There has been a debate in Christianity for a long time, the debate of faith vs works. Are we saved by faith, or are we saved by our works, or is it a combination thereof?
Being a former member of the LDS church, I have found the best way to put it, is as follows:
27 But behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words.
28 Now, we will compare the word unto a seed. Now, if ye give place, that a seed may be planted in your heart, behold, if it be a true seed, or a good seed, if ye do not cast it out by your unbelief, that ye will resist the Spirit of the Lord, behold, it will begin to swell within your breasts; and when you feel these swelling motions, ye will begin to say within yourselves—It must needs be that this is a good seed, or that the word is good, for it beginneth to enlarge my soul; yea, it beginneth to enlighten my understanding, yea, it beginneth to be delicious to me.
29 Now behold, would not this increase your faith? I say unto you, Yea; nevertheless it hath not grown up to a perfect knowledge.
30 But behold, as the seed swelleth, and sprouteth, and beginneth to grow, then you must needs say that the seed is good; for behold it swelleth, and sprouteth, and beginneth to grow. And now, behold, will not this strengthen your faith? Yea, it will strengthen your faith: for ye will say I know that this is a good seed; for behold it sprouteth and beginneth to grow.
31 And now, behold, are ye sure that this is a good seed? I say unto you, Yea; for every seed bringeth forth unto its own likeness.
32 Therefore, if a seed groweth it is good, but if it groweth not, behold it is not good, therefore it is cast away.
I guess you could say, actions speak louder than words; and following the logic above, good works can’t come from a bad tree.
So if we apply this standard to Islam, what do we see? We see terror, we see honor killings, we see Muslim on Muslim violence, we see men who have no self control to the point where they have to cover up their women for fear of them being raped. This is not good, this is not right.
If the purpose of religion is to bring you closer to God, then how does violence, hated, war, and killing bring you closer to the:
Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace
The sad part is, that the vast majority of deaths that have happened in the war on terror have been caused, not by the “crusaders”, but by those who follow Islam and wage war upon each other. It is the Muslim on Muslim violence that has caused the deaths of so many.
How does this bring you closer to God, the Prince of Peace?
It does not.
Annie Apple
Carl
Dave the Sage
Ditzy Dee
Doc'
Grumpy Old Man
marlin6
mjmotley
Nick Anaxagoras
Aussie
PA Pundits - International
Guest Contributor
patpacer
petervburrows
Joe from PA
Jehanne
spanishbride
steevesna
T Lee Humphrey
T. L. Jenkins
TonyfromOz
Turtle
PA Pundits International 
Grumpy Old Man
Wed 01/09/2008
Hi Sniper One,
Good post.
You are right “Actions do speak louder than words”.
And you’ll notice it’s the Radical Islamists (Islamic political and religious movement known as Islamism)
as per Wikipedia – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamism – NOT the Moderate or Liberal followers of Islam;
who by the way also fear the Radical Islamists.
Another passage you could use is in the New Testament.
Ephesians 2:7-9 (New International Version)
7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in
his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—
and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.
It’s our Faith in God and by His gracious Gift to us that we are Redeemed (Saved).
Thanks,
Al
LikeLike