i belive that this talk of the one world religion means the end of times "the antichrist" if you are a christin then i suggest that you be prepared and have get as many people as you can too convert too christan faith there isnt much time left dont be like the people on the Titanic thinking that you have plenty of time left or that you are in no danger get saved and get your butt too heaven for the battle of Armmagton god needs more troops we must defeat the enemys of christ the lord and we will.!!!

Samuel, Bedford , PA USA

Fore the record, let's us normal people clear up some basic facts for the religious crowd, be they Jewish, Muslim or Christian:

(1) the sun doesn't stand still in the sky because the sun doesn't revolve around the earth;

(2) people don't ride flying horses ANYWHERE, let alone to Jerusalem;

(3) virgins don't have babies.

Somebody please tell "King" Abdullah and that Nazi Anti-aircraft gunner that there are millions of us raising nice, normal, rational families without the benefit of made up crap, whether that crap be about Moses, Mohammed or a certain Jewish zombie carpenter.

P.S. To the Xtians: it ain't about how he died. It's about how he LIVED. Difficult, I know, but work at it.

Bob Kncaid, Beckley, WV, USA

Nathan you are talking about FAMILIES, not a whole State, even if each person who belives in God is considered part of the christian family, Mr Allam trid for years to shock the public with his books, and now he gained his goal with what should be a private and familiar moment. As I already said, i welcome him in the christian cmunity, but as a student interested in the problems of the muslim comunity i must blame his decision

Alice , venice, italy

If the Saudi king had said any group of people OTHER than "atheist" there would have been an uproar. Last time I checked, 15 of the 19 hijackers on the 9/11 attacks were both Saudi and Muslim. Not a single atheist. Anyhow, these talks would accomplish little since I'm sure all sides will refuse to acknowledge any faults of their own and it looks like at least one guy has issues being able to see other human beings as equal.

Liz, Brooklyn,

Baptism is a public declaration of one's faith.

It is a proclaimation of one's acceptance of Christ as personal saviour by the individual. A statement of acceptance of that individual by the faith community and creedal affirmation of the faith by that community.

It is supposed to be high profile. It is supposed to be a public event. It is supposed to be a witness to the joy of the individual in his/her new found freedom and of the community in gaining a new family member.

Families celebrate marriages and the births of children i.e. when families unite or grow.
Why not Baptism - to the family of faith it is a similar happy event!

Nathan, Inverness, UK

I'm not criticizing Mr Allam for his choice, i'm just wondering why he choose such an important day, i don't belive his conversion was something he felt deep inside,i belive it' more a metter of poularity, never forget that Mr Allam provides italian readers with a new book every year

Alice , venice, italy

Muslims routinely are triumphal about any conversions that come their way, even when those conversions are forced. Why do they whine when Muslims convert to Christianity? Why do they kill those who do? Why are Christians persecuted in Muslim countries? People have the right to be any religion they want and the Pope has the right to baptize. Muslims need to get over it and enter the 21st century. If this derails talks then they would have failed anyway. Freedom of religion is not negotiable.

Jim, Washington, DC

"The Shoura Council last week defeated a proposal to adopt a law promoting respect for other religions and religious symbols. The proposal that would have had the blessings of the Arab League was opposed by 77 members and supported by 33.

In his reason for voting against the proposal, one member told Al-Watan newspaper that the negative effects might outweigh the positive ones as it would give legality to nonmonotheistic religions and consequently it would allow the building of houses of worship for those religions in Muslim countries."

http://www.arabnews.com/?page=7&section=0&article=108283&d=27&m=3&y=2008

Alan, edinburgh,

Simon, you are right in saying that faith is a personal matter, however in my Christian walk, I try to follow in the footsteps of Jesus; he criticized the religious people of his day for their wrong beliefs and he quoted scripture while doing so: Matthew 15:1-9 (against the Pharisees), John 4:22 (against the Samaritans). Of course, with all the good he did, he still got nailed to the cross.

If Jesus were alive today, wouldn't he warn people of false beliefs still ?

If you are a Christian, you should know that true Christians do not fight human beings but wicked spiritual forces who are out there deceiving people, as plainly stated in Ephesians 6: 10-18.

Of course, many Cristian organizations have brought shame to Christs' name, because of their evil actions (Crusades, forced conversions, etc) as they tried to establish temporal power, but Jesus has an answer for them: Matthew 7: 21-23.

