Convert to Islam, or die.

Originally Posted by Dubble

If you were in the same high pressure life threatening situation and someone demanded that you convert to Islam (or any other religion for that matter) or die by a bullet to the back of your head and you had no way out, would you renounce God or whatever your beliefs may be just to escape alive? Or would you stand by your convictions and what you believe in - ultimately taking the bullet and/or hoping/praying that you get out of the situation unscathed? The journalists renounced what they believed in to make it out alive, do you think they made the right decision or the wrong one? How do you see it?

1) When you "convert" to Islam, you do not renounce God. I just want to point this out to begin with.

2) Under no circumstances should a non-muslim be forced to take islam as his religion because it's against everything islam stands for.

3) These Extremists have nothing to do with Islam. This is something that all Muslims agree on: They are doing everything that Islam DOESN'T stand for, in the name of Islam. It's like saying I hate racism and then spit on someone who's different while going to a non-racist conference!

4) So the conclusion is: The thing the kidnappers did was SO WRONG! Islam should never be forced upon someone because it's against what Islam stands for. End of story.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by Gecko3

Also, suppose you convert, but they don't let you go back to your home? What if they made you stick around in a Muslim community, to see if you're really serious about "converting"? It wasn't brought up very much in this topic, but suppose that happened? Would you still convert?

Suppose you do convert and they let you go home. Will you stay on the religion you were converted to? 99.99% of the time it will be NO. So the chances are once you convert to their Islam, you will not be released and be forced to stay with them under their Islam. And stick around in their Muslim community will mean becoming a terrorist, so until you are ready to become a terrorist, then the answer is: NO I won't convert!

Originally Posted by Gecko3

Even though I don't always act it, I consider myself a Christian, and during a "test" like that, I won't deny Jesus (because I really believe what Jesus said about denying Him before men, and in turn He would deny you before God and the angels).

The Islam that these terrorists claim to be following has a hatred to Christians and Jews. While the real Islam clearly says that Jesus IS a prophet of christianity and he is as much of a prophet to us (I am a Muslim just so you know who lives in a mixed community between christians and muslims) as Mohammed (the last of the prophets) is. true Islam never denies Jesus and sees him the same way Christians see him.

Originally Posted by Gecko3

The way I looked at this thread, it'd be like a KKK member forcing you to convert to Christianity (yes, I know, white supremacists are much more complex, but then again, so are Islamic terrorists, so I'm keeping it simple). I just couldn't in good conscience do that, nor would I force my beliefs upon someone else under threat of death.

Like the KKK was refused by MANY to just white people, these groups are considered as much bad as the KKK to the Muslims. Like Racism is refused, so is these groups preachings!

Originally Posted by Gecko3

I think the problem with organized religion in general is that although they preach that you should live in this way, not everyone who's in that faith practices it. And unfortunately only the bad stuff usually gets remembered, so people bash them for that stuff.

Totally agree. To see what Islam is truly about, I would suggest a movie called "Al Rissala" (The Message) which is an arabic old movie that was translated to English or French (not sure which one though) and that talks about the life of the Prophet Mohammed (like The Passion Of The Christ). It is the perfect exemple to see what the TRUE original Islam was all about.

Originally Posted by Gecko3

Assuming I didn't answer the way I did above, threatening to kill me wouldn't really make me convert anyway. If anything, I'd be more resistant to it (particularly if I've heard nothing but bad stuff). On the other hand, if they showed me the good aspects of Islam, and letting me live among them to see how Islam would benefit me and others, then I'd probably be more likely to consider it.

Which is the way the prophet said Islam should be preached. By showing the good aspect of it. Not by pointing a gun to the head of someone and telling him: CONVERT OR DIE!!!

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by Maico

that stupid religion

I'm sure you wouldn't like someone saying that about your religion would you?

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.