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>My wife is a Buddhist, and while I wouldn't consider her to be atheist

Although most Atheists would ferociously insist the contrary, I think Atheism has developed to the point where it no longer implies just a non-belief in a deity. In the traditional sense, you're right that many Buddhists are Atheists. But I don't know many Buddhists who would associate themselves with Atheism.

>What, specifically, attracted you to the Dhamma?

The centrality of suffering and attachment to the Buddha's teachings really resonated with me. I've never had a fear of death (something which has gotten me in trouble more than a few times) but the transience of the world around me has been a source of suffering for me since I was a child. The notion that one day all I know will be gone, that what was once familiar will become alien, that certain moments and people can be forever lost - that is where I face the existential fear I think other people experience when they grapple with the notion of oblivion.

Beyond supplying me with a practical means of overcoming such turmoil, Buddhism has helped change my view of the universe and its significance. I can't quite explain this though, fittingly enough because of how Westerners conceive of things like rationality, materiality, and spirituality. Sounds a little new-agey too, I typically avoid talking about my religious beliefs because people see such thinking as fundamentally absurd unconsciously because it is antithetical to Western thinking.

>Did you meet a particular person, or read a particular book?

I found one of Shunryu Suzuki's works, Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind, at a bus stop. Curious to think how a slight change in my plans that day would have caused me to miss the book and radically changed my life.

Houston Smith's book The World Religions is a classic . https://www.amazon.com/Worlds-Religions-Plus-Huston-Smith/dp/0061660183/ref=zg\_bs\_12783\_20?\_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=CYCAGX7Q1SH3NWT07JJP

This is the legend about the 72 scholars who translated the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) into Greek resulting in the Septuagint. "The legend describes how Ptolemy Philadelphus (285-247 BCE) commissioned 72 Jewish scribes to translate the sacred Hebrew scriptures for his famous library in Alexandria and how the scribes, working independently, produced identical Greek versions." https://www.amazon.com/Legend-Septuagint-Classical-Antiquity-Today/dp/0521104610

The story is related in the Talmud: "There was an incident involving King Ptolemy of Egypt, who assembled seventy-two Elders from the Sages of Israel, and put them into seventy-two separate rooms, and did not reveal to them for what purpose he assembled them, so that they would not coordinate their responses. He entered and approached each and every one, and said to each of them: Write for me a translation of the Torah of Moses your teacher. The Holy One, Blessed be He, placed wisdom in the heart of each and every one, and they all agreed to one common understanding." (BT Megillah 9a)

There are some more academic findings, but the encyclopedia britannica has a pretty good summary of the event. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/191064/Eratosthenes-of-Cyrene

Though it seems to be likely it was known even before Eratosthenes that the earth was round. Perhaps there weren't just as accurate calculations.

While I'm a Muslim, I try to get along with everyone on reddit....except for maybe /r/spacedicks. Some of the guys in /r/exmuslim are from Saudi Arabia too. Their way around the online security issue is to use a Tor Client or an Onion Router.

https://www.torproject.org/

With this, even some of those Al ash-Sheikh goons can read you comments and have no idea where you are. It'll show your location via IP address as being in Germany or the Nederlands or something.

Stay safe bro.

I apologize for that. Here is NPR's piece on the story.

According to NPR, the drill instructor "punched, kicked and choked recruits in his charge, including one who killed himself." He also "routinely called Muslim recruits 'terrorist' and on two occasions placed them into an industrial dryer as part of a hazing ritual." Moreover, he "is said to have forced recruits to choke each other [and] ordered them to drink chocolate milk until they vomited."

I read "Lost Islamic History" by Firas Alkhateeb. Its a nice introduction to the topic.

https://www.amazon.com/Lost-Islamic-History-Reclaiming-Civilisation/dp/1849046891

For early Islam you'd have to read the biography of the Prophet Muhammad (saw).

I really enjoyed "Muhammad: Based On The Earliest Sources" by Martin Lings.

https://www.amazon.com/Muhammad-Life-Based-Earliest-Sources/dp/1594771537/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=Muhammad&qid=1628107444&sr=8-2

> I personally recommend the New Oxford Annotated Bible and the work of Bart Ehrman for the New Testament...

I second both of these. The HarperCollins Study Bible is another fantastic academic study Bible.

This is one of the best books I have

It is called The Choice by Ahmed Deedat. The author had a very good knowledge of the old and new testament as well ad the Quran

Basically you want a pocket Tanakh . I never got one because the text is too teeny, I think, though I have just the Tehillim (Psalms) as a mini book. Pocket Torah is a bit more readable font size wise. I linked a version that is English only.

Edit: That's the Jewish Publication Society printing. The other major publishers would be ArtScroll and Koren offering pocket size. I don't know if Koren does an all English pocket Tanakh or not but they make a gorgeous book on terms of layout and design/cover. From looking at the website the smallest they get is "compact" which is about 4x6

Very good post, OP.

I would very much like to introduce you to something every American should see and contemplate even though it is not about religion.

It is about the vilification and the criminalization of black men in our society in order to keep a segment of our society in slavery.

Criminalization.

It is a slave gathering tool.

13th.

The title of Ava DuVernay's extraordinary and galvanizing documentary refers to the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, which reads "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States." The progression from that second qualifying clause to the horrors of mass criminalization and the sprawling American prison industry is laid out by DuVernay with bracing lucidity. With a potent mixture of archival footage and testimony from a dazzling array of activists, politicians, historians, and formerly incarcerated women and men, DuVernay creates a work of grand historical synthesis.

Watch 13th on Netflix to see where this all has led.

Without hating black people this won't work.

First definition on http://www.thefreedictionary.com/eternity

>endless or infinite time

OK, Cool... the word didn't lose one of its primary definitions while I was at work today.

Time seems to have at least a little to do with it.

How is "endless" and "infinite amount" meaningfully different in this context?

Just to add on this, according to this book, gods are an emergent property of a developing intelligent race. Humans clearly understood planning for the future through farming. So they were inevitably thinking about the future of themselves after they die.

> competing religions of the Jews and the Islamists

The correct descriptor for a follower of Islam would be "Muslim", not "Islamist". "Islamist" refers specifically to militant or fundamental Islam (see this definition), and would be an anachronism in this case since you are referring to Muslims of the early centuries AD. "Islamist" is a 20th century term.

>The best way to look at it is odds.

