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Without even knowing you, I think I know exactly what is your problem. You're not reading with an open mind. Most people only read books where they agree with t

Without even knowing you, I think I know exactly what is your problem. You're not reading with an open mind. Most people only read books where they agree with the author and agree with the books content. Get some books that you'd probably find disagreeable, and read them with the benefit of the doubt. Assume the author is right, and if you really can't do that, just remember that the writer is probably dead since long and it's just a reflection of how some people thought at the time. I found that disagreeable viewpoints very seldom takes away any value of a book. Much worse is if it's written badly, repetitive, slow, etc. Have you read the Bible? It's shockingly different from what people believe is written there. It is a post-apocalyptic survival guide, as well as a collection of human stories and ideas that might date back hundreds of thousands of years. Have you read the Quran? Reading it is essential to understanding Muslims and their faith. It is first and foremost an anti-christian book, and the faith is foremost anti-christian. Just as christendom at one time was foremost anti-pagan. There's an immense wealth in mythology from all over the world to read, which takes you on journeys much more profound than any fantasy book. Have you read the communist manifesto? It is a short pamphlet, energetic and quite fun to read. Even an anti-communist can understand why it riled up so many people. Have you read the books written by historical figures, instead of about historical figures. The former is much more interesting, while the latter is written by some dusty professor with an agenda. Think about the most provocative book you can imagine and go and read it. It's just letters on paper, nothing more. As for sci-fi and fantasy, you shouldn't read that. You only have one life, why would you waste it? You can and should read von Brauns book "Mars Project", which is the only science "fiction" book which should have been written. For fiction, there are hundreds of classics, and the older the more interesting. When I read a book and there's an interesting reference to another book, I always download that book as well. This takes you down paths that you never thought existed, and now I have a couple hundred books already on my reading list. If one is a dud, I just delete it.

ComposedPattern 2y ago
> Have you read the Bible? It's shockingly different from what people believe is written there. It is a post-apocalyptic survival guide, as well as a collection of human stories and ideas that might date back hundreds of thousands of years. You must mean hundreds or thousands, right? Modern homo-sapiens are not hundreds of thousands of years old. > Have you read the Quran? Reading it is essential to understanding Muslims and their faith. It is first and foremost an anti-christian book, and the faith is foremost anti-christian. Just as christendom at one time was foremost anti-pagan. I've only read parts of the Quran in translation, and I wouldn't say that I understand it that well. It's not organized in a narrative structure like the bible, and there are a lot of parts that are impossible to understand without outside knowledge, like a surah that condemns Abu Lahab but doesn't explain who he was [1]. The Quran is not really the sort of book that you can just read on its own without guidance and expect to understand. So, with the preface that you should take what I have to say about the Quran with a grain of salt, I'm not sure how you could take away that it's primarily an anti-Christian text. Yes, it criticizes Christians and Jews a lot, but it also has good things to say about them. For example: "Indeed, the believers, Jews, Christians, and Sabians—whoever truly believes in Allah and the Last Day and does good will have their reward with their Lord. And there will be no fear for them, nor will they grieve." [2] The main villains of the Quran are polytheists (like Abu Lahab). It talks about them a lot more and never has anything good to say [3]. By contrast, the New Testament barely even mentions polytheists or pagans – most of its criticism is directed against Jews. Muslims traditionally believe that Jesus was the messiah, that he was born of a virgin, that he performed miracles, and that he's going to return and rule the world in a future era [4]. It's also said that Muhammad was identified as a prophet by a Christian monk named Bahira [5]. Early on, Orthodox Christians identified Islam as a heretical form of Christianity, not a different religion [6]. These do not seem like traits of a religion that is foremost anti-Christian. [1] https://quran.com/111 https://quran.com/111 [2] https://quran.com/2/62 https://quran.com/2/62 [3] https://quran.com/search?query=polytheist https://quran.com/search?query=polytheist [4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_in_Islam https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_in_Islam [5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bahira https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bahira [6] https://archive.org/details/johnofdamascuson0000saha https://archive.org/details/johnofdamascuson0000saha
- carlosjobim 2y ago
  It's easy for anybody to find a Quran and read it for themselves. The book cannot be more clear and concise regarding christians. Considering that Mohammad was familiar with christianity, and that the message most repeated in the Quran is that you should not join God with other gods and that you will go to hell if you do – I would say that the primary message of the book is anti-christian. Not against Jesus, but against those who worship him as God. The most famous saying in Islam (which you all know) is clear about the strict monotheistic message. While the most famous saying in Christendom (which you all know), is clear about the trinity message. As for joining God with other gods, this became a hallmark of Christendom even more so than just the trinity. But this is also after the time of Mohammad, and bears no relevance when talking about the Quran. No matter which, the Quran and the Bible are two very different scripts, even though there is a popular belief that they are similar. Anybody who has read both can see that similarities are very few.

