[ExI] Mary Magdelene?

[Dan]

--- On Fri, 6/5/09, painlord2k at libero.it <painlord2k at libero.it> wrote:
> Il 04/06/2009 14.57, Dan ha scritto:
> 
>>> It is just that in Christianity there is the
>>> example of Jesus and
>>> Mary Magdalene and his exhortation "Go and never
>>> sin again",
> 
>> In the Bible, Jesus tells an _unnamed_ adulteress to
>> not sin again;
> 
> This is enough.
> He don't ordered to kill her.
> Who she was is not important, really.
> What matter is the example and the precedent.

Oh, I agree.  I just wanted to correct the Mary Magdelene was a whore line.  In fact, from reading the Bible -- and the Bible is, to my knowledge, the ONLY "primary" source text on Mary Magdelene; this doesn't make it correct, but there are no other primary sources on her, all else is derived or speculation -- there's little that can be said about her.
 
> Christians are bound to try imitate Christ, Muslims are
> bound to try imitate Mohammed. Things are so simple.

Actually, if my understanding of Christian theology is correct, true, but there's wide room for interpretation here AND the general view is that one cannot completely imitate Jesus.  I.e., one may try, but one will fail -- hence the need for Jesus to redeem humans not being able to live up to that standard.  I'm not as familiar with Islamic theology, but its interpreters also allow for abrogation of specific passages of the Koran and the various works on Mohammed's life are, likewise, open to interpretation and, in some cases, abrogation.
 
> Now, look in the life and examples set by Mohammed and the
> examples set by Jesus. Then you decide if you want live near
> people trying to imitate Jesus or near people trying to
> imitate Mohammed.
> 
> The difference is not tiny.

I'm not so sure.  People claiming to be members of both faiths have committed genocides and all lesser crimes.  If one were to look for frequencies here, then I'm not so sure the data would support either being better or worse.  That said, Christians and Muslims living in modern secularized societies tend to be, on the whole, more peaceful than either living in non-secular societies, especially ones dominated by fanatics from their particular religion.  The great mass of Muslims -- like the great mass of Christians or the great mass of people in general -- appear to be peaceful under most circumstances.  I mean they are not, to my knowledge, carrying out this passage -- one you're probably familiar with, given your knowledge of Islam:

"If you hear it said about one of the towns given to you to live in that wicked men have arisen among you and have led the people of  their town astray, saying, "Let us go and worship other gods," then you must inquire, probe and investigate it thoroughly.  And if it is true and it has been proved that this detestable thing has been done among you, you must certainly put to the sword all who live in that town. Destroy it completely, both its people and its livestock.  Gather all the plunder of the town into the middle of the public square and completely burn the town and all its plunder...  It is to remain a ruin forever, never to be rebuilt."

Are they?

Regards,

Dan