Maybe, but the odds are decidedly not in your favor. You don't improve your chances, and you waste your life giving your time and money to churches, voting the way they want, etc., etc.

What if you pick the wrong god? What if god rewards people who don't believe? What if god punishes people who try to convince people to believe despite the evidence?

Check this out, which was posted here a couple days ago, if you want more info: http://hubpages.com/hub/Pascals-Wager-Is-it-a-Good-Bet

What strikes me is that in the Iowa decision to overturn the gay marriage ban, the judge cited, in part, the state's belief that gay people are just as able, (their orientation does not hamper any ability), based on laws prohibiting discrimination.

ie: >More importantly, the Iowa legislature has recently declared as the public policy of this state that sexual orientation is not relevant to a person's ability to contribute to a number of societal institutions other than civil marriage.

You have a right to your opinion, as do I JohnTesh. There is some historical truth to this analogy however. Jesus healed the sick for free, forgave those who were considered "bad" or "unlawful", was a carpenter, and threw the bankers out of the temple. That's just the tip of the iceberg.

I've never read anything in the bible (I'm an atheist btw) that would ever lead me to conclude that the man would be anything like current American conservatives.

For fun, this is what he would look like if he was 1 and 2

Your are interested by the concepts or history ?

One good introductory book is History of Islamic Philosophy by Henry Corbin. It may get technical sometimes.

Here's the one I'm always pitching... Life of Pi: book, movie

I wouldn't exactly call it 'analytical', but I think it's worth a watch/read.

The best academic Bibles I know of are the HarperCollins Study Bible and The New Oxford Annotated Bible. Both are NRSV and contain the Apocrypha.

The English-speaking Biblical scholarship world is basically unanimous in endorsing the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV). It's an extremely good translation (both accurate and readable) that pulls from the best available manuscripts. It's especially worth reading in study Bible form, such as the HarperCollins Study Bible and The New Oxford Annotated Bible, both of which approach the text academically and ecumenically.

Let's consider the matter.

• Bodies wear out, like all material entities — increasing entropy. That's why they die. But minds are not material objects and so do not wear out. (I shan't bother to give arguments against materialism here, as it's such a mess of assertions without evidence.)
• Can your mind continue without a body? The evidence of minds functioning in bodies with non-functioning brains (some near-death experiences), out-of-the-body experiences, and some types of apparition suggests that it can.
• Conclusion — nothing to worry about.

Recommended reading: Paranormal experience and survival of death

It’s all there. Just hidden in plain sight and misinterpreted over the millennia. Trust me I was skeptical about religion and psychs mixing together but after I read the book The secret history of hallucinogens in Christianity and did some various other scholarly articles on line, it just makes sense. The evidence is there. And is still practiced to this day. Look up ayahuasca, peyote, mushroom, and San Pedro shamans. It’s just interesting how religions were all about plants and then somehow they grew away from the practice. The religion I see these days is nothing but another way to fear and control the masses of people. I myself believe that you can have your own path to god that doesn’t include organized religion.

Was gonna recommend this exactly. I highly recommend the version with Deuterocanonicals/Apocrypha.

If I could only choose one addition: The Bhagavad Gita

It's a timeless classic that's studied read and studied by both religious and non-religious folks. (Also, it's fairly short as religious texts go, and a very easy read compared to most!)

I am a massive fan of Philip K Dick. I haven't read Exegesis specifically, but I've read many other of his books.

I think your other (main?) question makes an excellent point. My view is that have, in fact, moved away from the original way of life, but that that's normal and expected. We are different people in a different time than, say, Cathars and Manicheans, and we can't copy their life and practices exactly.

What I do believe, and here we come into the realm of metaphysics, is that we can draw from the same spiritual source as they and reconstruct the essence of their belief and work in every way that matters.

I have attended a Gnostic service, held under permission by French authorities, in a Cathar cave, and while the service was of course modern and reinterpreted, I had a definite spiritual experience suggesting a connection with the previous brotherhood. Is personal experience good theology? Of course not. Could it have been autosuggestion? Absolutely. But, it mattered to me to the extent any religious experience matters to any believer.

I would also suggest that religions that didn't lose their writings to the Inquisition have also recontextualized and translated into modern times. Christianity of, say, Pseudo-Dionyus is very different than the Christianity of Pope Francis. Bardo Thodol is a very different book than Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind. It's just normal, I guess.

I'm not sure that it's a cross of any sort. The outline looks like a baobab tree more than any sacred symbol. I couldn't find any religious symbols that look like that in a Google search for religious symbols and a Google Image search based on the photograph brought up the suggestion "fashion accessory".

What is the word above the dark dot in the centre of the top part? The word "MAGNETISM" is below the dot.

EDIT: After further searching, the figure in the large loop at the bottom looks like a Chinese shou symbol which means "Longevity" and there is what looks like a Chinese ideogram in the circle above it. There is a crescent moon in the topmost circle and the other sysmbols are not clear enough to be read.

I don't think it's a Christian design of any sort.

This will get self-involved, so you might not be so interested in it, but I've done some research,

http://www.truthortradition.com/articles/things-to-consider-when-receiving-a-prophecy

There's clearly a history of this happening, so I don't feel alone in my experience, but as the link says, the "prophecy" is personal for me. What it confirmed for me is that the novel I'm working on is important.

I'm writing a science fiction novel, and the first four chapters can be read here: https://medium.com/@Scott_Volentine

But I actually received the idea for this novel in a vision. I saw an image of a cloud of debris floating in the ocean, and I did some freewriting on the image out of which an entire plot, set in the distant future, emerged. So all of this fits together, and I think this prophecy is telling me that what I'm doing is important, and that it's important for humanity to bring God and spirituality back into our lives as we enter the Digital Age.

And yes, religion/spirituality is a central theme of the novel.

> Everyone has faith in something

That depends. Which definition of "faith" are you using?

>> 1. Complete trust or confidence in someone or something

>> 2. Strong belief in the doctrines of a religion, based on spiritual conviction rather than proof

While I may occasionally have complete trust in a person or a thing, I wouldn't believe in their spiritual convictions with no proof.

This is why any discussion of "faith" is confusing - because it has two different meanings, and people conflate the two. It's called equivocation.

I like the Little Rock Catholic Study Bible. It's an NASB translation and the commentary somehow manages to be both scholarly, but also friendly for the layman.

