The Pope and the Muslims
Last week I reported an incident where it sounded a lot like the Pope was calling Islam "inhuman and diabolical" and comparing it unfavorably with the more reasoned and peaceful Christianity. My original source was an Israeli news source which interpreted the remarks of the Pope similar to the way many Muslims around the world were interpreting them.
Many wrote to defend the Pope's comments as quoting a Byzantine Emperor's remarks not as his own, as advocating reason, not violence, and not being hostile to Islam. The people who defended the Pope's comments are people I respect and in all honesty I tried seeing it their way. I couldn't. No matter how I read the Pope's comments I couldn't see them as being in any way disagreeing with the Byzantine Emperor's comments. That Emperor's comments were critical of Islam for spreading its faith by the sword and the Pope was arguing that religion should not be spread by the sword but rather by reason. This Jesuit-like argument is fine in itself, but my reading of the Pope's comments still sounded like he was saying Islam is a backwards, evil religion because it inherently spreads its faith by violence while the more enlightened Christianity doesn't. I still feel that the Pope's speech was insulting to Islam.
But that still leaves the question of what the Pope INTENDED. There is the possibility that his speech, intended, as one person pointed out, as a rather bookish lecture to a specific audience, intended a more respectful tone to Islam but the Pope's gloss over of the Byzantine quote did not convey that.
The Pope's most recent comments on the incident seem to suggest his intent was better than the results would suggest. From Salon.com:
Pope Expresses 'Deep Respect' for Islam
By DANIELA PETROFF Associated Press Writer
September 20,2006 | VATICAN CITY -- Pope Benedict XVI said Wednesday that he has "deep respect" for Islam and that he hopes his recent remarks that sparked anger from Muslims lead to dialogue among religions.
Speaking last week at the University of Regensburg in his native Germany, Benedict cited a Medieval text that characterized some of the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad as "evil and inhuman," particularly "his command to spread by the sword the faith."
"This quote unfortunately lent itself to be misunderstood," the pontiff said in comments that he repeated in several languages.
"In no way did I wish to make my own the words of the Medieval emperor," he said. "I wished to explain that not religion and violence, but religion and reason go together," he added, drawing applause from the crowd.
On Sunday, Benedict said that he was "deeply sorry" over the reactions to his remarks and that they did not reflect his own opinions. But many in the Islamic world were not satisfied.
I am willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. However, at a time when religious tensions are at a high point, public figures like the Pope really do have to be careful what they say. When Bush calls the war in Afghanistan a "Crusade," he is, in essence, mirroring al-Qaeda's call for a "Jihad," further inflaming tensions. Similarly, when the Pope quotes someone who calls Islam "inhuman and diabolical," he had better add far more qualifiers on the statement than he did in his original speech. For the record, I do not feel the Muslim anger at the Danish cartoons was justified and was, in fact, largely based on ignorance of the actual cartoons. But Muslim anger at what appeared to be a direct insult, never overtly mitigated in the Pope's original speech, seems justified to me and the Pope's clarification very much necessary.
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Catholicism | Islam | Religion
I was not clear...
Submitted by mole333 on 20 September 2006 - 11:35am.
I apologize for not being explicit. It is sad that when I refer to anger among Muslims it is interpreted as condoning violence.
Let me be absolutely clear: I think the Muslims had cause to be ANGRY at the Pope for his speech in a way that they did NOT have a right to be angry at the Danish cartoons (most of which were sympathetic to Islam or were making fun of the contest itself). I do NOT think that anyone has any right to commit violence in response to ANYONE'S words, whether those of the Pope or Bush's or anyone elses. In that I agree with you 100% and I am sorry for not making that clear.
I do not excuse the Pope for, perhaps carelessly, giving a speech that appears to insult Islam. But you are right that no matter what the insult, it is not cause for violence.
Words causing violence
Submitted by rwallnerny on 20 September 2006 - 1:02pm.
Several years ago I was in Phnom Penh, Cambodia at the time that riots broke out there. The embassy of neighboring Thailand went up in flames and some of the stores owned by Thais were being looted. The Cambodians were irate at the neighboring Thailand and were attacking and burning anything Thai related. The border between Cambodia and Thailand had to be closed. There were mass demonstrations and acts of violence. It was a real mess. They had to call in the military and impose martial law to calm things down. What caused all this? A cable tv interview by a Thai actress, where she said the Angkor Wat temples (Cambodia's national treasure) belonged to Thailand. This was just an actress making ill informed comments, but because of the power of television and the internet, her words were broadcast all over Cambodia and riots started.
