Thanks for the tutorial about my ancestors. I know who the Aryans were and where they settled and so forth. Learned that stuff in third grade. And I have not "turned my back on them". You appear to have neglected a previous post of mine in which I said I'm not a religious person. Please don't view my opinions from that perspective.

Talking history is ticklish work, pal. If one allows his imagination too much freedom, his whole argument will be doomed. If you have finally chosen to desist from the kind of language you used to use, then I shall be glad to debate.

Mohammad was illiterate. He couldn't read the Bible. He knew nothing other than what an ordinary shepherd knows. The fact that in some early stage of his life he was employed by a wealthy tycoon, doesn't automatically imply that he went to the desert equivalent of Harvard University. The number of people who could read and write across the entire Arabian Peninsula is said to have been 17 at that time. If you could read a script, Arabs would look at you like you had just come from Mars. It was too great a rarity to go unnoticed.

The Quran is, therefore, not written by Prophet Mohammad. By whom, then? The second principle of the Islamic faith states: Mohammad was a messenger from Allah. [The first principle says that there is one God, and only one God.] Mohammad's new religion did not disregard the older Abrahamic religions of Christianity and Judaism. Quite the contrary: Islam was presented as a continuation of the string of monotheistic religions started by Abraham.

Your saying that Mohammad preached the opposite of Christ's teachings is, at best, a common fallacy among Christians. Pagan Arabs of that era were only slightly different from animals. The only things they knew in their lives this side of the grave were: desert, camels, and swords. Mohammad started his mission in such a troubled surrounding, and managed to make but a few real human beings out of those barbarian people. Judging by that alone, Islam was an utterly successful religion. Whether it works today as well is quite a different story.

So how's that for a start? Let's debate. Only, later on don't call me an ideologue, if you please. Because I'm not one. On this forum, I have already openly expressed my dislike of some of the things associated with Islam. Seeing that you've joined the forum a bit later than me, I'd like to know your own religious orientation, for the sake of clarity.

Peace