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/little-rock-catholic-study-bible-catherine-upchurch/1123670833?ean=9780814626795

A large majority of Christians in Europe accept evolution. But the majority of Christians in the Americas reject it. We know about the US, but also look at Brazil, for example, where only 8% of the population explain human origins independent from divine creation. Do you think African Christians might do better? Do you have evidence that a majority of Christians do not reject evolution?

If you really are a Jehovah's Witness, you are in violation of the Governing Body's decree that all JW's are discouraged from associating online with "worldly" people. Go tell your elders what you are doing.

It not only is mentioned in many of your publications, it is also mentioned in the secret elders manual: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B6-wabfv8Y0wRUkwdWRzeHFRYWkzUFUyODlpb0VXQQ/edit?pli=1 [The above book is for elders only, most JW's do not even know about this publication]

Simple question[s]: Would you show this link with all your posts and these other posts to your body of elders? Another JW? A spouse, sister brother? Are you doing this in private?

My point is, you would never divulge this online activity for fear of a Judicial Committee and your subsequent Disfellowshipping for apostasy.

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B6-wabfv8Y0wRUkwdWRzeHFRYWkzUFUyODlpb0VXQQ/edit?pli=1

I think this is good advice, more likely to work as a lasting source of motivation. Would highly recommend The History of Philosophy without any Gaps, /u/InfamousHat. The show is in chronological order, but you can always skip around two things that interest you. Meditation would also be helpful — personally, I don't think you would find religion useful for this purpose, although perhaps spells and rituals would help focus your mind on your goals.

I am not just on the left side of the political spectrum, but I am also an Atheist. If I could go in support I would. This country can use all the morality it can get.

Here is one of the things Al Sharpton is fighting against:

Criminalization.

It is a slave gathering tool.

13th.

The title of Ava DuVernay's extraordinary and galvanizing documentary refers to the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, which reads "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States." The progression from that second qualifying clause to the horrors of mass criminalization and the sprawling American prison industry is laid out by DuVernay with bracing lucidity. With a potent mixture of archival footage and testimony from a dazzling array of activists, politicians, historians, and formerly incarcerated women and men, DuVernay creates a work of grand historical synthesis.

Watch 13th on Netflix to see where this all has led.

Without hating black people this won't work.

> There are plenty of other ways to organize churches, they do not appear to produce better results though. For example my church (the church of Sweden) is a very gender equality driven church and it is bleeding members like crazy.

In my opinion that is a superior result to sexism and hierarchy. A church that holds society back would be better not existing.

> "we now know that women are equal to men in both intellect"

> No, men have as a group a small advantage as a median iq but the variance in intelligence is much larger in men, meaning the amount of idiots and geniuses in men are larger then in women (who as a group have a smaller intelligence variance). > http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160289606001115

From the point of view of organizing society (or a church), that's splitting hairs.

> "women are equal to men in ... ethical behavior"

> Women are incarcerated at a much lower degree then men and hold ethics higher as well: > http://www.springerlink.com/content/b716k246k6xv7l68/

From the point of view of organizing society (or a church), that's splitting hairs.

It is not as if we could put women in charge of corporations and then stop auditing the corporations because "women are ethical."

There are plenty of other ways to organize churches, they do not appear to produce better results though. For example my church (the church of Sweden) is a very gender equality driven church and it is bleeding members like crazy.

"we now know that women are equal to men in both intellect"

No, men have as a group a small advantage as a median iq but the variance in intelligence is much larger in men, meaning the amount of idiots and geniuses in men are larger then in women (who as a group have a smaller intelligence variance). http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160289606001115

"women are equal to men in ... ethical behavior"

Women are incarcerated at a much lower degree then men and hold ethics higher as well: http://www.springerlink.com/content/b716k246k6xv7l68/

That's sad to hear you feel that way, but I'm not sure that your issue with all religions is based in reality.

I doubt you have been suffering the same kinds of verbal attacks from people of all religions? Personally I feel that many people who make such prejudiced remarks based on a person's belief system are not genuine in their own beliefs. I guess this is similar in a way to how some of the most violently anti-gay men occasionally have homophobic feelings themselves.

In the past the majority of people who have been 'killed, tortured and imprisoned for being heretics and blashphemers' were from what was considered a minority religion at the time. This is obviously wrong, and not a good thing, but Atheist individuals have suffered less than pretty much any world religion for their beliefs. Why exactly they suffered less is a matter of debate. It could be a numbers game, it could be something else.

Every other example you cite is not only Christian specific(not so sure about the 'In God We Trust' on your money and how that originated though), but American specific. I did a bit of research for you on the 'swearing on the Bible' issue: "However..Nowhere in the USA are you required to swear on a bible or any other religious book,Nor are you required by law to take a court oath that states "So help you God"...Because the Supreme Court has held that the Constitution forbids the Government from giving Christian law any preference over atheistic law. "

You can read the rest here: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_do_you_say_when_you_swear_on_the_Bible_in_court

Oh wow, thank you so much. I have in my journey been looking at Leo Tolstoy (speacilly his book A Confession), Fiódor Dostoiévski, Jordan Peterson, and many, many others.

I did not seek religion as a means of morality exactly, but by the question of one's meaning in life. But I will definitely take a look at her.

Thank you for the links!

there is a "documentary on NetFlix in it the narrator proposes the idea of moving the timeline back a few hundred years and when this happens there is some evidence for an Exodus.

> If you choose to believe in a higher power, in God, you in turn believe in eternal life.

That's not necessarily the case. Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't Judaism believe in a God but not eternal life for humans?

> Even with all the technological advancements made throughout our timeline, we still cannot fully grasp what the human brain is, or what it’s capable of.

It's a computer. One with a different architecture from the one on your desk or in your pocket, but a computer nonetheless.

> Science can’t explain consciousness, it can’t define its source, or why we are equipped with it, the most science can do is observe it and get lost in it.

Science hasn't come to a consensus on what consciousness is and how it works. However, so far, consciousness has always been observed in the presence of a working brain. Either it's a function of the brain, or there's some way for the brain to contact some external, mysterious thing. The thing is that we know what the brain's made of. There don't seem to be new physics involved (it's not a particle accelerator, it's a bunch of cells that send electrical and chemical signals to each other), so how could it communicate with this external consciousness, or receive messages from it? If there is a soul/spirit, what is the interface between the brain and the spirit?

