09-23-2006, 03:24 AM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Papal call for a new crusade </b>
Nehaluddin | Secretary General, People's Democratic Front
Pope Benedict XVI has given fresh impetus to post-9/11 Islamophobia by recalling a vision of Islam which was relevant in the 14th century
Pope Benedict XVI delivered his controversial speech in Germany the day after the fifth anniversary of September 11. His recounting of a 14th century dialogue makes it difficult to believe that his reference to an inherently violent strain in Islam was entirely accidental. He has, most unfortunately, withdrawn from the inter-faith initiatives inaugurated by his predecessor, John Paul II, at a time when they are more desperately needed than ever. Coming as it does after the Danish cartoon crisis, his remarks carry dangerous portents. They will convince us more that the West is dangerously Islamophobic. And engaged in a new crusade.
For, we simply cannot afford this type of bias. The trouble is that too many people in the Western world unconsciously share this prejudice, convinced that Islam and Quran are addicted to violence. The 9/11 terrorists, who in fact violated essential Islamic principles, have confirmed this deep-rooted Western perception and are seen as typical Muslims instead of the deviants they really were.
The early conquests in Persia and Byzantium after the Prophet's death were inspired by political rather than religious aspirations. Until the middle of the eighth century, Jews and Christians in the Muslim empire were actively discouraged from conversion to Islam, as, according to Quranic teaching, they had received authentic revelations of their own. The extremism and intolerance that have surfaced in the Muslim world in our own day are a response to intractable political problems - oil, Palestine, the occupation of Muslim lands, the prevalence of authoritarian regimes in West Asia, and the West's perceived "double standards" - and not to an ingrained religious imperative.
With disturbing regularity, this medieval conviction surfaces every time there is trouble in West Asia. Yet, until the 20th century, Islam was a far more tolerant and peaceful faith than Christianity. Quran strictly forbids any coercion in religion and regards all rightly guided religion as coming from God. Despite the Western belief to the contrary, Muslims did not impose their faith by the sword.
There are innumerable verses in Quran extolling the merits of peace, and a peaceful solution to life's problems including a preference for peace over war. Quran treats Christians and Jews as "People of the Book", despite the fact that they did not accept the Prophet's message. It praises Jesus as "Ruh-Allah" - one touched by the spirit of Allah. Mary, mother of Jesus, is accepted as virgin, although Quran is equally clear that Jesus is a Prophet, and not the son of God.
In truth, the Prophet of Islam, Mohammed, never ever really called for spreading religion with the sword. Quran states in Surat (chapter) al-Nahl, v. 134: "Invite to the path of thy Lord with wisdom and good advice, and argue with them kindly, for Thy Lord is well aware of those who go astray and He is aware of those who follow true guidance." Indeed, the very next verse states: "If thou should punish (aggressors) punish only in proportion to the aggression inflicted upon you, but if ye be patient, it will be better for the patient."
Let us take Indonesia, the largest Muslim country in terms of population in the world, as an example. Historically, it is well known that no Muslim Army had ever set foot on the huge archipelago. Yet all those millions chose to embrace the religion endeared to them by Arabian merchants and sailors who had exemplified to the natives the Islamic ideals of honesty, purity and faithfulness.
Furthermore, the Pope should have realised that he lives in a glasshouse. I want to remind him of the history of the Catholic Church upon the helm of which he now sits. It was the Church that burned scientists alive, it was the Church that invented the Indulgences and Simony systems, it was the Catholic world that invented the Inquisitions, the pogroms, and all other abominations associated with its dark practices against critics and opponents, including Christians who didn't extend fealty to Rome.
The Crusades? The Holocaust? Must we re-open these dark chapters again? Do we have to remind His Holiness that in the past century alone, over a hundred million Christians were killed by other Christians in numerous wars, including two World Wars? They have themselves been guilty of unholy violence in crusades, persecutions and inquisitions and, under Pope Pius XII, tacitly condoned the Nazi Holocaust. May we remind His Holiness that he himself 60 years ago was a member of the Hitler Youth? And then how about the spread of Catholicism in South America? Was it done through the example of 'platonic love' and 'self-abnegation'?
But the old myth of Islam as a chronically violent faith persists, and surfaces at the most inappropriate moments. As one of the received ideas of the West, it seems almost impossible to eradicate. Indeed, we may even be strengthening it by falling back into our old habits of projection. As we see the violence - in Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, Lebanon - for which we bear a measure of responsibility, there is a temptation, perhaps, to blame it all on "Islam".
