MY Religous Views. Sitting in the Hot Seat...again!

In two days, I have to defend MY religious views to two different people. I don't have a problem defending my views, but ya know, it's MY view......do NOT tell me I'm wrong. I DO like to discuss religious views......that is how we all learn. Ignorance of other's religions and beliefs is the major cause of division in this world today.  The first one happened yesterday with my "friend." He is a Muslim, and of course his religion is Islam. He is the first person I have known on a personal basis that is Muslim. We have talked quite extensively about their beliefs and Islam. Prior to him, I knew only what was reported in the media circles. I had not bothered to check any of it out (because the media is never wrong....right?).  And much like the Japanese Americans (WWII) and American Vietnamese (Vietnam War), American Muslims are paying a heavy price for 911 and our wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.... none of which they deserve. First, I have to admit......I absolutely love our talks. On several occasions, I have heard things in the media and asked him about it and he explained everything too me. I've found out through our talks that Islam is a very peaceful religion, but like any religion you have your extremist. I've found out that Islam is very similar to Christianity and they do believe in the Bible and Jesus. However, the major division between Muslims and Christians is that Christians believe Jesus to be the "Son of God" and Muslims believe him to have just been a prophet, like their Muhammad. Any way, I had showed him the pictures I had posted in a previous post (See: Busy, Busy, Busy) of my youngest daughter and my soon to be son-in-law. My youngest daughter has two tattoos, both of which are in honor of her son who passed away shortly before birth on May 30, 2011. He wanted to know what does the 3:16 mean on her wrist. I explained it was a bible verse....John 3:16. I've had that verse memorized for some time, so I told him the verse along with a short explanation of the meaning. After I told him, we sat quietly on our way to NOLA for several miles, then he started..........he just cannot understand how we believe Jesus to be the "Son" of God. I listened to all he had to say (I love it when he gets on his "high horse" lol). Anyway, I simply stated that if I believed my bible to be the word of God, then if it said "son" of God, why shouldn't I believe that he actually was. However, as I was listening to his very lengthy explanation, it dawned on me that one word was the major division between our religions. One measly word.....Son/Prophet. I had to tell him, this was not a big deal to me......if it offended him that I called Jesus the Son of God, I would call him prophet. How can THAT be a major divisive issue between two religions who have more similarities than differences? Anyway, we got to our destination in NOLA and the conversation just died, which I'm sure will be picked up at a later date.

Fast forward to yesterday........My oldest daughter works in the hotel business in Leesville, LA. Leesville is your very typical military town. Fort Polk is the home to a training facility where they train soldiers, among other things,  in the different cultures they may encounter on their tours of duty. Of course, everyone knows we are still in Afghanistan fighting the war on terror; therefore, Leesville is home to many men from Afghanistan who are instructing our soldiers in the "do and don'ts" of their culture. These men do not live on base, they are housed in hotels off base. Over time, because she is the manager to two hotels in town, she has become friends with many of these men. Being a individual that has always been intrigued with other cultures, she began to study the many different cultures of the Middle East, and of course that included Islam, which we all know they are very passionate about. She has become close to a couple of these men, and has done a lot of reading to make them "feel at home" in her hotels. As a boss, she has had to have thick skin. She is in charge of hiring/firing, training, sales, etc. She does pretty much everything her boss ask her to do, which by the way, he is from India. Well she sent me the following picture of a note that an employee left her before she quit:



I can't figure how to turn it.....Sorry! Turn the computer so you can read it.....LOL!

Needless to say, she was upset, and I became furious! In my opinion, this is "hate mail". This is only the second page. First of all, do NOT threaten my children. I don't care that they are grown, I would protect them at all cost.....that is just the way I am. Secondly, these men are here to help our country. Yes, some may have other motives, but most are here to make money to provide for their families and live the American dream. Of course she is going to cater to their every wants and needs......she is running a business.....and these men bring in big bucks to the hotel in the form of government contracts and major $$$$. Anyway, this  conversation led into our discussion of Islam and Christianity. She bought a Quaran that had been translated into English so that she could better understand Islam. Of course we discussed the major division between our religions....the whole Son of God/Prophet thing....and since I had just discussed this with my friend the day before, I told her how I felt. Son of God/Prophet......what is the big deal. OOHHH Lord, that led into my thoughts on the Bible, which sent her into "savior mode". My thoughts on the Bible is this.....the Bible was written first in Greek, then translated into Hebrew, then translated into hundreds of other languages. Not to mention, the books written by the prophets (mainly speaking about Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) were written one to two hundred years after their revelation from God, AND had been passed down, by word of mouth, then written down by others and put together into what we know today as the Bible. Many Christian religions even have extra chapters others do not...so, who is too say there are mistakes in translation. Before all my friends and family flip out, listen.....I completely believe the Bible is the word of God. I am a Christian who has no intention of leaving Christianity or changing my religion; however, this book was written by men who, like ourselves is not perfect. Could their have been the possibility that there were inadvertent mistakes in translations? I believe there could have been. However, I do believe that the main ideas are God given, so you see.....Son of God/Prophet....is not a deal breaker for me. I've seen people take one Bible verse and interpret it completely different from what I interpreted it to be. Some Christian religions take one verse and base their entire religion on that one verse. I read the Bible in full context, and I totally believe that God uses the Bible to speak to his people. I do not take the Bible and focus in on one verse. I have also taken the Bible, read a passage, interpreted it one way,only to read it months or years later and found something else to add to my understanding. So, in some instances, I do not take the Bible literally. The Bible has many analogies and symbolism in it that I think God uses to speak to us personally. Just for the sake of comparison.....Muslims believe in the Bible; however, they also believe that their could be mistakes or misinterpretations. However, they do not believe the Quaran has any mistakes....and their reasoning is that they still have the original Quaran written or translated by Muhammad. However, in the last couple of years, they have found pieces of what appears to be a draft of the Quaran which dates back older than their "original" Quaran. So, sorry.....the Quaran is not, in my opinion, the perfect word of God. Like the Bible, I would not take it literally, and yes, I believe it could have "mistakes" because Muhammad was human....he was not perfect. So needless to say, it is amazing how people can get all worked up over religious views. I don't. I am very comfortable with what I believe. Can my views change,....sure, as we read, grow in our faith, I believe God reveals the truth when we are ready to understand that view. I am Christian by birth. Raised Catholic. Changed to Southern Baptist at age 18, and have no desire at this point to change my religion. I am more of a spiritual person; however, I realized after my children were born that they would need God in their lives. I picked Southern Baptist because they align the most with my thoughts on God, Jesus, and the Bible. I do not agree with all the "rules" of Southern Baptist, and I do not get all involved in any religious controversies involving Southern Baptist. So much for a couple of days "on the hot seat."