And it's not like science is flailing in the dark here. There are things like Integrated Information Theory and the Multiple Drafts Model that could lead to an understanding of consciousness purely in terms of neurons.

> If science cannot define consciousness how do we know it doesn’t transcend to a higher level?

Just because you can't explain something doesn't mean you can assume any explanation you want. You need a reason why your explanation is likely to be true.

I'm not sure it is so straightforward as that. The term "religion" has a very Christian history to it. Check out this bit I found earlier today it is a scholar arguing about "When Buddhism became a religion": https://www.academia.edu/4281706/When_Buddhism_Became_a_Religion_Religion_and_Superstition_in_the_Writings_of_Inoue_Enryō

Check this out. It's a map of the spots on the earth directly under the moon and the sun at all times. If they wanted to, Martian Muslims could track the spot on Mars where Earth is directly overhead.

> I mean how would you figure out how to face something on the other side of the moon five times a day, for instance?

Simple. You would just face the moon, using that handy website I just found.

Then I would recommend the book, The Religion of the Peacock Angel: The Yezidis and their Spirit World by Garnik S. Asatrian and Victoria Arakelova.

You may like Perennial Philosophy! It claims all religions are expressions of the one Source/God/Nature/etc, and acknowledges we are all just connecting to the same God through different lenses (religions/cultures). It helps cast a more unifying light on humanity's interactions with the divine.

The Perennial Philosophy by Aldous Huxley is a nice showcase of the philosophy.

For all 4 of those groups there are differences in the number of books translated, this is only in the Old Testament though. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biblical_canon#Table

I can only speak for the English language but 'most' Christians generally use the same couple of bible translations which became the most popular, with Catholics/Orthodox adding their own books when printed. For example the NKJV which was originally made by Protestants for Protestants is also very popular with Orthodox Christians (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Orthodox-Study-Bible-OE-Some-NKJV/dp/0718003594). Likewise the RSV while being 70 years old is still used and updated by all groups of Christians, the Orthodox really like it because it was the first English translation with the whole Orthodox canon, there is also the RSV Catholic edition in print and the ESV revision for Protestants which is currently super popular.

I also think there are some traditional Catholics who would advocate only translating and reading the Latin Vulgate over the original Greek also but they are a pretty small minority today.

How did you get earliest = better?

Also if you want a source, I would suggest Rubenstien's When Jesus Became God. Or anything from Bart Ehrman. Or anything not found in a Christian book store.

Yep, definitely. As an example from my faith, just about everyone who's studied philosophy or ethics at a college level has read the Bhagavad Gita.

And I think there's a lot of history and context to be gained from studying religions as well. The only advice I would give is to make sure whatever versions you read have good annotations/commentary, or you read them alongside some sort of study guide. (Especially if it's a religion someone is unfamiliar with, as there's a lot we can unknowingly miss without a lot of historic and cultural context.)

> “God, country, family - in that order”

If you put your country before your family, you're an immoral moron.

> To be a Christian is to be patriotic in America

That's doesn't necessarily follow. There's are sects in Christianity that loath America. they see it as Gamora.

> which is odd considering America is suppose to be a country that freely accepts all religions.

Which is a great point. When people assert that America is a Christian country, just point out the First Amendment, and the First Commandment:

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof"

versus:

"Thou shalt have no other gods before me"

> What does separation of church and state mean to you?

I take it very seriously. I have been a secular/atheist activist for 30 years. The main focus of mine has been keeping religious nonsense out of our lawbooks and our text books.

> Do you believe that separation of church and state is practiced, or reinforced in America?

Of course. The founding Fathers thought this so important that it's the first thing they wrote in the Constitution. The very first.

> And correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m pretty sure America was not founded on the Christian religion

It was not. Some good reading for you:

The Founding Myth: Why Christian Nationalism Is Un-American, by Andrew Seidel

Freethinkers: A History of American Secularism, by Susan Jacoby

Sure, https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_New_Church_(Swedenborgian)

I joined about 15 years ago.

The book I referenced is this: https://www.amazon.com/Married-Love-Delights-Pleasures-Licentious/dp/0945003072

But it is also free on some of our churches websites.

Yep, religious studies is definitely something you can pursue academically, and make a career out of if you want to. I don't think anyone can guarantee that it would be the most glamorous lifestyle (monetary-wise), but if you enjoy what you do..... that matters a lot less, right?

From the perspective of my faith (Hindu).... if I had to make one recommendation to someone who wanted to learn more, I would recommend one book:

• The Bhagavad Gita

This version is relatively inexpensive, and is perfect for an English-speaking, western-audience, with little to no prior knowledge of Hinduism. The commentary is fantastic, very accessible, and gives you a grand overview of most concepts in Hinduism (straight from one of, if not the, most influential sacred text of the faith).

Again, for an actual career, you'll definitely want to pursue things academically in a college/university setting, but I wanted to give you that suggestion as I'm not sure how close you are to that point (age-wise, financially, etc.) in case you wanted a next-step you can take now.

In my view belief becomes a choice at some point. You can either choose to live your life as if God is real, or not. And at that point your faith becomes an action in a more tangible sense because it's no longer just centered around thinking/wondering about what is true/not-true, and is more about how you're living and experiencing life.

Of course, another inevitable question that pops-up when one is essentially 'choosing' a faith (be it a pre-existing religion, their own path, etc.) is "what if I pick the 'wrong' God?" To that in the most simplistic terms, if God exists, then God is either 'good' (and everything will work out in one way or another) or 'bad' (and thus it doesn't matter you do either way).

So in-short.... I believe that for most folks in your situation (ie., want to believe, but haven't found anything terribly convincing to bridge the gap) ...you're probably not going to find any compelling 'evidence' that will suddenly lead you to believe. So for me, the only next step I see is to choose to believe and live your life accordingly.

'Which Story Do You Prefer?'

Life of Pi: book, movie

Read this book. Its the most authentic book about the prophet's (pbuh) biography and you'll learn much about him by reading that.

In my country, the United States, many religious people seem to support the death penalty. Non-believers are, at least as likely or more likely, to oppose the death penalty. At least, that is my impression.

People will be mean under certain conditions. And when conditions make people mean, they will use their beliefs, whether religious or non-religious, to rationalize and excuse their desire/need to be mean. Religious Christians, for example, can find Bible verses, or reinterpret Bible verses, to support the death penalty, being greedy, etc. Atheists can do something similar to justify being mean.

