I am 18 years old and have been raised as an Arab-Christian. My father is Orthodox and my mother is Catholic. Both sides of my family are very old fashioned and strict. I am very conservative and have old fashion morals myself. All of my friends are Arabic, some of them being Christian and some of them being Muslim. Lately, I have been thinking about converting. I think I am valid in saying that I want to convert because I see the difference between Christian and Muslim families. Not to say that Arab-Christian families can't be strict, but I feel like my morals and values lean more towards the Muslim side. I don't mean this as far the religion goes, just the morals and values that go along with it however. If that makes any sense?? I feel like religion is just something that you are born into and I feel like people should get to chose their religion. I do have some family that is Muslim and I have talked to them about this and they support it because they think I am doing it for the right reasons. My father however is a very strong Christian and I am afraid that he would be very angry with me and not talk to me. I'm scared of what my Christian side of the family and my Christian friends will think. Please give me as much advice as you have.

hadi88

I totally disagree with you scotgem. I am sure you know there is a huge difference between cultures and religion, you can not put them on the same spot. If so called muslim men beat their wives, they are doing totally against the Islamic religion. Islam doesnt give permission to anyone to beat up one's wife.

I would say those who do these kind of acts don't know about Islam because having a name like muslim or born in muslim family don't make u a muslim. To be a muslim one has to practice, i believe not just in Islam but in any other religion one do have to practice the religion to be a good follower of .... and once one start practicing it becomes hard for one to hurt anybody.



check out the following links, about the women in Islam.

http://islamqa.com/special/index.php...site=16&ln=eng

http://www.irf.net/irf/faqonislam/index.htm

ScottGem

WHOA! You need to go back and read what I said. I never said anything about Muslim men beating their wives. You seened to have picked up on a throwaway comment by the OP that I responded to and totally misinterpeted what I actually said.

What I have said in this thread that the Muslim culture generally holds women as second class citizens. Women have a place in the home and little more. I agreed that it was not true of all Muslims, but it is something taught in the culture.

Starman

You have to be more specific in order for us to know what you are referring to. What morals and what values? A true Christian is honest, peaceful, loving, kind. So I don't see where you can find flaw with the Christian morals unless you are mistaking apostate Christian morality with true Christian morality. So perhaps what you really should be doing is seeking a Christian denomination that truly adheres to the Christian morals as outlined in the Bible instead of casting Jesus' Ransom Sacrifice aside as if it were of no value.



If you speak to a Christian member of your family he will tell you that you are making a grave mistake.


Your religious decisions shouldn't be based on what others think about you.

hadi88

I apologize, if i misunderstood. Correct me if i am wrong, i don't know the religion of Islam much but i have learnt a bit about it by searching around and meeting with people.

when u said , don't u think "its a precept of the culture" make more sense then the religion. As u said it is something taught in the culture, or uneducated background but not a religion, .

I didn't mean that exactly you said about beating the womens, misbehaving with them.


could u explain a bit more what u mean by "I don't dispute that not all Muslim men, especially westernized ones treat their wives that way. But if they don't, they are not following the teachings of Islam that closely. "

Thanx

ScottGem

its hard to separate the religion of Islam from the culture. I read the site you linked to that listed excerpts that seem to show Islam does hold women in high esteem. But I look at the culture in Islamic/Muslim countries where women are required to cover up completely, walk behind men in public, where they are usually not invited to participate in decisions that are held as the province of the male.

If one does a WEB search on oppression of islamic women they will find several articles that deal with the issue on both sides.

hadi88

though it is hard to separte religion and culture from each other, but in reality they are seperate.
"Culture is the shared knowledge and schemes created by a set of people for perceiving, interpreting, expressing, and responding to the social realities around them" (p. 9). by Lederach, J.P. (1995). Preparing for peace: Conflict transformation across cultures. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press

"Religion: Relation of human beings to God or the gods or to whatever they consider sacred or, in some cases, merely supernatural."
—Britannica Concise Encyclopedia (online, 2006)

we can not judge or give openios about religion by some culture.

let say Americans and asians or africans have the same religion chritianity, budism, islam or any other, but do they share the same culture, i don't think so. I have spent a bit of my life in a islamic country, where i would say there are about 10% or so of the people are christian, where as the major religion is Islam in the country, do those 10% peole share thier religion becasue they are living in a country that has 90% muslims, no, do they share culture ofcourse yeah.

so culture and religion are different from each other.

if one is searching around about a specific religion or culture, he/she need to make sure, who has written about the topic. If i am searching about a christianity, i would have to ask somebody who is christian, a muslim or a budist won't talk all positive about christianity or v.vrsa. We need to know whome we are asking to, from where we are getting the information.

If in a culture women walk behind the men in public .etc, might ask somebody from that culture why, what is the reason behind it, why women have to cover up.


Thanx for the info.

ScottGem

I realize that culture and religion are different, but with Islam, the lines are much more blurred then with other religions.

hadi88

May i ask what lines?

please don't mind, i do know about chritianity a bit, but trying to learn about Islam a bit also.

thanx

ScottGem

In most other religions the practice of that religion doesn't govern one's daily lives to extent Islam does. In most Christian sects, the practice of the religion centers around going to church on Sundays. Yes Christians are exorted to lead a "christian" life, but that's mostly about being moral and ethical. In Judiasm, there are a few more rules, especially about eating and the way one dresses and certain daily rituals. But those are more observed by the orthodox and not as much my other sects.

But in Islam the rules govern a much greater portion of daily life. What one eats and drinks. How one dresses. How they do so many things. I spoke earlier that Islamic people aren't allowed to borrow money. When the religion dictates so much of one's life, it blurs the lines between religion and culture.

galveston

Mahlia's concerns seem more about what her parents may think of her than any other issue. Most,(not all), religions have a good moral code, so it is probably safe to say that almost any religion will do to live by. Just put the major ones in a hat and draw one. Having said that, it is quite another thing to choose a faith to die by. Our hereafter is much longer and more important than our here and now. Put a lot of sincere prayer into your search.