I totally agree w/ Spark1; what ever happened to inter-faith harmony in these forums? Oh, wait, It got 'hijacked' by bigots (CCNL, Jasspit, Abhab)

And how about those poor, poor Baha'ists in the USA and Israel???

How about treatment of Dalits,christians and muslims as third grade citizens in India.
How about Dasis being used as prostitutes in temples.

How about the treatment of women, minorities and gays in Muslim majority countries?

Religious Foundations and their flaws:

And what has history, scriptural text reviews and archeology taught us about these flawed foundations?

1. Abraham is the reported founder of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Based on all we know now, Abraham was at best a combination of three separate individuals with 1.5 million Conservative Jews no longer believing he existed at all. (ditto for all the characters in the OT).

references: National Georgraphic review on Abraham and http://www.answersingenesis.org/docs2002/0401torah.asp

2. The founders of Christianity and Islam were both illiterate. i.e. neither one proof read or approved the NT or the Koran so we are taking the word of scribes and embellishers with their own agendas.

references: NT exegetes from the last two hundred years, Karen Armstrong's reviews of Islam and http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/theories.html

3. Christianity is based on the whim of Pilate, the false prophesy of the imminent second coming, and the sword of Constantine.

references: NT exegetes and their conclusions/books from the last two hundred years

4. Cults have equal or worse foundations:

e.g. the Baha'i cult

http://www.uhj.net/- a bit of weirdness!!!!!

"Singled out as Authentic – as the only Institution in the world that has the living descendant of King David as its president, the great grandson of 'Abdu'l-Baha seated upon the throne of King David which is to last forever (Psalm 89) – this House alone, the true UHJ, has the Divine Power and God given Knowledge through the “KEY of DAVID” to heal the world of all its ills and guide a wayward and forlorn humanity back out of the gloom of the darkness of war into the light of real fellowship, truth, felicity and brotherly love in the shade of the divine and holy Tree of Life – man reunited with God in the garden of God as this earth was meant to be – in fulfillment of this sacred verse."

If Mr. Patel would take credit on behalf on Islam because of good deeds of fellow Muslims, he should also take credit for daily homicidal bombings killing civilians by Muslim terrorists.

If Eboo is presenting Islam in a softer manner, then those who always follows his articles never stop critisizing what ever he writes.
So useless to cry that edboo is trying to present Islam in a softer manner.
Eboo is one writer while those who critisize him uses three/four false names to sign-on here to show that they have a strong presence. It might be abhab CNNL jassprit clearthinking etc
This forum cannot be for a serious discussion or brain-stroming because of such visitors who abuse the forum.

If Eboo is presenting Islam in a softer manner, then those who always follows his articles never stop critisizing what ever he writes.
So useless to cry that edboo is trying to present Islam in a softer manner.
Eboo is one writer while those who critisize him uses three/four false names to sign-on here to show that they have a strong present. It might be abhab CNNL jassprit clearthinking etc
This forum cannot be for a serious discussion or brain-stroming because of such visitors who abuse the forum.

Problem, of course, is that even so called educated and "liberal" Muslims like Eboo see world and humanity from a very narrow minded vision of their religion, i.e. Islam.

There is nothing in this article that would suggest people's religion made them do these acts of hospitality, but Eboo would certainly like to throw in a positive spin on Islam here.

It is just human nature, generally to help other humans.

Mr. Patel noted:

"Such is the baggage of graduate school education."

The real baggage is that of the worst book ever written i.e. the koran as shown by the war-mongering activities of its followers:

The massacre in Mumbai, the assassinations of Bhutto and Theo Van Gogh, the conduct of the seven Muslim doctors in the UK, the 9/11 terrorists, the 24/7 Sunni suicide/roadside/market/mosque bombers, the 24/7 Shiite suicide/roadside/market/mosque bombers, the Islamic bombers of the trains in the UK and Spain, the Bali crazies, the Kenya crazies, the Pakistani “koranics”, the Palestine suicide bombers/rocketeers, the Lebanese nutcases, the Taliban nut jobs, and the Filipino “koranics”.