I wish you the best in your spiritual walk.

carmine cicchiello, adelaide, australia

There'd be no need for "interfaith talks" if there were no faiths to divide people.
No gods, no heretics, no dogmas, no fundamentalists, no fatwahs, no inquisitions, no veils, no circumcisions, no excommunications, no exorcisms, no miracles, no martyrs.
Oh, what a wonderful world ...

alan, germany,

As a member, and a proud one, of one of the faiths mentioned here, I simply regret that we're taking steps backward in having inter-faith dialogue, when surely the holy grail (if you excuse the terrible joke) is dialogue in the absence of the preconceptions of faith.

I believe it to be possible with most nations, and would be happy to see those who cannot conduct talks without taking explicit textual religious guidance excluded from grown-up international dialogue. To me, the bizarre invoking of biblical/quaranic texts (see below) has the power to make even the most rational people seem, well, nuts.

Simon, London,

Let's get back to basics.
1. Religions are man made. Many are political, some
opportunist; a few like scientology are downright
evil.
2. Faith in the supreme being (Allah, God, The Allmighty)
is personal and individual. It needs no intermediary
including popes, scholars, theorists.
3. Faith is not religion. The two things are mutually
exclusive.
4.. If there is one supreme being - one life force then, having
different, factional, competitive religions is absurd and
wrong logically.

King Abdullah has already done a great deal to introduce
tolerance, compassion and A Saudi Arabia looking outwards; taking its place on the world stage.
We should recognize he is faced with a complicated balancing act. Not alienating society factions while updating and modernizing.
He should be supported and encouraged.

Leigh Vernier, Weybridge, UK

The Judeo-Christian God is not the same God of Islam.

The Judeo-Christian God is called Jehova (Yaweh), the God of Islam is called Allah (the moon god of the Kaaba) who is some other spiritual entity trying to pass himself off as the Judeo-Christian God (2nd Corinthians 6:14-16)

The Jewish people of the Old Testament accessed God through the Aaronic priesthood (the Levites); however today without a Temple and Levites, they are on their own (Romans 9-11)

Christians access God through Jesus (John14:6) "...no one goes to the Father except by me"

Members of all other religions are accessing other spiritual entities, because God is only accessed thru Jesus as stated in John14:6 in 1st Timothy2:5 in Colossians2:8,20 and etc

Islam teaches a different Jesus and a dfferent gospel (2 Corinthians11: 4)

Muslims claim to respect and love Jesus; Jesus said: "whoever loves me will obey my teachings" (John 14:15,21,23)

Which of Jesus' teachings ( Matthew 5,6) do Muslims obey ?

carmine cicchiello, adelaide, australia

Hi! I am both troubled and saddened by the religious conflicts in the world today. If a person was to step back, listen to several different religious speakers of the various religions that worship God, and then analyze the 'works that they do', this person would quickly see, that there is no God in these people. Satan has taken a hold of the world's religions.

We are told to love and forgive; show kindness even unto our enemies; pray to God for true wisdom and not rely on the deceit and vanity of religious teachers or courts of law; and most of all, accept the persecutions of the world in peace, while we remain stedfast in righteousness. Does not God feed and clothe the godly as well as the ungodly? Are we better than God?

The Christian religion teaches that we will return to the days of Noah. Look around you. Listen to the television 'big mouths'. Watch people around you, and listen to what they speak. Are we not 'on the edge' of this return? Murder and immorality abounds.

Thorwald Johansen, Thunder Bay, Ontario

Ahmad, I thought most of the deaths in Iraq were Muslim on Muslim. While Muslims claim to respect Jesus, they don't actually study his words as revealed in the Gospels even though the Qur'an instructs them to do so.

william, Northwood, UK

In my view the Christian faith at this point of time is more fundamentalist and terrorist but in a more subtle and organised way than Islam..There may be a few terrorists that defame Islam by their actions but there are governments from the Western democracies who engage in killing of tens of thousands of Muslim civilians in places like Iraq in the garb of freedom and democracy.Muslims regard Christ as a rightful prophet almost the same level as Prophet Muhammad while Christians have always reserved titles as Impostor, evil and other animal sounding names towards the Muslim prophet.Yes, there are freedoms in Europe but don't forget that European states have other big brother mechanisms

Ahmad, London,