He bears no malice, but he is a worried man

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

It is ironic that Benedict XVI finds himself accused of crude anti-Islamic prejudice after quoting a medieval emperor's opinion that Mohammed's violent teachings were "evil and inhuman".

For no pope in history has made a deeper study of Islam. Having explored every verse of the Koran, and engaged in long debates with Muslim scholars, he rejects the simplistic notion — held by fundamentalist Christians, and by the Roman Catholic Church until the middle of the 20th century — that Islam is evil. Yet he is convinced that some of its doctrines are morally indefensible.

In Benedict's view, a profound ambiguity about violence lies at the heart of Islam, arising from the Prophet's belief that faith can be spread by the sword. Mohammed, after all, was a general whose troops beheaded hundreds of enemy captives.

[...]

"The Koran is a total religious law," he wrote in 1996, "which regulates the whole of political and social life." Therefore, a devout Muslim living in the West must aspire to live under sharia law. A multi-faith society "is not consistent with Islam's inner nature".

[...]

Although he described the Muslim approach to violence as defying God-given rationality, the Pope had no intention of offending ordinary Muslims or creating media headlines.

Yet the leader of the world's Roman Catholics has done both. How could a man who is so notoriously careful with words have committed what, in the eyes of liberal society, is a diplomatic blunder? The answer may be that underlying Benedict's nuanced world view is a deep-seated fear of Islam, which crops up in the daily conversation of Italian Catholics and stretches as far north as his Bavarian homeland.

He is worried that the aggressive ethos of authentic Islam may provoke a crisis in Western society. And if the price of making that point is a "diplomatic blunder", then so be it.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml...16/wpope116.xml

[Ban Hammer 13,352]

gupt you rabble rouser you

[Trompe le Monde 1,107]

Now to be fair, it msut be hard for Muslims to be lectured about evil from a former member of the Hitler Youth

[cmartyn 0]

One would think, yes.. Again, he should just shut the heck up and stick to no rubber thingy on your John Thomas.

[mybackpages 0]

The Pope's use of a medivial document to even discuss Islam is symptomatic of the whole conflict between the Muslim world and the West. Of course the Byzantine Empire is going to have this point of view of Muslims- doesn't anyone read a history book?

So much about what the West thinks they know about Islam is rooted in antiquated and biased texts.

What is shameful is that the Pope seems to be furthering this discontect rather than seeking to remedy it by his choice of words.

[Dr_LHA 3]

So much about what the West thinks they know about Islam is rooted in antiquated and biased texts.

What, like the Qur'an?

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

So much about what the West thinks they know about Islam is rooted in antiquated and biased texts.

What, like the Qur'an?

zing!

[Fandango 1,439]

What is shameful is that the Pope seems to be furthering this discontect rather than seeking to remedy it by his choice of words.

Where are the Islamic leaders to do that? Speak up against all this brutality going on!

You can bet your sweet azz that if some renegade Catholics started killing people, the Pope would be all 'erm, we've got nowt to do with this and condemn it as against our religion'

[I'm Gone 60]

He better make sure the popemobile can withstand a car bomb.

[Fandango 1,439]

...and props to Dr lha....zing indeed

[mybackpages 0]

So much about what the West thinks they know about Islam is rooted in antiquated and biased texts.

What, like the Qur'an?

zing!

To understand the Quran takes scholarship. This applies to both Muslims and Non-Muslims.

The Quran is nneither antiquated nor biased, only the reader can bring this to the table.

Edited September 18, 2006 by mybackpages

[Dr_LHA 3]

To understand the Quran takes scholarship. This applies to both Muslims and Non-Muslims.

The quaran is nneither antiquated nor biased, only the reader can bring this to the table.

The article states that the Pope has studied the Qur'an. It is his studies of the Qur'an that have lead him to those conclusions, hence my point. Whether he has misinterpreted it, I'll leave to the scholars to decide.

[almaty 19]

what do you expect from a German Pope?

[Fandango 1,439]

So much about what the West thinks they know about Islam is rooted in antiquated and biased texts.

What, like the Qur'an?

zing!

To understand the Quran takes scholarship. This applies to both Muslims and Non-Muslims.

The Quran is nneither antiquated nor biased, only the reader can bring this to the table.

But he studied it...so what's your point exactly?

[mybackpages 0]

My point is to question through which eyes has he studied it. You can't just pick up the Quran and study it alone. It is understood only through historical context. What sources has he used to study the Quran? Often westerners use biased interpretations. CErtainly quoting the Byzantine Empire doesn't show a lot of scholarship or attempt at viewing the religion through many sources especially sources from the people who practice the religion themselves.

Edited September 18, 2006 by mybackpages