Nor should you.

Indeed. Egypt (Middle Kingdom) in approximately 1800 BC, China (Confucius) in approximately 500 BC. had that idea of reciprocity Interesting that Mohammed didn’t get the concept.

Or until the Church of Scientology and its members started filing thousands of lawsuits against the IRS and its employees in a scorched earth effort to force the IRS into giving CoS tax-exempt status.

It worked. The IRS caved in 1993.

Due to declining revenues CoS had been circling the drain financially and this tax windfall saved them. They put the money into prime real estate which has appreciated handsomely in the booms since. CoS is now worth over a billion dollars.

The Gibney documentary, “Going Clear,” on Scientology is must viewing for anyone interested. The Church of Scientology is truly a horrible organization and undeserving of tax breaks.

Thanks, IRS!

“a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, especially when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs.” And:

“a specific fundamental set of beliefs and practices generally agreed upon by a number of persons or sects.”

I’ve gotten a little obsessed with what is “religion” lately. Because I think that some atheists’ practice their atheism as if it were a religion. (There are atheist chaplains now! WTH?) And why I find that significant is that of it can be considered a religion, then the Government forcing atheism on us is a violation of the establishment claus.

But I draw the line at followers turning on their faucets and doing it in his name.

Same with Islam. If Allah comes to kill me himself, I’ve nothing to say about that either.
But I don’t accept being slain by his followers in his name.

If your God wants you to kill you, that’s up to you.

But he better show up himself if he wants to kill me.

Separation of church and state is a rather recent development in history. Unfortunately, there are still many humans who want religion to be coupled to the state or even one and the same, as in Iran.

One of the major features of Christianity is the Golden Rule – to treat others as you would have them treat you. This tenet calls for believers to be kind to and tolerant of others. At least that’s the way I read it because I like to be treated well. All other major religions, except Islam, have an equivalent of the Golden Rule.

The view of Mohammed was that Allah was a fierce, vengeful god who demanded submission. (Islam means submission.) That’s why devout Muslims do not believe in free will – the human ability to take command of their lives and not depend on fate or Allah’s will. Allah also commanded that all non-believers be converted or put to the sword. There is no equivalent of the golden Rule in Islam. Islam’s most devoted believe in a worldwide theocracy and in achieving it through violence or invasion and subterfuge.

Could a widely held belief system that has many of the appearances of a religion, but is actually a belief system that is dangerous to all non-believers, be classified as a political/military system, not a religion? Communism was a widely held belief system that had many of the appearances of a religion (If atheism is considered the state religion.) and was recognized as a political/military system dangerous to non-Communists. Maybe that is a model for thinking about radical Islam?

While authorities may judge that Islam is a religion, no one who has looked realistically at what has happened in the last 16 years could conclude that radical Islam is not dangerous for all non Muslims.

Other religions have shed practices that didn’t meet the cultural norms of new situations – Suttee and polygamy for example. Considering that the world is now well aware of the calls by the Wahhabis for worldwide theocracy, forcible conversion, and intolerance of all infidels; it seems to me that more people would be listening to moderate (non-jihadi) Muslims who challenge these tenets as President el-Sisi, Zhudi Jasser, and Tarek Fatah have.
For the names of other moderate Muslims see this:
http://www.meforum.org/5007/moderate-muslims-ignored
Their beliefs and practices could be a guide for eventual reform of Islam from a political/military system to a religion.

Smarter people than I need to be grappling with this issue. I hope some are, but it doesn’t seem like anyone is taking up the issue with any seriousness.

Focus, your rules for what constitutes a religion may be valid in the realm of Geoffrey, but don’t step out in to the real world with them.

Incitement of violence in this country is generally not punished with forfeiture of one’s life. Details, details. There are legal, acceptable methods that have been employed to monitor such behavior in churches and mosques. Try harder.