Pleased to join and share my book with you

[Polly Parrot]

No.

 

[beer good]

I sensed that from the way you write and reply. Some atheists may sound very kind, but kindness in its purity is the hallmark of faithful hearts. Once you've read through the book, you will find a good reason to believe that there's more to life than what meets the eye.
​

What utter hogwash.

 

[Zolipara]

Some atheists may sound very kind, but kindness in its purity is the hallmark of faithful hearts.
​

Thats some seriously offensive bullshit. I guess that means you are one of those evil atheists.

 

[Peder]

Interesting. Qoute from my book:

"A subtle argument that can be made here is that humans
cannot resist passing judgments about being and the universe.
. . .
The very act of passing (quasi)
universal judgements on life, people, and morality is an
exercise which will always be abused by humans and,
consequently, shall remain an ill-begotten right".

(The Only Way Out, p. 291).

​

Thanks, Abdullah, for the extended excerpt from your book. It's an interesting summary of human nature that I'm inclined to agree with, even from (my understanding of) a Christian point-of-view, and phrased somewhat differently.

 

[pontalba]

Am I the only one who finds this centered text annoying?

You are not alone.

 

[Abdullah shehri]

Thanks, Abdullah, for the extended excerpt from your book. It's an interesting summary of human nature that I'm inclined to agree with, even from (my understanding of) a Christian point-of-view, and phrased somewhat differently.

Thank you Peder. I tried my best to address the human condition, regardless of any background (though I do tackle some worldviews in some places). For example, there’s this part about human pride and its negative repercussions on the search for truth:

"One of the most interesting facts about human beings is
their ability to introspect their inner world and use the bricks
of retrospective experiences in building up their future selves.
No doubt we possess unparalleled capacities compared to all
living species known so far. Yet, one important reality about
human beings is that attaining the highest levels of wealth,
health and wisdom does not, at all, warrant them absolute
independence. We all know that wealth will disappear with
time, health will corrode with degeneration, and wisdom will
ebb away with senility. Indeed this would suffice to confirm
our inherent weaknesses..."
(p. 48)

​

 

[Peder]

Thank you Peder. I tried my best to address the human condition, regardless of any background (though I do tackle some worldviews in some places). For example, there’s this part about human pride and its negative repercussions on the search for truth . . .:

​

I would expect that a clear view of human nature is certainly a necessity for any approach that hopes to be successful in offering advice. I wish you well.
:flowers:

 

[Polly Parrot]

Abdullah: is all the text in the book centred too?

 

[Abdullah shehri]

Thank you Peder, I think we really have something in common. What you noted does not go without mention:

"Thus, it is no exaggeration that our knowledge of reality
primarily hinges on our understanding of human nature".
p. 55

= = = = = =

Polly, your witty question is too

​

witty for me to answer. ​

 

[Abdullah shehri]

This time an 'un-centered' qoute :

"...the lesson here is that narcissism and self-conceit, being the usual by-products of arrogance, only blunt the mind, dumb the senses and make the
individual blind to signs that are as manifest as sunlight in the middle of a clear sky". p. 70

 

[eclair]

"...the lesson here is that narcissism and self-conceit, being the usual by-products of arrogance, only blunt the mind, dumb the senses and make the
individual blind to signs that are as manifest as sunlight in the middle of a clear sky". p. 70

Oh the irony.
I'll take a look at your book.

 

[eclair]

I took a look.

 

[Peder]

I took a look.

And?

 

[eclair]

^ Where do I start?

There were passages that I simply didn't see the point of, and was forced to remark out loud, So? Several times. One example:

The centrality of religion in the sphere of human
existence cannot be overemphasized. It never dies away and
systematic attempts to eradicate it from the lives of human
beings have been abject failures. Karl Marx and Friedrich
Nietzsche may provide good examples. To Marx, religion was
'the opium of the people'. To Nietzsche, God was dead. Both
of them swam against the tide. They both died and became
history; religion outlived them and continues to live.

Religions get split into two, the three Abrahamic religions and the rest.
The rest are cut down pretty quickly. He says Zoroastrianism's claims for Zoroaster' divinity are unsubstantiated, so bye bye zorastianism.
Sikhism is apparently just a branch of Hinduism, though there is no further explanation of this thought process other than that throwaway comment. Hinduism is said to be a mess of poly, and mono and pantheism, and so is questionable.

The difference between the three abrahamic religions and the rest is that the 3 are prophet based and divine, and all the others, Buddhism included, are all just a series of accounts by revered people who are often anonymous and not divine in origin. Apparently this makes them more questionable.
This is backed up by some quotes from professors who are lamenting the difficulty in figuring out chronology and historical accuracy. Plus all those deities, who needs so many when a single badass one will do.

Then we come to Christianity and its pagan imprints. We are told the old testament was monotheistic, but the new testament in wanting to recruit pagan worshippers went the way of polytheism. The Father, The Son, The Holy Ghost, the Virgin, and all those saints added together equal polytheism.

