Deluded ? suits me :)

Originally posted by darkroom ↑

Good point and great question.

I can't claim to definitively know the answer but I would imagine that even spirituality is not distributed evenly amongst humans just as intelligence, empathy and the like are not evenly distributed.

I think one's upbringing must play a considerable role. I imagine that being raised in a religious, fundamentalist family would make it very difficult for a person to ever grasp any kind of spiritual reality and perhaps families that did not encourage thoughtfulness, that is, to think for one's self and genuinely ponder the meaning of life would make it difficult.

I came from a card carrying atheist family but they gave me free rein to think and experience life my way and it lead me to a belief in a God.

It also must be very difficult for a person who is somewhat educated to be confronted by religions claiming Genesis Creation is literal, the Flood of Noah is literal, martyrs of Islam get 72 virgins, and so on and so forth, one always wonders what crime the 72 virgins must have committed. And the endless would-be preachers who are so full of meaningless drivel, that is enough to put anybody off God and religion for life.

Not to mention the likes of the despotic conmen such as Benny Hinn, Jim Bakker, Jimmy Swaggart, Creflo Dollar, Kenneth Copeland, Joel Osteen, Joshua Mills and hundreds of others who are some of the most unnecessary people on this planet.

All of these corruptions of religion must inoculate people from ever accepting spiritual concepts and God. Religion is its own worst enemy.

Then there is the anti-science sentiments of religion. This is a scientific world and educated people are not going to accept dogma and superstition over evidence. As a consequence the baby goes out with the bath water, or God in this instance.

Then there is the endless waring of religions. The countless millions destroyed in the name of God. The almost complete destruction of indigenous cultures all over the planet in the name of God and conversion to Christ.

There is a very dank and ugly swamp of religion to wade through before one finds anything meaningful in religion and of course religion in a sense owns God. They have the copyright.

I think its amazing that anybody in this age genuinely searches for meaning and God rather than taking the soft option and joining one of the many junk religions.

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"It also must be very difficult for a person who is somewhat educated to be confronted by religions claiming Genesis Creation is literal, the Flood of Noah is literal, martyrs of Islam get 72 virgins, and so on and so forth, one always wonders what crime the 72 virgins must have committed. And the endless would-be preachers who are so full of meaningless drivel, that is enough to put anybody off God and religion for life."

72 virgins in Heaven? Ref: justislam
The simple answer is NO! There is no promise of 72 virgins for martyrs, terrorists or suicide bombers anywhere in the Quran.
The section many people claim promises this is Chapter (78) sūrat l-naba (The Great News). The controversy is due to the poor translation of ONE verse from verses 29 to 34.
29
30
31
32
33
34
The translation by Moshin
And all things We have recorded in a Book. (29)
So taste you (the results of your evil actions); No increase shall We give you, except in torment. (30)
Verily, for the Muttaqûn[], there will be a success (Paradise); (31)
Gardens and vineyards, (32)
And young full-breasted (mature) maidens of equal age, (33)
And a full cup (of wine). (34)
The translation by Yusuf Ali
And all things have We preserved on record. (29)
"So taste ye (the fruits of your deeds); for no increase shall We grant you, except in Punishment." (30)
Verily for the righteous there will be a fulfilment of (the Heart's) desires; (31)
Gardens enclosed, and Grape-vines; (32)
Companions of Equal Age; (33)
And a Cup full (to the Brim). (34)
We see from these 2 translations that the verse that causes all the problems is verse 33.
33
The word for word translation of this verse is,
arbic wakawāʿiba = And splendid companions CONJ – prefixed conjunction wa (and)
N – accusative feminine plural noun

arbic atrāban = well-matched, ADJ – accusative feminine plural indefinite adjective

So how can some translators get it so wrong! Well the answer is simple. Many translators of the Quran from Arabic to other languages have used the Hadith and other sources to help in completing the translations. You therefore find many translations that use stories from the Hadith to elaborate the actual Quran translations. This is clearly the case with this verse in Mohsins and many other English and other language translations.
It is therefore essential to check any controversial verse translation such as this with a true word for word translation of the actual Arabic Quran. It is clear from the true word for word translation of this verse that no such promise of 72 or even 1 virgin exists in the Quran