The good news is that religious and non-religious beliefs can also promote kindness. The Bible is full of verses promoting kindness and generosity. Contrary to what you appear to think, atheist thinking can promote moral behavior. Atheists have written books about morality without God.

If you live in a country with a majority of non-believers who believe in the death penalty, your shortest route to changing their mind about the death penalty is not converting them into believing in God, but instead exposing them to non-religious thought promoting kindness and charity.

Atheists, for example, believe humans have only one life. They do not believe humans have afterlives to correct mistakes in this life. If the state kills an innocent person that injustice will not be corrected in a wonderful next life. Atheists I know are very sensitive to injustice. (Listen to what atheists say about the Old Testament God or the doctrine of hell.) Potentially committing injustice is one reason atheists should be against the death penalty.

Good luck,

I think it’s helpful to read this thread (https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/17r7u6/did_the_greeks_really_believe_in_their_gods/?utm_source=amp&utm_medium=&utm_content=post_body) and Paul Veyne’s Did the Greeks Believe in their Myths?

The answer is that the gods are viewed in very different ways by different groups and individuals in any polytheistic systems. There has never been and will never be a single answer.

"Myths and Legends of the Celtic Race" by T.W. Rolleston is a good place to start:

https://www.amazon.com/Legends-Celtic-Thomas-William-Rolleston-ebook/dp/B004UJRKVO

I found this translation on Amazon, but I don’t know how good it is. I would advise you to read both in English and Finnish, because if there was an mistranslation in the Finnish version you can check the English one, “the clear Quran” is a very good English translation.

"Depart from me I never knew you"...

Dreaded words that many will hear from the Lord at the appointed time...why? Their own excuse condems them. They were so BUSY with the Lord's work. How then does the Lord KNOW anyone?

✝ Nahum 1:7

"The LORD is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him."

KJV Study Bible https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=kjv.study.bible

How many other cities are like Nineveh? Or is this entire nation now under the yoke of Nineveh?

I read this one, Existentialism, when I was about 1-2 years out from religion. and it was great for me because it's a showcase of lots of different philosophers. the author is a professor with a good reputation among other academics. I used it to introduce me to more material from my favorite of those authors.

philosophy and academia is kinda like one big conversation, where authors indirectly reply to each other, even sometimes many years apart. Walter Kauffman in that book definitely wants to show you the conversation while not taking any particular stance himself. he lets the greats speak for themselves.

the subject matter is kind of heavy but it's by far my favorite type of philosophy. it's all about "who am I, what's my purpose, what is purpose, what do our choices mean" etc.

an "essentialist" would say it's a chair because it has four legs and a flat part to sit on. those are the essentials of a chair.

an "existentialist" would say it's a chair because I'm sitting on it.

there's also plenty of other books that are excellent. try going to a bookstore and browse the philosophy section and pick up anything that calls out to you.

Good on you. Ignorance is one of the most dangerous things in our society and I applaud you for taking an independent approach to learning the faith of Islam in a non-baised way.

The thing with your question is, there are many interpretations of Islam and it's not easy to find specifics. A great author by name of Moojan Momen has an excellent book (which I read when I asked your exact question) which can be found on Amazon. Really informative, detailed and also compares Shi'a Islam with Sunni Islam. There isn't any bias evident since Moojan doesn't follow Islam personally, but has a strong history of researching and exploring all major world faiths.

I think the reply you got from the other poster is quite good, then. I know very little about high quality sources on this sort of thing.

Maybe not what you're looking for, but have you seen the first season of the HBO show True Detective? It's fantastic, and on this subject.

As far as books go, I know Arthur Edward Waite was an early authority on all things esoteric, and he does appear to have a highly rated book on black magic. Apparently this one is also quite good (again, just based on my brief Amazon search), and may be up your alley.

My understanding is that they are purely immaterial and therefore not subject to time and space and given that they are pure intellect and spirit they don’t struggle to perfect their will, either through trial and error or in a linear fashion like we do. Also, their intellect is exceedingly higher than that of the human intellect.

A book i had read years ago titled “Angels and Demons: What Do We Really Know About Them?” by Philosophy professor and author Dr. Peter Kreeft I found very interesting. Maybe consider checking it out.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0898705509/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_wn0LFb5PD35MZ

I have a book published: The ABC's of Science and Exmormonism

26 letters, 26 topics key to Mormonism that can be tested scientifically and their results.

The first 10 letters are available free on my blog here: https://exploringmormonism.com/abcs-of-science-and-mormonism-now-available-in-print-from-amazon/

In addition, I have been publishing on the topic for over a decade.

You have any questions, I will answer them with 100% LDS approved sources as far as I can, and will provide any additional sources with caveats regarding where they fall on the faith spectrum.

I have had almost 1000 individuals come back and thank me for my influence on their faith transition.

I am happy to help answer anyone who has any questions.

I found this book to be an excellent overview of the major religions.

12 Major World Religions: The Beliefs, Rituals, and Traditions of Humanity's Most Influential Faith

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/1623156920/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Faith, Physics and Psychology: Rethinking Society and the Human Spirit by John Fitzgerald Medina looks at science/religion relationship from a Baha'i Faith point of view.

> to me i'd rather instead take action

> you yourself could take action to resolve

In that case... do I ever have the religious book for you. This is also worth a look expanding on the specific focus of action: link

Depends on your reading level and how deep you want to go. I think one of the more solid criticisms of Christian doctrine is that it has often been locked up behind centuries of opaque philosophical discourse. A good catechism (I recommend Baltimore for English reading) will give you a list of WHAT we believe in short, but it won't point you to WHY we believe those things beyond a few point-blank bullet points. The classical writings of the saints may be of some interest, but good, readable translations are sometimes hard to come by. Baronius press has some good ones, their catalog is short so look around and see if anything seems like a good place to start.

As far as other religions go, I can tentatively say that at least for Buddhism don't start with Sutras (classical scriptures) but instead go into more modern works about life and living meant for westerners. "Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind" by Shunryu Suzuki is a personal favorite. "Taking the Path of Zen" and "The Morning Star" by Robert Aitken are both very good introductions too.

Good luck, and God bless.

