I have been watching the latest controversy unfold between the larger Islamic community and Western Civilization particularly the growing hostility that has been caused by the pope in his comments last week and the call for his apology.
Here is the opening paragraph from the Reuters article dated September 18, 2006:
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Al Qaeda militants in Iraq vowed war on "worshippers of the cross" and protesters burned a papal effigy on Monday over Pope Benedict's comments on Islam, while Western churchmen and statesmen tried to calm passions.
Let me sum up the situation for those who haven't been following. The pope was in Germany last week giving a speech to a group of academics among which he formerly belonged. He was talking about the relationship between faith and reason and discussing the deficiencies of western culture. During the speech he used an illustration from a dialog between a 14th-century Byzantine emperor and a Persian scholar.
His quote from Emperor Manuel II Paleologus - "Show me just what Muhammad 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"
What is ironic here is the fact that his comments concerning the muslim faith about it being inherently violent generates a violent response by muslims! If I tell you that you have a problem with your temper and you slap me across the face and curse me out might not that actually prove my point? To date churches have been firebombed, a nun in Somalia has been killed, the pope burned in effigy and there have been violent demonstrations around the world.
One other question that has been raised is how a quote from a stayed academic speech was dissected and disseminated to the muslim world almost overnight? It would seem that the news services would not intentionally put out this quote (out of context of the speech I might add) knowing it would inflame tensions between muslims and Christians, would they? It strikes me that however this was leaked to the muslim world and media sources that it must have been known the violent and vitriolic responses would result.
Obviously I do believe there are great and irreconcilable differences between Islam and Christianity. They teach differing ideas about God, Jesus, man, sin, salvation, the future and judgment. Beside being both monotheistic there are great divergences in thoughts and beliefs. As I have read this weekend on this issue many have argued that these two groups should begin a dialog to minimize their differences and focus on their shared beliefs.
Although I do not think that violence is the way to resolve these deep differences neither do I think minimizing them is the right approach either. Further, I do think that studying the history of religion can shed some light on belief systems. Interestingly neither the Catholic church nor Islam are innocent when it comes to the use of violence to promote their faith. However, there is a fundamental difference between the two. When the Catholic church attempted to convert people through the use of force it was going against the teachings of their leader Jesus, whom they claimed to follow. When Islam has attempted to convert people by force they are staying in line with the teachings of Muhammad and the Koran.
What is sad in today's cultural situation is you cannot state your observations without the fear of violent reprisal which only buttresses the initial argument but often at great personal consequence. Please don't misunderstand my reason for writing these observations. I am not saying that I support all that the pope stands for and believes. I am not Catholic and I am not writing to defend the belief system of the Catholic church. Even as I write this there are some within the Catholic church that want the pope to recant of what he has said and embrace a more egalitarian view of Islam and Christianity. That may momentarily calm the storm but it will be at the expense of faith and reason, the very topic the pope was trying to address.
(For a decent article on the controversy click on the title above. Also, the quote from Emperor Manuel II Paleologus is taken from this article.)
1 comment:
Here's the one thing I appreciate about Muslims: they do righteous indignation zealously and well, albeit misguided, violent, and bound for eternal malevolent consequences.
Here you see guys reacting to 1 bad quote. Earlier this year, they reacted with equal vim and vigor to 1 cartoon that perceptively mocked their God.
Yet, when Hollywood daily mocks Jesus, when our society routinely takes his name in vain, when our leaders defy his holiness, when our friends mock his righteousness by their overt hedonism, we as Christians all too often simply stand indifferent.
I do not advocate burning UBL in effigy, nor would I advise violence of any kind. As you correctly observe, Christ commands us to love and toward peace. However, that love and peace can be exercised at the same time our zealous, righteous indignation is stated. If we truly believe that Christ is the God of all gods, if he is truly the Holiest of holies, the most Sacred of the sacred, then doesn't it behoove us to remind those who seek to defile that reputation that God will not be mocked?
But, I guess that is just the thing, isn't it? Where Allah sends his minions to stand for him; God needs no man to exercise his justice, though he often chooses to include us in his vengeance.
The point remains: let us take a lesson from Islam - let us maintain our Christian holiness and not blithely stand, indifferent, to the mockings of the Founder of our Faith.
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