Greetings, Abu Abdullah
I know.
I loved the Operation Christmas child, because it was a wonderful way to teach my young children the principles of charity. I remember doing it one year, when they were still quite young. They made up one box each, and got to choose the things to put into it (Certain things were specified, such as toothbrushes, soap etc, but also small suitable toys. Interestingly enough it was specified at the time not to include anything that was of religious content!). I remember my children opening 'their' boxes again and again, just to imagine what it would be like for a child in need to receive their gift ... :statisfie
Since the scandal about including literature, we do not participate anymore ... but I am still looking for a charitable cause which has such an impact on my children!
peace glo,
i know plenty of poor families we try to help out personally, look at all the children who will be poorer this year due to the folding of the xmas saving schemes?
i know this might be like teaching grandma to such eggs, but try to install charity all year around, i know a lot of churches have addressed this problem but still in some towns and cities the poor are kicked out of their homeless shelters straight after xmas and right into the heart of winter.
If you look at their website, you will see that Operation Christmas child are quite open about including 'Gospel booklets in their own language' (quote from website) ...
but the point is they were not open with those they asked to help them were they? in fact they hid this from them and hid it from many schools in nottingham that this was their intention until it was pointed out to the schools independently.
Yes, ongoing evangelising/dawah is annoying. I find that too ...
(But please remember that those Christians perceive the information you give out as much as lies as you perceive theirs to be! It's circular argument, really. And if you do dawah, I guess that's the kind of thing you have to expect ... :rollseyes)
i am not talking of disagreements. i am talking about missionaries using a set line and argument like the moon god one for example. you bring them proof and show it is not true. they admit it is not true. sometimes the very next week they will try using the same argument to a different muslim who is on the stall that week.
that is just plain dishonest and lying would you not agree?
if i found a flaw in any argument i used then i would stop using it, i would not just stop using it on one person and then use it again on someone else like the flaw had never been pointed out to me otherwise i would be a liar.
Back to the charity topic, I noticed that you did not answer my previous question:
Despite all your misgivings, so you think charities such as ChristianAid do good and contribute to alleviating some of the suffering in the world?
they help with some human suffering, but at the expense of putting people into further spiritual peril. i know this seems harsh but they seem to be directing much of their effort at the muslim lands when there is desparate poverty and pure evil from lack of religious conviction in our own towns and cities here in the uk.
I pray there will be peace between your faiths, Abu Abdullah.
That is my greatest prayer! That people will stop wasting their energies on fighting and pickering with each other, respect each others faiths instead and focus their energies on more worthy causes!
Much more could be done about poverty, famines and diseases, if we all stopped wasting our precious time and resources on wars and fighting ... and I don't just mean in far-away countries such as Afghanistan and Iraq, but in our own communities too!
if you look through out history, muslims have been peaceful with those who are peaceful with us, and we are told in the Quran that of the people of the book we will find many of the christians to be closer to us than the jews.
this is my personal experience, although the jews might be closer to us docterine wise, from a position of their deeds i find myself closer to the thoughts and actions of the good christians in my area.
How about trying to get together with thos Christian missionaries who come to your dawah stall to tackle issues like local crime and drug abuse, instead of arguing with each other ...
It takes one to make the first step! It could be
you!
My best wishes (to the rest of your family, too!)
they are liars, proven to me time and again. once when i confronted some of them they just gave me a smarmy smile. how can i trust such liars? i could never trust as they see the ends as justifying the means and that is a dangerous attitude.
however i am attending a local dialogue group with other muslims and christians - catholics, C of E, methodists, and even the local pink haired sufi christian deacon of sheffield cathedral who prays in the same manner as muslims, even having memorised the prayers in arabic but still believes in trinity... certainly an interesting though unusual character.
peace Glo,
Abu Abdullah