As exemplified by my own life, I can confirm that happiness and satisfaction can come from life without religion. I deconverted from Christianity 6 months ago and since then I have been happier and more satisfied than ever before. I'm not trying to deconvert you or anything, but I would encourage you to do some research into secular humanism. In fact, Aristotle has some great ideas (whether you're religious or not) about happiness in Nicomachean Ethics. I'd be happy (pun shamelessly intended) to point you to some other resources to help you in your quest. Just don't forget your favorite color ;)

Relevant comment regarding interracial marriages:

In "Capitalism and Freedom," Milton Fried drew a distinction between "positive harm" and "negative harm." "Positive harm" consists of e.g. pushing someone into the river so s/he drowns. "Negative harm" would be passing by the river, seeing someone drowning and not offering to help. The first is illegal, the second is not.

The civil rights laws are written so that no one can actively or "positively" interfere with the e.g. interracial marriage. That might consist of the preacher standing outside the church and turning away guests so that the couple couldn't have a proper wedding ceremony.

But American law is not written to force people to "do the right thing" (that is, to prevent negative harm). A preacher doesn't have to perform a marriage ceremony for an interracial couple, as long as s/he doesn't INTERFERE with another preacher's doing so.

For the meaning of life differs from man to man, from day to day and from hour to hour. What matters, therefore, is not the meaning of life in general but rather the specific meaning of a person's life at a given moment. -Viktor Frankl "Man's Search for Meaning"

Buddhism:

>Though Pāli canonical texts do not contain explicit textual evidence to support violence or remarks to justify violence, certain genre of post-canonical literature, for example, one of the Pāli chronicles, the Mahāvamsa of Mahānāma composed in Sri Lanka in the fifth CE, unfortunately contains a narrative which disturbs the pacifist image of Theravāda Buddhism.

>Though the intention of this particular monastic author, Mahānāma, is open for debate, this isolated reference is problematic when placed within the early Buddhist Pāli canonical textual corpus. This pervasive narrative gives the impression that in certain circumstances when the ultimate end is noble, the use of certain degree of violence is not going to harm the Buddha’s doctrine of non-violence and pacifist path

Taoism:

>I do think that Taoism is mostly compatible with political philosophies such as anarchism or libertarian socialism, which both represent a revolt against corporate and political authority so I do believe a revolution could be justified under Taoism.

>A lot of Chinese traditional martial arts came out of Taoist temples. Even in Shaolin (the traditional Chinese arts from Buddhist temples) there are Taoist influences, IE the Five Animals exercises are attributed to Hua T'o.

>Sun Tzu (who wrote The Art of War) was a Taoist

>[It is] important in Taoist thought that whenever war is unavoidable, as real circumstance sometimes dictate, it should never be approached with a lust for violence. That is one should not take joy in the killing of men, but should react with a sense of loss and regret over the actions that needed to be taken. Furthermore, excessive and unnecessary violence should be avoided all together. Once the enemy has been subdued or surrenders, the arms of peace should always be open.

When Things Fall Apart by Pema Chodron is what made me a Buddhist when I was having an existential panic after my stepdad died suddenly.

Other good books are Confession of A Buddhist Atheist by Stephen Batchelor, Being Nobody, Going Nowhere by Ayya Khema, Mindfulness in Plain English by Bhante Gunaratana and The Buddha Walks Into A Bar... by Lodro Rinzler.

Also, anything by the Vietnamese Zen monk Thich Nhat Hanh.

I share a very similar story to you. I was raised Christian (Catholic) and then became interested in Buddhism in college, and my quest continues.

On the topic of Buddhism, I'd recommend reading "Mindfulness in Plain English" (free legit copy available online: http://www.urbandharma.org/pdf/mindfulness_in_plain_english.pdf). This book does a good job of explaining meditation and Nirvana without the dogmatic aspects of Buddhism.

As far as atheism goes, I've found that a question that isn't asked enough before the question of "do I believe in God?" is "what is God?" How can I know whether or not I believe in something without even understanding what it is that I do or do not believe in? Part of me thinks that God is actually something that everyone does believe in, very similar to love, but I certainly haven't gotten this all figured out.

And finally (trying to keep this response short-ish) I've been steering back toward Christianity somewhat with my recent readings of Tolstoy's "The Gospel in Breif" (available here: http://www.fredsakademiet.dk/library/gospel.pdf) (and also his book "The Kingdom of God is Within You," but I'd start with "The Gospel in Brief.") In the intro to that book he talks about how much of what we consider Christianity are just stories to try to justify Jesus's divinity, but they have nothing to do with Jesus's teaching which is given in the Gospels. Reading these Tolstoy books really brings the core truths of Christianity and Buddhism much more into harmony for me.

I usually use Saheeh International in combination with Tafseer Ibn Katheer ("Exegesis of Ibn Katheer").

This Android app is quite nice: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.greentech.quran

Professor Carl Becker's book Paranormal experience and the survival of death looks at the empirical evidence for survival, including that for reincarnation. You'll be fine, so keep calm and carry on.

Since I only listen to classical music and jazz, I don't encounter it. Of course profanity literally means blasphemous language, which would hardly trouble me. I think you mean swearing? Saying fuck is not profane, but that doesn't doesn't bother me either.

Those who are interested in swearing may like to know of this book, which is a great read: Holy shit: a brief history of swearing

Here's a good series of very accessible articles for anyone unfamiliar with Shinto practice and belief in general:

https://www.nippon.com/en/series/insider%E2%80%99s-guide-to-shinto-shrines/

If you're then interested in looking for a deeper understanding, I invariably recommend the following:

The Essence of Shinto: Japan's Spiritual Heart

Also, stop by the sub if you have any questions:

/r/Shinto

Nothing wrong with drawing on bits and pieces to add your personal philosophy.

As for books, I really like God: An Anatomy by Francesca Stavrakopoulou. It focus more on the polytheistic roots of Judaism, and how physical the ancient Israelites imagined their God to be.

Bible commentary from a queer perspective: https://www.amazon.de/-/en/Robert-Goss/dp/0334054427

It's an incredibly large collection of essays and commentaries on the books within the Bible, I haven't checked if what you are saying is covered here, but I guess it's worth searching up.

