"All I want is, when I die I’m counted as one of the faithful no matter where it comes from..."
This is clearly a desire of sincerity. Keep/maintain this desire for the pleasure of the Creator and His Paradise and His salvation from His Just Punishment and be patient in seeking the Truth and I am certain that the Lord of the Heavens and the Earth will Guide you, put you on the right way and keep you away from the paths that lead astray. He, and He alone is our Guide and is the only One who can show us the way so we seek guidance from Him directly while working hard to understand what it is He wants/expects from us and to follow that as well.
I like your questions and I can tell that you are not here to ask in order to challenge or argue or be disrespectful in anyway towards us or the religion. It's clear to us that you are not interested in that.
Please excuse the Muslims that you have encountered in the past who have responded to you too harshly. The Muslims are going through a lot right now. They are accused/maligned constantly in the media and throughout the internet. Every single aspect of their religion is being scrutinized and criticized/devalued/and ridiculed with no respect given whatsoever to the sanctity of the sacred texts and teachings that Muslims hold so dear to their hearts.
As a result, many Muslims have become very defensive and can overreact and react harshly whenever they perceive someone is questioning a part or aspect of their religion, even when the question is sincere and the questioner is simply looking for answers which is the right of every man and woman seeking out what guidance Islam has to offer.
I am not saying that Muslims are justified in behaving this way, but I am saying that Muslims are indeed full of faults and we ask Allah to Forgive us and have Mercy upon us for the great many shortcomings that we all indeed possess which causes us to fall short of duty to Him and the rights He has over us.
I was close to converting to Islam until an imam told me that Allah has a love for Muslims that he doesn’t have for others
Islam says that a person has to become a "Muslim" in order to attain salvation, Allah's Pleasure, and Paradise. What's important to understand is that we don't just say that you have to follow "our group" in order to be saved but to actually become a "Muslim". So what is a "Muslim"? A Muslim is one who submits to the Will of God and the teachings of his prophets (May God's Peace Be Upon Them All). It says in the Quran that the Prophet Abraham [Peace Be Upon Him] is the one who gave us the title of Muslim.
The teachings of the Quran and Sunnah is what lays out in detail what it is that God wants from us. The Muslim is the one who submits to that, believes in it and follows to the best of his ability. Anyone who does that is promised Paradise. These ones have been described as the "best of creatures" in the Quran.
The one who denies God's revelations and tosses them aside with no respect or care for them, the one who associates partners with God, the one who defies and disobeys God out of ingratitude and stubborn unwillingness to follow His Commands which are there purely for our benefit as human beings, is the one that God describes as the "worst of creatures" in the Quran.
It is not a matter of "follow my club or go to Hell", it's a matter of "follow these specific detailed moral guidelines sent down by the Creator and be saved" and "cast them away, ignore them, disbelieve in them and defy them and be doomed."
With regards to Christianity, then we the Muslims have a major problem with some of the major teachings. To say that Jesus (Peace Be Upon Him) is God is a great blasphemy. To say such is to defame our esteemed Creator. What one is saying without realizing it is that the Lord of the Heavens and the Earth was born from the private parts of a woman; that the Ever Living Self-Subsisting ate food and walked in the markets; that our Lord Most High, the God of Honor and Power was killed, crucified, and humiliated by a bunch of Roman pagans. None of these descriptions of Allah are befitting His Majesty. It is not right to say such things about Him.
I am glad that you have been able to at least narrow the matter down to the two: Christianity and Islam. When comparing these two, I will sincerely ask you the question: Which of these two, do you think would be the most pleasing to God to hear from you on the Day of Judgment?
Do you think that God would punish you if on the Day of Judgement you told Him that in this life you believed in the Prophet Moses, the Prophet Jesus, and the Prophet Muhammed (May God's Peace and Blessings Be Upon Them All) and that you believed and declared that He has no son or partner? And that you tried your best to pray five times a day to give up food and drink for His sake every year, to give in charity, to treat your parents with utmost respect to treat ALL of the Prophets with the greatest of respect? To abstain from all of the sins as much as you could? Do you think God would be angry with you over this?
On the other hand, Do you think He will be pleased if you told Him that you declared to people that He had a son implying that Our Lord cohabited with Mary to produce offspring ('Authoo Billilah), that He was harmed and humiliated by those who disbelieved and defied Him? And that His Oneness was divided into three? And that you accepted Moses as a Prophet, deified Jesus and rejected the teachings of Muhammed (Salalahu 'Alaihi wa Salaam)?
Just by judging by instinct, which of these two stances would you think would be the most pleasing to our Creator? Which of these two stances would you be willing to bet your eternity on? Can you find anything in Islam that you think God would find objectionable?
I asked her to marry me last night and she said yes I’m so happy.
Ah! Congratulations! May Allah Guide you both! InshaAllah, I hope Allah Will make you the means by which you both get into Heaven.
I understand that the Quran says Issa didn’t die on the cross but it was made to look like he did. What evidence is there that, that actually took place
The Quran itself would be the evidence in this case. What other kind of evidence were you thinking about? When it comes to past events we can't just use some kind of powers of deduction to know the Truth. The event either happened or didn't. Neither you nor I were there. The only way we could know about it is to know from some trustworthy source what occurred.