Closet Muslim?

I can rationalize and say that the Western media is biased toward Islam and the only reports given about Islam are the negative. On the flip side, there is the other extreme where Islam is completely removed from historical context and is whitewashed with claims of it being a tolerant religion whose real meaning is peace. Anyone who studies it's history knows that is simply not true, unless we redefine what is meant be peace. Peace, from the historical point of view, most certainly does not mean what we think of as peace today. Peace, from this point of view, does not mean live and let live.

With all of the atrocities being committed proudly in the name of Islam, why would anyone even consider converting? Why is it that Western converts frequently become anti-Western? Was it already present and thus a factor toward conversion? Or does it develop? I can't tell you how many websites I've visited of converts to Islam whose rhetoric becomes a diatribe about the West and its evils. They do not seem to be happy people.

So what is the hold Islam has over me? Well, Christian theology for one. And I'm not even talking about the cross of Christ. No, I'm talking about the theology derived from it. It divides. Some say this is a good thing, the wheat from the chaff. But how many denominations are there? How many heresies have there been throughout the history of the church and how many are there today? We spend more time fighting over doctrine than doing what Jesus said to do. That is my issue. I guess it's what human beings do. We like to know we are right.

So Islam's claim of the Oneness of God is appealing. The claim that all religions have strayed from the original Primal teaching is also appealing, especially considering my experiences with Daoism. The God-man thing makes Jesus sound like a supehero, a cartoon character. To promote this as the main message of the Gospel is something I cannot do.

Yet I cannot convert to Islam as it does not address the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. It denies it certainly. But by default, not directly. And, as such, the traditions of Islam are filled with fantastical, and ridiculous, stories of what happened. No, in order to become a Muslim I would have to deny the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. For whatever this means and however it is understood and interpreted, there is no way to do this without acknowledging the entire thing as a myth.

Islam just seems to me to be a very natural, very human, very fluid religion. Too much so. And that is the problem. You can create your own Muhammad, create your own Islam. You just can't tell anyone. So for whatever "islam" I hold in my heart, it is mine. And there will be no declaration of faith as I cannot deny what the Bible says about Jesus.

I may question what men say the Bible says but to deny the Biblical record wholesale? I don't think so.