"you take them at their word"
Why would you trust someone who is obviously doing something bad, to tell you the truth?? lol...I don't understand that!!
If they can't be trustworthy in their actions, how can you find them trustworthy in their words????
"I worked with a Muslim guy for many years....he prayed five times a day (even at work)...fasted.....he was religious to the point of asceticism........
......but he believed that anyone who gives up Islam should be killed because his religion told him to"
And that my friend, is the Islam religion...not Christianity or other religions. It is not fair minded to blame all religions for the beliefs of one!
"he has six childres.....they have grown up in the west....and I half expect that one day, if one of them says to him that they are not going to follow Islam, he will kill them, I know he believes its the right thing, he has told me so"
And you are probably correct, however...we are watching a series of two ex Muslims, their story, the beliefs of Islam, etc...and when they told their father they converted to Christianity, he told them they had to chooce between their earthly father and the heavenly father they now chose to believe in. He did not murder them, though he was suppose to. He had mercy on them.
I pray your friend does the same if the day comes.
"same thing with the crusades, same thing with witch-burning"
NO. That is wrong Skizz. No where in the NT does it say to kill someone who does not believe in Christianity. We are suppose to love them, try and show them our faith....but never, ever kill them or harm them in any way.
Have you read the NT?? If so, I find it hard to believe that you hold those ideas.
"religions make good pious people do things they would otherwise not do"
Not all religions order people to do things they wouldn't necessarily do!!
However, there have been some people who's lives have been completely changed because of religion where they have STOPPED doing the bad things they had been doing.
