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*Originally posted by Minerva: *
Alcohol and gambling have been listed and so is idolatory... :)
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If you ever have have been to Italy or Spain you must have noticed people in their 60s and 70s sitting in the street cafes drinking wine. And you also should know that life average in Italy and Spain AND China and Japan is a lot longer than any Muslim country on this planet. It is not about consuming alcohol it is about abusing alcohol, in fact abuse of anything is wrong. Ok pork is not as good a food as beef or chicken but pork is sold after being properly processed. Why does it have to come from God why can't you use your own mind and figure out what is workable for you and what is not. After all human being built Planes God did not send Manuals exactly how to build a plane. Is there any mention of "how to produce geneticaly engineered Humans" ?
If you ever have have been to Italy or Spain you must have noticed people in their 60s and 70s sitting in the street cafes drinking wine. And you also should know that life average in Italy and Spain AND China and Japan is a lot longer than any Muslim country on this planet.
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Perhaps... but the Qur'an does acknowledge the benefits/good that might be derived from alcohol but then of course rightly concludes that the harm outweighs the good... a recent report said that almost half of all violent crimes in the UK were alcohol related... and 68% of police officers surveyed said they encountered alcohol-related crime and disorder on a daily basis (a bigger problem than drug related crime they said)... statistics in the late 90s showed that in the USA someone was killed every 33 minutes from an alcohol-related traffic crash and one person was injured every minute... God knows human weaknesses better than we do...
"... but the sin of them is greater than their benefit." (Qur'an 2:219)
That of course has nothing to do with good doctors, state of the art technology, proper diets and a healthy living. No…its all about how much vodka or kircsh they drink.
Doctors also stated many years ago that polio couldn't be cure. So much for that idea. Man is inherently flawed so any idea's notions or concepts have a probability of being wrong. God on the other hand is infinite in his knowledge and thus can never be wrong.
Why does God care..What a good question.. i have never thought about it before..
If you believe in God as your creator..you will belive he cares what you do..the extent of your belief and the path you choose to express that belief will determine why you think God cares
In my mind..he created me..he provided me with guidelines to live my life..some of those guidelines are simple, their benefits obvious. such as the alcohol, the dress code, being just, honest, giving charity. Others i don't see the logic so obviously but I know there is a reason.. Some others becuase God wants to know, as his creation, how much do i obey, how much do i place him before my own desires. Obeying his commands are an act of worship, they glorify him and maybe that is y he cares.
The counterargument that some people will present is God is the creator, the almighty he doesn't need us to sing his praises or obey his rules to add to his majesty and indeed he doesn't need or want for anything. but if it is my faith that these actions will please him, he cares becuase he sent those rules for us to lead better lives and he cares because he forgives us our errors
As for those who say don't question..ofcourse you question.. you seek the reasons..many times Allah tells us to reason, to question and to seek knowledge.
What a good question..why does God care...it has made me feel really really positive.
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*Originally posted by ravage: *
^^ Im reminded of the Prime Directive in Star Trek.
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The reasons behind the Prime Directive were clear and the officers knew em. Most importantly, interference in a pre-warp alien culture could have ever lasting reprecussions on the industrial development, the time-line should not be interfered with and history must not be altered, to avoid any changes in the present, or the future. Furthermore, even the best officers in StarFleet chose to disobey the Prime Directive several times.
^ yet on avg they have a higher life expectany. So the good outweighs the bad.
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Yeah right... all except those killed by or in alcohol-related crimes/incidents... the benefits derived from alcohol consumption in moderation can also be gained through other means, such as keeping fit and a healthy diet... how do you know that these aren't more major contributing factors to an average "higher life expectancy"?... different localised and wider ranging studies show that the protective effect of alcohol is only largely relevant after age 45, whilst at younger ages, the harmful effects dominate while there is little direct beneficial effect... anyhow, you are too young for alcohol anyway, better stick to the diet Pepsi...
The reasons behind the Prime Directive were clear and the officers knew em. Most importantly, interference in a pre-warp alien culture could have ever lasting reprecussions on the industrial development, the time-line should not be interfered with and history must not be altered, to avoid any changes in the present, or the future. Furthermore, even the best officers in StarFleet chose to disobey the Prime Directive several times.
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and thus my point. perhaps reasons were witheld because they would interfere with our timelines :).
and thus my point. perhaps reasons were witheld because they would interfere with our timelines :).
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Well, if you actually watch it, you will see that the reasons were not withheld. Bad analogy, especially if you consider that they later proved that those who wrote and uphold the Prime Directive at SF Command were imperfect human beings, and nothing divine and later on turned out to be corrupt too.
beacause he wants us to have a Pure life whereas the meat and alcohol is concerned. Whereas clothes are concerned he wants us 2 have a life without being harrassed and being ashamed.
I think that God does care about people. And like someone said earlier, look at the times that the laws were written. It was a wild completely lawless society and people were out of hand.
Its only been within the last century or so that a a fatal disease called Trichinosis was discovered to be rampant in pigs. So eating pork could kill you until it was discovered and eradicated. Yes, pigs are dirty and have been known to eat their own feces but guess what? so do cows, sheep and chickens! But it was only pork that could kill you.
As far as alcohol, gambling, covering up the women again, if we look at how badly society was functioning back then....men would rape at will. Covering the women protected them from that. There was no "social" drinking...it was drink till you fall down and pass out. Gambling can ruin a family. So there were (and still are!) good reasons for the laws that were written.
Not that I'm trying to start anything here but I don't think its that heinous a crime IN THESE TIMES to eat pork or to enjoy an alcholic drink socially because of what I said above. I've said this before - look at cultures where alcohol is allowed. People can go out and have a beer or a glass of wine or two and then go merrily along their way. In cultures where alcohol is forbidden, invariably, the men drink till they puke or pass out thus making it a very bad thing.
I know its wrong to question your religion but its part of human nature. And its so very helpful when trying to obey laws that you understand why you are obeying. I need some logic with my religion. Maybe I'll go to hell for that but I really don't think so....its more important to be a good person.
answer to the thread:
God cares just to see how well we adhere to His Commands and thats all that He wants to test us with....
recall the story of Ibrahim (as) and the sacrifice of Ismail (as)....
God really did not care about him slaughtering his son....
He just wanted to assure Ibrahim(as)'s obedience....
and that is what Allah cares about....
the prohibitions and the orders r just to test us....
to test our taqwa....
Quran 22:37 Their flesh and their food reach not Allah, but the devotion (taqwa) from you reacheth Him