BTW, in bereshit Adam (before the creation of Eve) is in fact considered bi-gendered and it's pointed out that "rib" is a wrong translation (it is "side" that is taken from Adam to form Eve) and when this mistranslated term is cleared up it becomes plausible that the first biblical human was in fact on the non-binary spectrum, which was totally fine with God and he only separated the sexes, because... that's just what he does throughout that chapter: playing around with his creation by the separation of unitary things into multiplicities with 2 extremes on each end (sometimes this is binary, sometimes not).

I'm afraid I gave up. I find rating ideas or feelings on a scale of 1 to 6 both difficult and irritating. I know that sort of questionnaire is traditional in the "social sciences" but, like quite a few philosophers, I find that methodology (and, indeed, the concept of a social science) to be flawed. When I studied anthropology we learned that the way to understand culture was to talk to people, not to tick boxes in a questionnaire. This is the sort of thing I mean: Wilkerson's Walking woth the gods

The University of Wales (Lampeter) has a Religious Experience Research Centre.

1. On an intellectual level, the ideas of the Oneness of Religion and Progressive Revelation. On a deeper level, I felt very humbled by the words and life of Baha'u'llah.

2. Christian, though I never really had a deep connection to it. It was more out of tradition. I have a much deeper relationship with the Jesus Christ now that I'm a Baha'i than I ever did as a Christian.

3. Yup, but trying to be more every day.

4. As with any Baha'i from a Christian background, becoming behind meant also accepting Prophet Muhammad as a Teacher of the will of God. I became friends with many Muslims and attended Muslim events at University, and I engaged in personal reading into the histories and writings of Islam. The question of the "last prophet" came up quite a bit. This is a book from a Baha'i religious scolar that I found helpful in that regard. https://www.amazon.com/Islam-Bahai-Faith-Moojan-Momen/dp/0853984468/

5. There are some practices that are laws (like laws around prayer, fasting, alms, chastity, daily reading, etc). Of course I try to do all of these, but no one is perfect. But most Baha'i activities are outward facing and focus on being part of community life with other people and sharing the Baha'i message with them. I also strive for this, but one must always balance it with your regular life responsibilities.

6. Oh, so many. This is one of the most obvious differences between the Baha'i faith and others that I have researched. There really isn't one single Baha'i book of scripture, but dozens of books and letters. Among the writings of Baha'u'llah I really like the 7 Valleys and the Hidden Words.

7. It is just so full. It's a perfect explanation for the balance of religious diversity and religious unity. A perfect harmony between science and religion, between mysticism and pragmatism, between personal responsibility and service to others. I've just never seen anything like it.

Keep in mind that like every other faith Buddhism has multiple sects each of which considers the others to be mistaken in some way. So any advice you are likely to get will be biased in some way. I would recommend starting with the Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha from the Pali Canon. This is a Theravada Buddhist text. Most Buddhists in South East Asia tend to be of the Theravada tradition. The other major division is Mahayana which is found more in Northern Asia including the Tibet.

The simple answer is that it is programmed into us by evolution. It's quite crazy how much information is programmed into us even in utero.

Stephen Wathey, the author of The Illusion of God's Presence, talks about various species that have innate mental models, like how sea turtles from the moment they are hatched know that they need to go to the light.

Not to the ocean, to the light. They've done studies where they hatched the eggs with the light source in various directions, and they always go to the brightest lights. That's because they hatch at night, and at least in the past, the moonlight on the water would be the brightest source of light.

When it comes to us, infants have innate model of a omniscient, omnipotent caregiver that knows what we need, and all we have to do is cry. This creates a very strong bond and trust.

This circuitry still exists as we develop, so because of the bond formed in infanthood, we naturally trust that our parents have all the answers, and thus money do as monkey see.

At least until puberty. Then all hell breaks loose 😂.

> Provide a reference which should not be biased, I give you resources all by non-Muslims to make sure they are not biased because of ideologies or they not ignored resources that do not support there view

You don't have to watch airplanes crash into buildings to accept Islamic terrorism. It is a non-stop repeating pattern that you can view in the rest of history:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Islamist_terrorist_attacks

I cited the Quran's own hatred of non-believers. I'm sure that apologists would try to disuade from that, but it doesn't change the fact of 1400 years of Islamic terrorism.

Steve Weidenkopf is an unbiased history professor. His books has hundreds of academic-level citations :

The Glory of the Crusades by Steve Weidenkopf https://www.amazon.com/dp/1941663001/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_PWEBT7NA2R9JXGB8CV6A

In general, I recommend this book. It treats all sides fairly, and it has academic quality citations:

The Glory of the Crusades by Steve Weidenkopf https://www.amazon.com/dp/1941663001/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_PWEBT7NA2R9JXGB8CV6A

Define Creationism: The belief that the universe and living organisms originate from specific acts of divine creation, as in the biblical account, rather than by natural processes such as evolution

Merriam-Webster: doctrine or theory holding that matter, the various forms of life, and the world were created by God out of nothing and usually in the way described in Genesis — compare evolution 4b

Don't see anything there about the last 200 years. You're just arbitrarily re-defining the term. Saying "people believed God created the Universe and Earth" definitely IS the same as saying people believed in Creationism. It's not a new thing. At all.

Well, Russell had an IQ of over 180 so I'm going to go with him, thanks.

"it is impossible, or at least impossible at the present time, to know the truth in matters such as God and the future life with which Christianity and other religions are concerned."

Much of modern postural yoga was actually imported from Europe to India in the late 19th century to the 1930s and then ‘rebranded’ as something Indian.

https://www.amazon.com/Yoga-Body-Origins-Posture-Practice/dp/0195395344

The Fox and the Jewel: Shared and Private Meanings in Contemporary Japanese Inari Worship

The Essence of Shinto: Japan's Spiritual Heart

I appreciate your kind words and for entertaining my ramblings :)

There's a good book on the resurrection that I'd recommend if you're curious to hear the arguments for it.

It's Gary Habermas's book entitled "The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus"

https://www.amazon.com/Case-Resurrection-Jesus-Gary-Habermas/dp/0825427886/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1665094791&sr=8-1

You're right that there's much less evidence to confirm that the disciples were willing to die for their faith. That's true. Much of it is church tradition, some could possibly be legend. I still accept it anyway, because I think a decent point towards the resurrection hypothesis would be the simple reality that the disciples continued to share the gospel and devote their lives to it even after Jesus was crucified.

If your Rabbi who claimed to be the Messiah was just executed by Jewish authorities then chances are you'd be pretty demoralized. You might even begin to think it was all a hoax and you were duped.