It was an object lesson in how the mass media has changed everything and in particular the power of television. With there being so many new media outlets, even the least little comments can be taken out of context and used to rile people up. I mean this was just an actress, a Thai actress whose movies most in Cambodia had never seen. Yet just the utterance of the wrong words, even from her, caused mass riots because the media played her saying those words to everyone.
If a Thai actress little known in that country could almost start a war (which almost happened) just by saying the wrong thing, imagine if it was the Pope himself saying the wrong things! The Pople could wake up feeling cranky, say the wrong things in a radio address, and start a holy war. Easily. That is the power of the media, and it is part of why we live in such dangerous times.
i think it's not your fault
Submitted by morkfrombrooklyn (not verified) on 20 September 2006 - 1:22pm.
i think it's not your fault for not making it clear but the fact that that anger by Muislims was expressed through violence. But even mere anger with no violence in cases like these baffle me. As a fairly devout Catholic, I don't get angry when folks mock Jesus or talk about the evil things that people have done in the name of Christ. This would be the case even if someone quoted a medieval arab writing during the Crusades. Sometimes I laugh, especially at thia ,or, if I am having a conversation and think their views are wrong, debate them with facts. It seems to me that the way to "rep" you religion not massing in the streets over some perceived dis.
BTW, someone please close my obviously open italics.
Done
Submitted by mole333 on 20 September 2006 - 3:14pm.
Italics closed. Wish all problems were so easily solved!
Sometimes I understand such anger, sometimes I don't. As a Jew there is no question that we enjoy jokes at our own expense...but we also are extremely sensitive, some would say oversensitive, about anything that might seem like an attack.
These are times of considerable tension. Hate crimes world wide are on the rise, including in the US, plus we have the Israel/Islam conflict at a peak of violence as well as the Jihad/crusade relationship between the West and Islam. In that climate, it is amazing how little can spark anger and even violence.
It is, however, hard for me to see the frequent mass violence in the Muslim world to be reasonable. I mean burning danish pastries in protest of Danish cartoons that really were mostly sympathetic to Islam is almost as dumb as Americans burning french fries when the French refused to go along with Bush's illegal war of lies against Iraq. And committing out right violence because of these things borders on mass insanity in my book.
The Pope was wrong and
Submitted by Carroll on 20 September 2006 - 2:05pm.
The Pope was wrong and foolish to make the statements that he did. However, the killing of a nun and the general violence that has spread because of this is totally unjustified. I have had many people attack my family to my face and my recourse was never to attack them. And I am a 20 year old man; you don't get more foolish or hotheaded than us.
It just seems a little ironic to me that after the pope calls certain people violent, to protest what he said they kill a nun.
I do not think Islam is a violent religion, but all of us should be asking why this religion has radicalized so many and why is violence used so often.
I know the obvious answers; many feel trapped or have been tricked by perverted religious leaders. However, this problem has escalated so much in recent years I fear that a whole region could be on the verge of radicalizing.
We need to ask tough questions now, because if we don't we will never be able to combat radical Islam. However, those tough questions should never be as broad or ignorant as the statements that the Pope has made.
How many times does this
Submitted by morkfrombrooklyn (not verified) on 20 September 2006 - 2:43pm.
How many times does this need to be said? The POpe did not call anyone or any religion violent.
"For the record, I do not
"For the record, I do not feel the Muslim anger at the Danish cartoons was justified and was, in fact, largely based on ignorance of the actual cartoons. But Muslim anger at what appeared to be a direct insult, never overtly mitigated in the Pope's original speech, seems justified to me and the Pope's clarification very much necessary."
I'm sorry, but how is anger at that level (calling for people's death, killing people, burning chruches of fellow Arabs) ever justified? They were merely words. Benedict did not hold up an infant Muslim child a gut it in Regensburg. No person of any faith should ever be so insecure in there relationship with their religion and their God, to behave like many Muslims have at Benedict's word or those stupid Danish cartoons?
To me, this reaction illustartes how much there is wrong with Islam today and how deep the problem runs...but that's a whole other (longer) post, right?