Pope Benedict's Regensburg speech cannot meaningfully be seen other than in the context of the invasion and occupation of Muslim lands by Western armies. He is a war propagandist for imperialism.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Nehaluddin | Secretary General, People's Democratic Front
Pope Benedict XVI has given fresh impetus to post-9/11 Islamophobia by recalling a vision of Islam which was relevant in the 14th century
Pope Benedict XVI delivered his controversial speech in Germany the day after the fifth anniversary of September 11. His recounting of a 14th century dialogue makes it difficult to believe that his reference to an inherently violent strain in Islam was entirely accidental. He has, most unfortunately, withdrawn from the inter-faith initiatives inaugurated by his predecessor, John Paul II, at a time when they are more desperately needed than ever. Coming as it does after the Danish cartoon crisis, his remarks carry dangerous portents. They will convince us more that the West is dangerously Islamophobic. And engaged in a new crusade.
For, we simply cannot afford this type of bias. The trouble is that too many people in the Western world unconsciously share this prejudice, convinced that Islam and Quran are addicted to violence. The 9/11 terrorists, who in fact violated essential Islamic principles, have confirmed this deep-rooted Western perception and are seen as typical Muslims instead of the deviants they really were.
The early conquests in Persia and Byzantium after the Prophet's death were inspired by political rather than religious aspirations. Until the middle of the eighth century, Jews and Christians in the Muslim empire were actively discouraged from conversion to Islam, as, according to Quranic teaching, they had received authentic revelations of their own. The extremism and intolerance that have surfaced in the Muslim world in our own day are a response to intractable political problems - oil, Palestine, the occupation of Muslim lands, the prevalence of authoritarian regimes in West Asia, and the West's perceived "double standards" - and not to an ingrained religious imperative.
With disturbing regularity, this medieval conviction surfaces every time there is trouble in West Asia. Yet, until the 20th century, Islam was a far more tolerant and peaceful faith than Christianity. Quran strictly forbids any coercion in religion and regards all rightly guided religion as coming from God. Despite the Western belief to the contrary, Muslims did not impose their faith by the sword.
There are innumerable verses in Quran extolling the merits of peace, and a peaceful solution to life's problems including a preference for peace over war. Quran treats Christians and Jews as "People of the Book", despite the fact that they did not accept the Prophet's message. It praises Jesus as "Ruh-Allah" - one touched by the spirit of Allah. Mary, mother of Jesus, is accepted as virgin, although Quran is equally clear that Jesus is a Prophet, and not the son of God.
In truth, the Prophet of Islam, Mohammed, never ever really called for spreading religion with the sword. Quran states in Surat (chapter) al-Nahl, v. 134: "Invite to the path of thy Lord with wisdom and good advice, and argue with them kindly, for Thy Lord is well aware of those who go astray and He is aware of those who follow true guidance." Indeed, the very next verse states: "If thou should punish (aggressors) punish only in proportion to the aggression inflicted upon you, but if ye be patient, it will be better for the patient."
Let us take Indonesia, the largest Muslim country in terms of population in the world, as an example. Historically, it is well known that no Muslim Army had ever set foot on the huge archipelago. Yet all those millions chose to embrace the religion endeared to them by Arabian merchants and sailors who had exemplified to the natives the Islamic ideals of honesty, purity and faithfulness.
Furthermore, the Pope should have realised that he lives in a glasshouse. I want to remind him of the history of the Catholic Church upon the helm of which he now sits. It was the Church that burned scientists alive, it was the Church that invented the Indulgences and Simony systems, it was the Catholic world that invented the Inquisitions, the pogroms, and all other abominations associated with its dark practices against critics and opponents, including Christians who didn't extend fealty to Rome.
The Crusades? The Holocaust? Must we re-open these dark chapters again? Do we have to remind His Holiness that in the past century alone, over a hundred million Christians were killed by other Christians in numerous wars, including two World Wars? They have themselves been guilty of unholy violence in crusades, persecutions and inquisitions and, under Pope Pius XII, tacitly condoned the Nazi Holocaust. May we remind His Holiness that he himself 60 years ago was a member of the Hitler Youth? And then how about the spread of Catholicism in South America? Was it done through the example of 'platonic love' and 'self-abnegation'?
But the old myth of Islam as a chronically violent faith persists, and surfaces at the most inappropriate moments. As one of the received ideas of the West, it seems almost impossible to eradicate. Indeed, we may even be strengthening it by falling back into our old habits of projection. As we see the violence - in Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, Lebanon - for which we bear a measure of responsibility, there is a temptation, perhaps, to blame it all on "Islam".
Pope Benedict's Regensburg speech cannot meaningfully be seen other than in the context of the invasion and occupation of Muslim lands by Western armies. He is a war propagandist for imperialism.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->