A distinction is made between true religion and conventional religion. Conventional religion is an invention of the people, or its a distortion of a true religion. Judaism is apparently a conventional religion, there are quotes from professors about the pagan symbols in judaism and other such fun things to back this up. I wondered about the context of these quotes, but did not care enough to look them up.
Then there was some more stuff about conventional vs true religion, and a look at the divide between secularism and religion, and about religion being a human's integral need. Again with more quotes from smart people.
I didn't feel informed, there was little explanation on the whys. I didn't feel like there was any depth to any of the points, the observations just seemed like a rehash of things already said a few pages ago.

Then we come to this:

Our journey towards truth requires snapping out of our tiny
subjectivism and paying attention to the greater reality of
existence. First, stop at a distance, have a good look at the
woods, then walk in and explore. Once we start searching for a
meaning to life, we - whether we like it or not - enter the
precincts of another realm called 'religion'. At this juncture,
true religion – and only true religion - has the potential to
deliver humanity from an ominous future. But there is a
problem that needs to be solved: if religion has been distorted,
if science cannot get rid of empirical error and human
fallibility, then how can we find the truth?

Before we set out in search of truth, we need to know
which way to go. The paths of life are many. Each one may
lead to a certain truth; some others may endlessly stretch
forward or stop at the brink of a deep dark valley called
nowhere. When Alice met the Cheshire Cat in Alice's
Adventures in Wonderland, the famous fairytale written by
Lewis Carroll, she asked it, "Would you tell me please which
way I ought to go from here?"; "That depends a good deal on
where you want to get to?" replied the Cat; "I don't much care
where…?" replied Alice; "Then it doesn't matter which way
you go", said the Cat. This story signifies how important it is
to have a sense of direction in life, and this largely depends on
whether we, as human beings, are individually and collectively
aware of our immediate needs and long-term choices. As one
poem goes:
And though you travel many roads,
There‘s but one way and that‘s the one you chose
For a truth to be ultimate it has to be accessible to all, not
esoteric at all. So, if we mean by the truth that essential quality
and basic level of reality which all people need, then it should 50 THE ONLY WAY OUT
be simple, manifest, and accessible to all. Every religion will
have elements of truth. It is the truth seeker's task, as it has
always been, to find the way of life that synthesizes these
elements into one coherent whole. Only something of this kind
has the power to attract the hearts of millions of people from
different classes, races, and nations. Only a religion of such
attracting power is destined to become the fastest growing
religion in the world. When it comes to this measure, only one
religion stands out: Islam

It starts off sounding like a self-help book, but then we get to the crux of the whole thing. Islam.

In other words, where is that system which is really
capable of marrying sense with sanity and science with soul?
The present book is an attempt to answer this very question.

Having myself turned away from Islam as a teenager, I had no interest in becoming convinced of it being 'the true way'. The rest is probably not a bad read to get a different perspective from what the media usually portrays about Islam and there are things of educational worth, however it just wasn't of interest to this apostate.

Abdullah Sehri, if you are still around and reading, fair play on the effort but I remain unconvinced that Islam is the answer you claim it to be.

 

[Peder]

Eclair, that sounds like an excellent summary. Thanks.

 

[Monster]

I sensed that from the way you write and reply. Some atheists may sound very kind, but kindness in its purity is the hallmark of faithful hearts. Once you've read through the book, you will find a good reason to believe that there's more to life than what meets the eye.
​

I had to register after reading this ignorant and arrogant comment. Take a look at prison populations in the US, Atheists make up a grand total of 0.209% of the United States prison population, Catholics make up 39.164%, Protestants make up 35.008% and Muslims make up 7.273%.

If that is not enough for you let me quote some parts of the bible -

Anyone arrogant enough to reject the verdict of the judge or of the priest who represents the LORD your God must be put to death. Such evil must be purged from Israel. (Deuteronomy 17:12 NLT)

If a man lies with a male as with a women, both of them shall be put to death for their abominable deed; they have forfeited their lives. (Leviticus 20:13 NAB)

They entered into a covenant to seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and soul; and everyone who would not seek the Lord, the God of Israel, was to be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman. (2 Chronicles 15:12-13 NAB)


Lets now take a look at Bill Gates and Warren Buffet, two of the richest men on the planet who are both Atheists have given so much of their wealth away to charity and have pledged to give ALL of it away when they die.

To finish it off i would like to add that i don't need a religion to make me a nice person, I'm a nice person because i want to be a nice person. You always go on about how Atheists have no morals so they must just go killing people in the streets and we cannot differentiate between good and bad.
That is all.

 

[Abdullah shehri]

eclair,

I appreciate your immediate response to my request and your feedback was very useful, though, it goes without saying, different people will certainly submit diffeernt summaries and reviews (which is my main want in principle). If possibe, would you kindly take time to comment on any points you may consider in the rest of the book.

Best,

Abdullah

 

[Monster]

These people look happy don't they?









and now the grand finale, who has the most evil extremists?



Take your arrogance somewhere else.

 

[Peder]

Take your arrogance somewhere else.

We are still discussing the book, are we?

 

[Abdullah shehri]

Thank you 'Monster'. I can understand your position.