Welcome back kaiwai,
Wow, you converted to Alevism. That's very interesting. I think Alevis are the most tolerant group among the Muslims (though one might argue whether they are Muslim at all.)
Well, most Shi'ia clerics consider us as Twelvers, although we are different. There are a large number of Sufi's whose focus is on inward spiritual development and not going around creating little empires - it is too bad there are those who turn their religion into a political agenda based on an unrealistic and inaccurate representation of history.
What prompted you to convert if I may ask?
Well, I was pretty much was an Alevi in the way I was practicing my Deism to begin with, so I guess it was more of acknowledging my Aleviness than converting.
Now that you are an Alevi, how do you attempt to explain the things we criticize here?
I believe that the criticisms are genuine and not done maliciously. One needs to challenge the status quo and the problem with the Muslim community so far is that they've allowed centuries of cruft to build up and a refusal to re-approach Islam from a new direction.
I assume Alevis believe in Hell. What do you think will happen to non-believers in the hereafter?
The Qur'an as I understand it is a revealed piece of text over a period of 23 years that needs to be understood within the context of the time period, concepts, constructs and so forth. Not all of what is written in there is relevant today because the commands given were relevant only for those conditions at that time. We're expected, as creations of God, to put on our thinking caps, read and see what lessons can be learned rather than the strict literalism. Like I said earlier, it is about re-approaching it from a different angle to maintain its relevancy as times change.
As for hell, I still hold onto the metaphorical description which I was taught as a Catholic; Hell is a place that is in absence of God rather than it being an actual place of hell, fire and torment. I believe that those who have lived a good life are living manifestations of faith in God even though they make no declaration that they believe in God.
As for heaven, again I believe what is in the Qur'an is a metaphor that was used to convey the great pleasure to simple people; "I can't describe it, but this is as close as I can get to describing what it would be like".
Oh, and I have a copy of the 'reformist translation of the quran' but I don't subscribe to code 19/quran only/quran science/etc stuff they include in it.
Hi Kaiwai - good to see you
Hi
How are things? I remember the last time we chatted was ages ago - everything going alright? I remember you got some flack from the 'online YouTube Mullahs'
Topic: I'm back