But they certainly did not respond in this manner. They spread Christianity and their faith in Jesus very vigorously, so much so that it blossomed into the #1 religion on Earth. The response that the disciples had after Jesus' death and their willingness to press on sharing the message indicates to me that they believe they did see resurrected Jesus and were willing to give their lives to the cause, no matter the cost.

You are incorrect when you assume I haven't done any research. I have. I'm aware that changes are observed today. Within species. We've yet to see one species change into another. That's a pretty big hole in your theory.

You've referenced 7th grade a couple of times in the age old atheistic attempt to call me stupid. That's ok, I'm not offended. It comes up in every conversation. But again, your story that all these fossils changed into other species, instead of simply being fossils of different species is again just a story. I'm truly sorry that you've traded the belief in almighty God for such a story. I guess you can think my 7th grade teacher failed me and I'll think your Sunday school teacher failed you.

Since you're so set on criminal investigation techniques, you should read: https://www.amazon.com/Forensic-Faith-Detective-Reasonable-Evidential/dp/1434709884?ref=d6k_applink_bb_dls&dplnkId=8f36cb6f-fcfc-4064-a19e-4dfbfd6c3d79 Where a detective does just that with the Gospel.

> Jewish but minus the oral Torah stuff he complained about.

He only occasionally took issue with parts of the Oral Torah. I read him as a Pharisee who had a healthy degree of internal criticism for his own religious movement. I mentioned this in another comment, but the book Jesus the Pharisee does a good job of covering this.

Judaism?

Like, he's not too much of an unconventional practitioner of the religion, other than the whole later followers ascribing godhood to him thing.

I'd recommend The Jewish Annotated New Testament.

What you fear is irrational. I'm not saying that like it's a character flaw, it's just the fact. I think the only way to get over such fears, is by repeatedly subjecting yourself to rational inquiry of the matter. That's what worked for me.

Every time the fear of hell came up, I reviewed all the facts that I had learned up that point, and asked myself the question: Given what I now know, does this make any sense at all? And the answer kept being no. Eventually, the fear response disappeared.

I would encourage you to read a lot on this subject. Bart Ehrman's book on Heaven and Hell is a good place to start if you haven't read it already.

I have no genuine questions or comments? What gives you the authority to judge what a proper question or comment is here on this open & public forum? As if you could recognize what one was in the first place? Your obvious arrogance and piety come from your cult indoctrination. This bleeds through to your comments here.

For the record I HATE YOUR RELIGION and not you personally. So let's not make this about YOU. This is about the Jehovah's Witness CULT. You claim unwarranted and misplaced scathing hatred in your defense? Really? Are you gonna start cyberpouting next?

I suggest you do leave threads like this. Not only are you not intellectually viable enough to comprehend such discussions, the elders in your hall would NOT approve of your being here. Your religion practices information control, and therefore practices thought control by default. There's no way in hell you are supposed to be on internet websites/threads/forums like this one. You are a bad little dubbie!

It's all here in your little secret elders manual that the Governing Body does not want the rank & file to know about or have. So here is a free copy. Thank you internet: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B6-wabfv8Y0wRUkwdWRzeHFRYWkzUFUyODlpb0VXQQ/edit

Have you ever read Drawing Down the Moon?

My book club read it a few years ago - a fascinating overview of the history of the pagan movement (or movements) and the rather slippery task of trying to define what a pagan is (or is not). 5 stars.

There's nothing wrong with questioning the premises you've been given throughout your life. I'm not going to attempt to convince you to outright leave your religious faith behind. All I can tell you is that I used to be in your position, I found I could no longer believe the claims of Christianity. Like you, I still wanted to have a relationship with Jesus right up until my deconversion.

Here's a few thoughts - take them all with the caveat that I could be wrong.

1. Examine what you believe and why you believe it.
   1. What's the course of your beliefs? Did you arrive at your conclusions on your own or did you family/culture indoctrinate them.
2. What would life be like if you had different beliefs - a Buddhist, Hindu, skeptic, etc.?
3. What are the benefits to a relationship with Christ?
   1. Is it possible that Jesus was just another teacher and not divine? If so, what are those implications.
   2. Why is it that most people lack a relationship with Jesus and yet report happy lives?
4. If Jesus really is the loving son of God, wouldn't he be accepting of your times of doubt?
5. Why do you insist on being labeled? Why do you expect others to label you?
6. You said God scares you (I assume you mean the Old testament god). Why is that? Is there any evidence such a god exists and punishes people?
7. What's more valuable: Expressing yourself genuinely by getting a tattoo or meditating, as opposed to being afraid you'll offend a religious figure that you surely must admit may not actually be a god?

All the best...

Resources:

Recovering from Religion

Losing My Religion: How I Lost My Faith Reporting on Religion in America—and Found Unexpected Peace

I don't do videos, but here's a biography by a distinguished historian:

Michael Grant. Jesus

https://www.amazon.com/Zealot-Life-Times-Jesus-Nazareth-ebook/dp/B00BRUQ7ZY/ref=sr\_1\_17?crid=23HKSPCKS0EAB&keywords=jesus+of+nazareth&qid=1661688238&s=books&sprefix=jesus+of+nazareth%2Cstripbooks%2C61&sr=1-17

Not sure what "at the core" means to you. Are you just talking about certain Christians? Yes, too many Christians have a problem with "gay" but I can't believe Jesus wanted us to hate our neighbors. Yes, I've seen a gay couple -- who were very active in our church -- leave because a single person took it upon himself to push them out. Yes, I know a gay couple (on partner died a while back) who were married and, probably for all those reasons, not Christian and I felt saddened because I couldn't share my faith with them but had to conclude that friendship is a higher virtue than the nit-piks of doctrine. Read a book on the subject (https://www.amazon.com/Becoming-Community-Meeting-Intersection-Truth/dp/1666716375) where for all her explorations the author confronts that while churches are hungry for members, they aren't hungry for gay members. God, on the other hand, accepts and loves you just as you are.

>but these debates have always been academic, happening behind closed doors and intended only for scholars of Islam, not for lay Muslims.

Haven't the Asharite academic slaughtered Mutazilite academics and burned and destroyed each others' books? I think you are trying to sugarcoat for us the bloody history that seems to accompany Islam, right from its birth till today.

You should read The Closing of the Muslim Mind.