Category archives for Religion

Society’s enemies: Condoms and birth control

Last night while I was watching the 2012 Presidential election debates, Mitt Romney made a comment about how the government should not control a woman’s right to contraceptives. And it got me thinking about something I’ve thought before. People use condoms for a variety of reasons. Last night I posted the following on Facebook:   […]

Was Jesus Christ Muslim?

Dr. Jerald F. Dirks, a Christian scholar who graduated from Harvard Divinity School, says that Christianity did not exist at the time Jesus Christ lived. Jesus was a Muslim because the word ‘Muslim’ means someone who submits or surrenders to God. Jesus submitted to God; therefore, He was a Muslim, according to Dr. Dirks. A […]

22 Christians arrested for praying..what is America coming to?

The United States was founded on Christian ideas and principles. Most of the Founding Fathers were self-professed Christians, and one of the issues they were most concerned about is a very Christian principle: that of freedom from tyranny. They did not want to be tyrannized by Britain and unfair tax laws. They wanted to be […]

I’m anti-Zionism, not anti-Jews

Many people confuse between supporting the Palestinians’ right to Palestine with being anti-Semitic or anti-Jew. For me, this is not true. I am anti-Zionism, the movement founded by Theodor Herzl, not anti-Jew. I am not racist, and do not appreciate racism in others. The average Jewish person is the same as the average Canadian, the […]

Love thy neighbour…but how?

How can we love our homeless neighbour? We can look directly at them and smile when we pass them on a crowded city street. That doesn’t cost anything.   How can we love our Muslim neighbour? We can read the Quran and try to understand their religion better.   How can we love our black […]

He Talks To Me, Too: Organized religion, sex addiction, and the life of a young girl

My second book, He Talks To Me Too, found at https://jaclynhollandstrauss.com/my-writing/canadiannorth-american-culture/, has just been started, but it is going to be a look at organized religion. The metaphor of an island is going to be used to suggest a church that has a lot of rules and regulations. A young girl, Catherine, joins a community of […]

What is your God like?

I believe very deeply in God even though my actions do not often correspond with my beliefs. I have strong beliefs in what His character is like. I might be wrong, but here are some of the characteristics I believe He possesses.   I believe He is very practical. He knows we are not perfect. […]

Ramadan: Why do people fast?

  Since Ramadan is ending over the following weekend, I thought I would take this chance to talk about fasting, and its spiritual implications. When I was Mormon, I used to fast once a month and I gave my testimony of my belief in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. So I know […]

Burkas and tight skirts (Part 2): Think of God, not which gender is right.

Not every sin has the same negative consequences. The fewer sins we commit, the happier we are, but some sins are worse than others. Sexual sin is very serious because the consequences are so enormous. The simplest life is the happiest. That means someone grows up, gets married at a young age, say 18, has […]

What is sin?

One popular philosophy states that we should do whatever we want as long as it does not hurt anyone else. However, along the lines of what I was saying in this week’s religious section, what about hurting ourselves? I define sin as searching for happiness in the wrong places. We all want to be happy […]

Should Canadian girls date Middle Eastern guys? (Part 2)

There are three more reasons why I think Canadian girls should date Middle Eastern guys. One is that they are religious. As I have shown in other blog entries, there are a lot of similarities between Christians and Muslims. I have noticed among my many Mormon (and Muslim) friends that people who have strong religious […]

Decision making: God or the devil?

Every day we make tons of decisions. What I think we tend to forget in the rush of everyday living is that even the smallest of decisions we make is guided by a certain power. That power can be good or it can be evil. Some decisions are obvious in their potential to do harm. […]

Are you going to heaven?

Recently, ABC News conducted a survey, the results of which focused upon how many people believe they will end up in heaven. Almost 9 out of 10 Americans think they are going to achieve that wonderful reward. Muslims believe in Heaven. Mormons believe in Heaven. Mormons believe that there are 3 levels of heaven, in […]

Burkas and tight skirts: Long pants and revealing tops—Contradictions?

In the New Testament of the King James version of the Bible, I believe it is Paul who admonishes women to keep their heads covered. So that is a similarity between Christianity and Islam. It is interesting to note that many people view Paul as a chauvinist, someone who does not respect women. Some people […]

Mormons and Muslims: Sharing Christianity and Islam

I have noticed something interesting in my discussions with various Muslims. In contrast with Mormons, with whom I also have a lot of experience, Muslims do not aggressively try to interest people in their religion. Although of course it partly depends on personality and how comfortable someone is approaching others on matters of deeply personal […]

Do you have to be part of an organized religion to be spiritual?

Does a person have to be part of an organized religion in order to have a strong spiritual relationship with God? Or can it be a private thing? There are definitely advantages to being part of a group that worships God each week at an established Church. In fact, one of the criticisms is that […]

Happy July 4th: Why is the United States the greatest country in the world?

Why is the United States the greatest country in the world? There are many reasons. It is the country that was founded by citizens who loved freedom. They resisted the colonial power of England and fought to create a country of their own where class meant something you exhibited at parties. They believed, as did […]

How specific should we be when we pray?

Prayer is one of the greatest gifts that we have been given as human beings. We shouldn’t take it lightly and should pray multiple times a day. That might even be a cliche by now, but it is true, as cliches tend to be. Since prayer is such a gift, we should share it with […]

Can a rich person enter heaven?

The Bible says that it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into heaven. What does this mean? Does it mean that being rich is bad? I don’t think so. I think that God loves us all so much that He wants […]

Do you believe in the devil?

The Chinese believe in two concepts called yin and yang. They are opposing forces, and they believe that both are necessary for a person to be their healthiest. Christians believe in both the existence of good and evil. We believe that Jesus and Satan were brothers. Each son gave God the Father a plan for […]