By: u/AntiqueBrick7490
I often find myself wondering that, because to me, Mohammed just seems like what Jesus would've been if he lived in a completely different environment.
Jesus lived under the scrutiny of the Roman Empire, which was at that time, the strongest and mightiest power on Earth. He came as a teacher to the Jews, and made it very, very clear that his teachings were for the Jews only. He didn't engage in war or have any slaves because frankly, there was no reason to. That's not why he was sent.
On the other hand, Mohammed lived in the lawless, tribalistic deserts of Arabia. He first practiced pacifism in the same way Jesus did for 14 years, until it became necessary to confront aggression with the sword.
His outcome was different than Jesus', in the sense that he was more like Nobunaga: a warrior who united the feuding tribes of a lawless nation under one banner, and so rose from it one of the greatest civilizations on Earth (leading to the Islamic Golden Age).
Aside from that, when you look into the actual raw version of Christianity without the rose-colored lens, Jesus isn't as benevolent as people make him out to be. In fact, some may say he's way worse than Mohammed.
It really comes down to one main source: the Old Testament & Jesus' approval of it. I'm sure many of you are aware of the horrors of Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy, etc. and if you're not, feel free to read some of the passages online like Exodus 21 and Numbers 31.
But if you believe Jesus is God, that means you believe he was the God of the OT, which means he did things like approving the mass genocide of neighboring nations to Israel, allowing non-Hebrew slaves to be enslaved and beaten for life, etc. And of course, the Bible also states that God is the same today, yesterday and forever (13:8)
If you believe Jesus was the son of God or one in a trinity, that still doesn't make a difference since Jesus said "I and my father are one" (John 10:30) an spoke highly of the OT Law, even going as far as to mandate his followers to uphold it (Matthew 5:17-19, also the same sermon where he said love thy neighbor) and said scripture (referring to the OT and its laws) cannot be broken (John 10:35).
There are many more things Jesus said in the NT that heavily contradict his "loving and graceful" nature that mainstream media has made him out to be, Hebrews 10:26-29 is an example of Jesus condemning people to hell eternally just for sinning once after hearing the scripture, which isn't even found in the most extreme versions of Islam.
At the very least, Mohammed, even if we take his most brutalistic form as portrayed by media, is just another war general. Jesus on the other hand literally approves for people to be tortured eternally.
I really wonder why that's the case. Frankly, I see Islam and Christianity as the same religion. Both have good in them: promotion of charity, mercy, kindness, and tolerance. And bad: permissibility of slavery and war.
This question could also go on to another branch: why is Christianity sugarcoated to oblivion but not Islam? Usually, people see Christianity in the best possible light, but Islam in the worst.
