Spring Break
Mideast Muslims Must Denounce Violence
Casapulla
Issue date: 9/21/06 Section: Commentary
Dwelling on Iran for a minute, if the rest of the world were to apply Middle Eastern Muslim logic to situations, Israel should have nuked Iran a long time ago. The rhetoric spewed from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's mouth, calling for the annihilation of Jews, solidly falls into the category of offensive and may even branch out into a direct threat on another nation. Despite this, you do not see Jews rioting and burning down buildings or attacking Muslims.
Now questions arise as to whether the pope, leader of the world's approximately 1.1 billion Roman Catholics, should be commenting on other religions. The world needs to see that the pope is not just some bumbling old man who likes to dress up in white robes and wear big hats. The pope, aside from being the religious authority of the Catholic Church, is also a theologian and respected religious scholar. Pope Benedict is a well researched scholar, who has been a professor of theology and philosophy at several universities. It must be remembered that the pope did not condemn Islam, or even say that Christianity is better, or that Roman Catholicism is the only way to enter heaven. He merely was attempting to open a dialogue to prove violence has no place in religion and the tendency towards violence impedes rational thought and interpretation. I think that the reaction to his comments more than proves his point.
Making clear that he was quoting the late emperor, the pope went on to conclude his remarks saying, "The intention here is not one of retrenchment or negative criticism, but of broadening our concept of reason and its application," which he sees as necessary to have a dialogue on cultures and religions. The pope also emphasized his broader point that violence is "incompatible with the nature of God and the nature of the soul."
Fury over the pope's suggestion that Muhammad brought an aspect of violence into Islam has been met with countless calls for his death. Notorious extremist, Anjem Choudary said that the pope and all those who insult Islam would be "subject to capital punishment."
Now questions arise as to whether the pope, leader of the world's approximately 1.1 billion Roman Catholics, should be commenting on other religions. The world needs to see that the pope is not just some bumbling old man who likes to dress up in white robes and wear big hats. The pope, aside from being the religious authority of the Catholic Church, is also a theologian and respected religious scholar. Pope Benedict is a well researched scholar, who has been a professor of theology and philosophy at several universities. It must be remembered that the pope did not condemn Islam, or even say that Christianity is better, or that Roman Catholicism is the only way to enter heaven. He merely was attempting to open a dialogue to prove violence has no place in religion and the tendency towards violence impedes rational thought and interpretation. I think that the reaction to his comments more than proves his point.
Making clear that he was quoting the late emperor, the pope went on to conclude his remarks saying, "The intention here is not one of retrenchment or negative criticism, but of broadening our concept of reason and its application," which he sees as necessary to have a dialogue on cultures and religions. The pope also emphasized his broader point that violence is "incompatible with the nature of God and the nature of the soul."
Fury over the pope's suggestion that Muhammad brought an aspect of violence into Islam has been met with countless calls for his death. Notorious extremist, Anjem Choudary said that the pope and all those who insult Islam would be "subject to capital punishment."
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