"Even for non-Muslims it might be interesting to speculate what could be the 'true meaning' of the Pope's statement. If the Pope's remarks were intended as an invitation to interfaith dialogue, he could have addressed the issue of 'jihadism' critically and diplomatically by characterizing it -- as President Bush has repeatedly done -- as a perverted reading of Islam. He could even have noted that Christianity, too, had its dark times when it was used to justify the slaughter of the crusades, the atrocities of the inquisition, and the brutality of pogroms.
However, the fact that the Pope chose to quote an obscure 14th-century Byzantine emperor complaining about Islam's 'evils' -- 'such as his [Muhammad's] command to spread by the sword the faith he preached' -- seems to send a clear message primarily intended for a non-Muslim audience: jihadism was a problem already 600 years ago, it hasn't gone away, and it's not the policies of the West or America, and its (maybe) not even the 'occupation'.
Interestingly enough, the quote starts with the inquiry 'Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new', which could be interpreted as a challenge to the Islamic world to reform. However, it is more likely that the Pope intended to influence the debate about the European Constitution and issues like European identity, the problems of multicultural coexistence, and last, but by no means least, the question of Turkey's admission as a member of the European Union. "
Take this piece in stride and consider the source. Certainly the IsraelInsider is of the opinion that the troubles in the Middle East are completely unrelated to the Occupied Territories.
I am not a Catholic but I like this Pope and the one previous, they have spoken the truth more times than not on important issues. As political figures I like these men because their political views generally mesh well with my political and theological views.
Ah but here we have the current Pope throwing gasoline on the embers of the Cultural/Religious war the neoconservatives would have us fight.
This entire thing is beginning to look more and more like a family feud in the Appalachian Mountains circa 1900. I may think my cousin is an idiot but he keeps picking fights that I must eventually support because he is family. If the neoconservatives continue to use religious propaganda to build a case for the justness of their endeavors, if folks like the Pope continue to excite long-standing animosities, and if the regular man continues to stand by and give tacit support we will indeed find ourselves in a cultural/religious war.
When and if that actually becomes an undeniable fact and an unavoidable eventuality good men will be forced to state with regret, "it is us or them". God help us all if we have learned nothing at all from history.
Update: I think real Christians ought to speak out against false religions, to include false Christians. Therefore, if the Pope is a Christian (I cannot judge that) then he is doing the right thing by pointing out in plain terms that Islam is a false religion.
As a man that has many Muslim friends I find it difficult to understand how simply telling a man that he is wrong in his beliefs will help convert him. Then again I must admit that after many theological and historical debates with Muslims I have failed to convert even one of them. So I suppose my method really does not work either and I should not berate the Pope for asking a simple question. After all, he is right; the Middle East has regressed since the introduction of Islam.
Update II: Full text of the speech
Excerpts:
Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached.
This was a quote by Benedict of the words of Manuel II Paleologus and is possible the thing everyone is hinging on at present.
God is not pleased by blood, and not acting reasonably is contrary to God's nature. Faith is born of the soul, not the body. Whoever would lead someone to faith needs the ability to speak well and to reason properly, without violence and threats... To convince a reasonable soul, one does not need a strong arm, or weapons of any kind, or any other means of threatening a person with death....
Here is the portion everyone excludes, this is thphilosophyhy of my Muslim friends, it is mphilosophyhy. If the spirit of God is to move a man by our actions it is word and example that work, not force.
The West has long been endangered by this aversion to the questions which underlie its rationality, and can only suffer great harm thereby. The courage to engage the whole breadth of reason, and not the denial of its grandeur – this is the program with which a theology grounded in Biblical faith enters into the debates of our time. “Not to act reasonably (with logos) is contrary to the nature of God”, said Manuel II, according to his Christian understanding of God, in response to his Persian interlocutor. It is to this great logos, to this breadth of reason, that we invite our partners in the dialogue of cultures. To rediscover it constantly is the great task of the university.
This is the conclusion of the speech, between this and the opening we see nothing more than a discussion of the Hellenisation of Christianity and the influence of The Enlightenment of modern Christian thought. Essentially the Pope is only suggesting perhapserhps it is appropriate to look back to the core similarities between ideologies (East/West) before concentrating on modern gaps.
Pope; culture war
There is more to the Pope's speech. You should read it all.
ReplyDeleteI don't like this Pope, but in this speech, he's questioning if, for muslins, is so absurd to use violence in god's name as it is for Christians. The citation is used to show that for Christians is clearer than water that god and violence don't match together (although in the past that was not quite transparent for a significant part of Christian elites... remember the crusades and more recently the inquisition)
Does the same happen with Muslims?
Clearly this shows that a quite influential part of the Muslim elites want to dramatize pope's speech! And that's a thing for moderate Muslims take into account!