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« on: January 09, 2015, 02:29:42 PM »
Salam,
Previously, I became close to a co-worker who firmly believes Jesus is God. To avoid controversy, I never challenged her view. Additionally, we probably shouldn't have been discussing religion in the workplace, so I was the one who chose to remain silent and listen to her. She related many other stories from the bible, and she tried to do good so we had plenty in common except for the one concept of Jesus as God. She is a very religious person and very active in her church. I can say one thing, however. Not that she will be punished or that she is wicked, but that she has some personal struggles which came to affect me in the workplace. She had some workplace behaviors that eventually caused tension between us. I always tried to be patient with her. Let's just say she wasn't always at her professional best, and sometimes just plain unprofessional to a high degree. This is where I think her worshipping of Jesus failed her. I'm not a Quran expert nor "quoter" but I remember reading in the Quran the verse where God says that prayers to idols do not get to Him. So if my co-worker prays to become a better person, I am sure there can be pronounced limitations considering she is directing her prayers to a human being. About a month ago, she was transferred to a different area of the company, and I was relieved. She was devastated and cried dreadfully because she liked working where I work. Nevertheless, she caused some serious problems due to her unprofessional behavior. She was never told the real reason for being transferred by her supervisor. I had nothing to do with it because I remained silent, but I later found out that upper management was aware of her behaviors. Now, she can be considered much more religiously devout than I, yet in this instance of her life she was shaken miserably. Overall, I wouldn't call her wicked, but some of her actions were wicked and hurtful. So she's made her professional life hard for herself. God hasn't done it, she did it to herself. Whereas, God would probably help us be better employees, but if we worship Him, of course.
I would like to add that my co-worker is very well aware of religions that do not acknowledge Jesus as God. Right after my conversion to Islam, I once inadvertently mentioned to her that Muslims regard Jesus as an important prophet, and I had to endure a defensive lecture from her as to why Jesus is God and not a prophet. Again, because she's so terribly passionate about her religious views, I listened to her as patiently as possible. My point is that she is aware of the message that Jesus is not God, but she refutes it through and through. She may have to answer to that. I wouldn't call her wicked even in this case. For some reason her heart and mind cannot open to the idea. She's answering to this in this life in some ways though, and whatever way she will have to answer to God she is bringing that on herself as well. As far as people that are absolutely oblivious to the truth about Jesus, I think God is merciful. Sadly, wickedness takes hold though, unless we strive to be led to the path of truth. No matter how na?ve we may be in matters of religion, not worshipping God alone has consequences. You may call it a punishment, or something else, but there's something hurtful about not turning to God whether done consciously or not. I can vouch for that in my own life. Only God knows why some people are blinded to the truth.