Re: Sunni/Shia
Maybe I should avoid all contact with the outside world, otherwise I may fall into temptation. Having said that living in a cave is not really practical in this day and age.
I think some people have comfort zones and anything that challenges them to go beyond those zones frightens them.
If you have two people before you, that are equal in all respects but one is sunni and the other is a shia, then its probably better to go for a sunni. But if the shia person meets your criteria better than the sunni person, would you still marry the sunni? If you say yes then I suspect that your mind is limited by laziness or prejudice to go outside the comfort zone.
If you choose not to marry a shia then its because they don't fit into your world, but why don't they fit into your world? because they are shia. If you like that person and they fit your criteria perfectly, then why would they not fit into your world? because of laziness or prejudice...or maybe even ignorance on your part, which usually is linked to prejudice anyway. It's possible for people to argue about interpretation, that is why we have courts to interpret laws that have been written down on a piece of paper in plain black and white yet still sometimes people interpret them differently.
We are all humans and dividing our selves into different camps based on ethnicity, languages, sects and castes I think is wrong. We should focus on the similarities between us as opposed to the differences. So long as we are muslims thats all that matters. (Does anyone think that shias are not muslims?)