Can a Muslim be a good American?

[Mad Scientist]

GREAT POST!

I was about to say the same thing.
Noises if you keep writing like that you are going to sound more like a real American then many real Americans.

[noises]

I follow the Tao. I (try my best to) live up to the four virtues of respect for all life, honesty, kindness and generosity. I believe enlightenment is not something we attain, but something we practice. I believe being a good American, or good Muslim, or good Diest, Or good Atheist, or good Australian, or a good Arab or a good Christian or whatever you identify yourself as SECOND, is a function of first and foremost simply being a good person.

Aaron is dead right, there is a war going on between light and darkness. The truth is, every single human being belongs on the light side. That's our nature. Be mindful of the deceptions of the enemy, who's most effective ruse is to cause division in humanity, spreading hate and mistrust and exclusivity. Moreover, be mindful of your reactions to people who act as agents of darkness, who do hateful things, speak lies and incite mistrust and fear. THEY are dark emotions, their energy nourishes our common enemy. As easy as it is to hate someone who does something hateful, just remember what side you're really on, remember who that hate really feeds. Even when it's "justified" or "morally correct." The justification is part of the deception. Nothing makes hating right.

This is more serious than any earthly war, and the way we should fight is with boundless love and the certainty that even the smallest bit of light banishes darkness.

[Kevin]

Thank You sweetest Pamela and sweetest Aaron

I am honestly so touched by your replies and happy that there are people in the west who understand what you understand ..

Dear Kevin .. hope you're recovering well ...

as a muslim, I assure you that the email you have received is from a person who's heart is filled with hatred and that it is far away from the truth ... i will write a detailed answer about each and every verse of the Quran that you've listed and I will explain to you what they mean, in which context they have been said ...etc. ...

& of course a good muslim can be a good, loyal american ... I have uncles living in the states and who are good muslims who do good deeds for themselves as well as for others and who live in the american society peacefully and blending with everyone with amazing personal relationships ...

please please don't let this crap fill ur head and lets keep our beloved forum as healthy and loving and energetic as like we've always known it

God bless you all ..

with much Love, Gratitude & Appreciation

Hi Lama,

Sorry for being gone from the forum so long. Been super busy with the funeral, physical therapy, and regular stuff.

Regarding my two original posts in this thread-

I, in NO MEANS, meant to convey that I believed, or promoted what was quoted in them.

The first one made be go hmmm....I am interested in peoples thoughts on the matter. I am completely unfamiliar with the teachings of Islam, but I wonder if any religion could be dogmatically compatible with American Patriotism. For that matter, is dogmatic patriotism to a single country even healthy?

The second post really blew my mind. That is why I asked if it could possibly be true.

Lama, I did not know you were Muslim, I do know that your spirit of kindness and love is readily apparent in all the posts I have seen of yours.

I look forward to your explanation and context of the verses.

[Kevin]

Regarding all the responses about the two messages I posted....

I have two thoughts-

1. Any talk about religion or politics can generate strong emotional response...which is why I normally stay away from both...guess my painkiller induced mood led me to post honest questions/food for thought-discussion, without remembering my own rule about staying away from religion and politics.

But since the cat is already out of the bag, here is my second observation-

I noticed that many of the responses were very critical of Christians and/or seemed to focus on Christianity.

When I re-read the two posts, the first one does mention Christianity/the Bible...but it is by no means the main thrust of the post.

The second post is 90% absent of any reference to Christians.

This makes the responses almost more interesting than the actual original posts.

[aljhoa]

Perfect for the elite, see National IQ estimates Table
at
IQ and the Wealth of Nations - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Al

[faramog]

I would say what makes a good citizen is respect for all around them and has nothing to do with where they were born, what their beliefs are or any of that political nonsence.

There are as many christian, jewish, hindu, buddist (and any other) zealots... does that make them bad Americans (or any other nationality for that matter)

Good people are the same the world over.... human beings !!

As for the wiki site on IQ - it would rather suggest that high quality state education was more of reason for the spread with general poor education in Africa (at the bottom), and very high quality in parts of asia & Europe.

[aljhoa]

As for the wiki site on IQ - it would rather suggest that high quality state education was more of reason for the spread with general poor education in Africa (at the bottom), and very high quality in parts of asia & Europe.

There are several ways to define intelligence. In some cases, intelligence may include traits such as creativity, personality, character, knowledge, or wisdom. However, some psychologists prefer not to include these traits in the definition of intelligence.

Secondly, the authors investigated the link between religiosity and intelligence on a country level. Among the sample of 137 countries, only 23 (17%) had more than 20% of atheists, which constituted “virtually all... higher IQ countries.” The authors reported a correlation of 0.60 between atheism rates and level of intelligence, which is “highly statistically significant.”
Religiosity and intelligence - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

File:LynnHarveyNyborg-CountryBelieveGod-Intelligence.svg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://www.energeticforum.com/renewa...html#post70528
Al