Thanks onepath for your kind advice...that was an extremely well-written reply...

I'm curious to know what brother Layth's or Edip's response would be to the "darb" issue and other such articles.

I agree that many of their arguments stem from hadiths and are a non-issue but I think in some articles they have made very valid points. Like this article on the use of the "darb" word to mean "seperate/leave"
http//www.faithfreedom.org/Articles/ArabChristian30907.htm

I only concern myself with articles which try to refute only the Koran using only Koran as evidence and not hadiths etc.

I'm a bit confused after reading the above article...who is right? Is that Arab Christian right in saying that progressive muslims have deliberately twisted the meaning of the word "darb" without any sound reason?

I completely agree that Ali Sina and many authors of those articles go over-the-top but I believe we must respond to them when they attack the Koran using only the Koran, as in the article which I linked.

I would be glad if someone could resolve the "darb" issue for me.
I do not yet believe FULLY in Islam but I don't know why...whenever I seem to discover something that contradicts Islam/Koran, I get a bit upset because I have a faint hope in my heart that Islam/Koran may really be divine, although I'm open to Christianity & Judaism as well. But since I think Koran/Islam has more evidence to its favour and makes more sense, I find myself drawn more towards it than to other faiths.

I have strong scientific reasons to believe that a God/Creator surely does exist, but when I find that no religion seems to make much sense, I get a bit dismayed. I get the feeling that God probably just created us and then abandoned us....a belief which is upheld by Deism. But I WANT & WISH that things are NOT this way..
I want to change my sexual orientation and live a happy & normal life and I think I can achieve this only with God's help...and that if this does not happen, I may die...I ALWAYS wish I was straight or bisexual..I would have been so much happier...99% of all my worries stem from this problem...I get SO UPSET when I see straight/bisexual people behave the way they behave...I get SO UPSET when I often see girls/women and do not feel sexually attracted to them....I don't seem to accept or love myself the way I am...nor can I comprehend why God probably made me this way...when He has forbidden such acts in the Scripture. Does God not care at all about homosexuals? There is no mention of lesbianism in any Scripture. Why? Aren't they humans too? And are we the way we are by choice? No we aren't. So if God is really there, I believe He should help me change completely.
And if I don't change, for me it would strongly suggest that God simply does not care....I wish God had paid more attention to homosexuals in His book. I so often think of terminating my life.
It might seem bizarre but I've decided that if I don't change in 1-2 years, I might end up dead. And on the other hand, I've already sinned and can't seem to control my physical urge at times. In short, I feel I can't be BOTH a homosexual AND a righteous person at the same time, unless I make a compromise with one of the those qualities. How I wish I was like Edip or like my brother or father. Bcoz they are all atraight. I have 3 brothers and ALL my 3 brothers are straight, INCLUDING my TWIN brother. Why me?? To be honest, most of the time I'm more bothered about my sexuality than my salvation. But I also get this feeling that if I had not been a homosexual, I would not probably have worried much about my salvation...or gave much thought to religion etc. bcoz almost all the straight/bisexual people I come across my age seem to be least interested in things such as salvation or religion, and are too busy with their girlfriends & worldly life...and I think I would have been no different.

God bless

Peace
I've written a small article and wanted to share with you all.

http//www.fileden.com/files/2006/9/14/218139/fact.fiction.pdf

I've become a member of Faith Freedom International and I hope I shall be able to prove to them to some extent atleast that Koran is a beautiful book. I've posted this article on their forum as well.

Regards

The following links say it all

http//www.faithfreedom.org/Articles/ArabChristian30907.htm
http//www.faithfreedom.org/index.htm
http//www.faithfreedom.org/Articles.htm

How correct are these guys?

The founder of this site says he will offer $50,000 U.S. dollars to anyone who proves him wrong!

Doesn't anyone think we should have a seperate section of rebuttals to deal with such allegations? A sort of anti-FFI site?

I have a feeling that many people are buying their arguments and rejecting Islam....it sometimes makes me doubt Islam too!!!

God bless