim sentiment that is rife at the moment is frightening. The priests at my church agree with me and say it goes against the preachings of Jesus.

As a Christian there are going to be certain things that people of other faiths believe that I wouldn't necessarily agree with. However, I couldn't possibly claim to be an expert theologian or anything like an expert Christian so who am I to say what's right and wrong? Only God can truly judge. My feelings are based on faith and I entirely respect the rights of other people to have different feelings. Persecution of any groups of people is wrong, to be anti any group on the basis that your opinions differ is unreasonable. The majority of people at my church are open and welcoming to all people from all walks of life.

Thank you so much for your replies. I that would probably be the case. Thanks again I appreciate it

My actual, probably not in any way theologically sound, belief is that God is something that humans can't really fully understand, and that therefore no religion is completely right about God because they are all human interpretations of an incomprehensible divinity. They reflect different experiences of encountering God at different times, in different places and cultures. So my belief is that no religion is all right, and no religion is all wrong, but that to me, Christianity is the most right. And Chritianity covers a pretty wide range of beliefs - sometimes it feels as though I have more in common with some people from other faiths ( or none) than I do with some Christians.

The most important teachings of Christianity are the two commandments Jesus taught: love God with all your heart, mind and soul, and love your neighbour as yourself. No hidden messages in there about hating Muslims, no matter what the evangelical white Americans will have you believe.

"But am I right in thinking Christians don't hate other religions right?"

Well some do. Being a Christian (or a Muslim) doesn't mean you can't also be other things-both good and bad.

I'm catholic (non-practicing) and I've always believed that our spiritual journey is like climbing a mountain from different sides. We all have our path but can't fully see or understand someone else's path. It's only when we get to the summit that we'll get full understanding of what other's paths look like. I believe the God we all worship is the same one, we just have different names for him and different visions of what he's like.