ComposedPattern 2y ago

> Have you read the Bible? It's shockingly different from what people believe is written there. It is a post-apocalyptic survival guide, as well as a collection of human stories and ideas that might date back hundreds of thousands of years. You must mean hundreds or thousands, right? Modern homo-sapiens are not hundreds of thousands of years old. > Have you read the Quran? Reading it is essential to understanding Muslims and their faith. It is first and foremost an anti-christian book, and the faith is foremost anti-christian. Just as christendom at one time was foremost anti-pagan. I've only read parts of the Quran in translation, and I wouldn't say that I understand it that well. It's not organized in a narrative structure like the bible, and there are a lot of parts that are impossible to understand without outside knowledge, like a surah that condemns Abu Lahab but doesn't explain who he was [1]. The Quran is not really the sort of book that you can just read on its own without guidance and expect to understand. So, with the preface that you should take what I have to say about the Quran with a grain of salt, I'm not sure how you could take away that it's primarily an anti-Christian text. Yes, it criticizes Christians and Jews a lot, but it also has good things to say about them. For example: "Indeed, the believers, Jews, Christians, and Sabians—whoever truly believes in Allah and the Last Day and does good will have their reward with their Lord. And there will be no fear for them, nor will they grieve." [2] The main villains of the Quran are polytheists (like Abu Lahab). It talks about them a lot more and never has anything good to say [3]. By contrast, the New Testament barely even mentions polytheists or pagans – most of its criticism is directed against Jews. Muslims traditionally believe that Jesus was the messiah, that he was born of a virgin, that he performed miracles, and that he's going to return and rule the world in a future era [4]. It's also said that Muhammad was identified as a prophet by a Christian monk named Bahira [5]. Early on, Orthodox Christians identified Islam as a heretical form of Christianity, not a different religion [6]. These do not seem like traits of a religion that is foremost anti-Christian. [1] https://quran.com/111 https://quran.com/111 [2] https://quran.com/2/62 https://quran.com/2/62 [3] https://quran.com/search?query=polytheist https://quran.com/search?query=polytheist [4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_in_Islam https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_in_Islam [5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bahira https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bahira [6] https://archive.org/details/johnofdamascuson0000saha https://archive.org/details/johnofdamascuson0000saha

carlosjobim 2y ago
It's easy for anybody to find a Quran and read it for themselves. The book cannot be more clear and concise regarding christians. Considering that Mohammad was familiar with christianity, and that the message most repeated in the Quran is that you should not join God with other gods and that you will go to hell if you do – I would say that the primary message of the book is anti-christian. Not against Jesus, but against those who worship him as God. The most famous saying in Islam (which you all know) is clear about the strict monotheistic message. While the most famous saying in Christendom (which you all know), is clear about the trinity message. As for joining God with other gods, this became a hallmark of Christendom even more so than just the trinity. But this is also after the time of Mohammad, and bears no relevance when talking about the Quran. No matter which, the Quran and the Bible are two very different scripts, even though there is a popular belief that they are similar. Anybody who has read both can see that similarities are very few.