Pope vs. Islam, round one
A while ago, there was a bit of a furor over comments the Pope made in a speech in Bavaria, and now that he's visiting Turkey, his comments are once again in the spotlight. The reaction, famously, was a wave of violence. This would seem to be a bad reaction -- if you believe that someone is falsely accusing your religion of being inherently violent, reacting violently to that accusation only gives your opponents more fuel to the fire. But beyond the irony of this reaction, there is a better reaction available, one that reacts to the comments as it was actually made.
It is important to note that this quote comes in the context of a dialogue between the Byzantine Emperor and a Persian scholar. The Emperor says "Show me what is new in Islam, and I will show that it is only evil and violent."* That this is what is meant is clear from the context. It is a dialogue, not a monologue, and it is also an attempt on the part of the Emperor to show that violence and true religion should not mix. So what would be an appropriate response on the part of the Muslim community?
An appropriate response would be to show what is unique in Islam that doesn't revolve around violence, or to that Islam is not inherently a violent religion. (Christians who are accused of belonging to a violent religion have any number of quotes from the gospels and epistles to show that violence is not essential to their religion; I don't know the Qur'an well enough to know what a Muslim might cite.) Alternatively, one could argue that Islam is a violent religion, and argue that this is well and good -- this would respond to the second part of the Emperor's argument, where he writes "God is not pleased by blood - and not acting reasonably is contrary to God's nature. Faith is born of the soul, not the body. Whoever would lead someone to faith needs the ability to speak well and to reason properly, without violence and threats."
And it is these parts of the Emperor's speech that the Pope intended to support. There is no reason to think that, by quoting a Byzantine Emperor, the Pope intended to call for a new crusade, or even to indicate agreement with anything that emperor said that wasn't quoted. I sometimes quote from Nietzsche -- that hardly indicates that I agree with everything Nietzsche said, but merely that I like what he said in that quote.
The BBC has more excerpts from the Pope's speech here. I recommend reading these excerpts to understate why the Pope was not criticizing Islam, except to the extent Islam actually is violent, but speaking eloquently about the relation between reason, faith, and peace in the Christian religion.
*The exact quote is "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."
It is important to note that this quote comes in the context of a dialogue between the Byzantine Emperor and a Persian scholar. The Emperor says "Show me what is new in Islam, and I will show that it is only evil and violent."* That this is what is meant is clear from the context. It is a dialogue, not a monologue, and it is also an attempt on the part of the Emperor to show that violence and true religion should not mix. So what would be an appropriate response on the part of the Muslim community?
An appropriate response would be to show what is unique in Islam that doesn't revolve around violence, or to that Islam is not inherently a violent religion. (Christians who are accused of belonging to a violent religion have any number of quotes from the gospels and epistles to show that violence is not essential to their religion; I don't know the Qur'an well enough to know what a Muslim might cite.) Alternatively, one could argue that Islam is a violent religion, and argue that this is well and good -- this would respond to the second part of the Emperor's argument, where he writes "God is not pleased by blood - and not acting reasonably is contrary to God's nature. Faith is born of the soul, not the body. Whoever would lead someone to faith needs the ability to speak well and to reason properly, without violence and threats."
And it is these parts of the Emperor's speech that the Pope intended to support. There is no reason to think that, by quoting a Byzantine Emperor, the Pope intended to call for a new crusade, or even to indicate agreement with anything that emperor said that wasn't quoted. I sometimes quote from Nietzsche -- that hardly indicates that I agree with everything Nietzsche said, but merely that I like what he said in that quote.
The BBC has more excerpts from the Pope's speech here. I recommend reading these excerpts to understate why the Pope was not criticizing Islam, except to the extent Islam actually is violent, but speaking eloquently about the relation between reason, faith, and peace in the Christian religion.
*The exact quote is "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."
posted by Mad Jurist at 3:16 PM
2 Comments:
Goddamn spammers. But do you think it's a good sign that they actually managed to find this blog, with its readership of four? :)
I think the spam is a wonderful metaphor for the paraphrased question: "Show me what he brought to the table other than 'spread faith through swords?'" Obviously, he brought man's message of violence in the only spam mode avaiable to him. Trippin?
Post a Comment
<< Home