…or getting drunk or even killing someone…
So says an Islamic scholar.
And…ready for a firestorm…..I agree with him…..
What I mean is…if this man believes that Allah is the true god and there is no other god than Allah….to acknowledge and to encourage and to “bless” if you will a false god IS worse than fornication. Mortal sin is mortal sin, but as a Catholic parent, the lesser mortal sin (if you will) would be for my son or daughter to engage in premarital sex versus actively worshipping Satan.
Now obviously I believe he is flat wrong in his religious viewpoints, but from what I understood him to say in English (who knows what he’s saying in other parts of the clip) – given his religious beliefs, he is correct – it IS a worse sin to blaspheme regarding “the worst evil” and encourage others to do so as well (for which there can be no forgiveness nor repentance) than to get drunk or even to kill another (a lesser evil as I understand his position).
Too bad that the phrase “Merry Christmas” has become so secularized that we forget that what it is (or should) mean is “Rejoice! Our Savior is born!” – today its just a greeting that doesn’t get much thought behind it – but I think he has it “right” as far as what the phrase should mean and I think that its sad that an angry man who is for all appearances trying his best to stir up hate and division has managed to do a decent job of explaining what it means to wish someone Merry Christmas.
Gulp. There I did it. Devil’s advocate in all sense of the word. Hope the WP comment section is fireproof…..blast away!
Update: I was wracking my brain trying to figure out what had made me react to this video the way I did, rather than to immediately dismiss it because of its inflammatory rhetoric. My Aha! moment came this morning and I recalled this excellent article in the NCR by Matthew Archbold which addresses the subject from the stand point of the “hollowers” – those who want to remove the sacred from Christmas. It struck home with me and I think that’s why part of the scholar’s message resonated with me in the way that it did. Mr. Archbold’s article is here and it is an excellent read.
Politicaljunkie Mom 
Not even if an alien came! Well, at least he’s all-inclusive, no?
A dear old friend answers the phone on Easter Sunday with “Christ is Risen, Allelulia!” and on Christmas day with “Rejoice! Our Savior is born!” That’s the spirit!
It never fails to surprise me when I say it out and about how many people are surprised, as if no one has said it before. What crazy times we live in.