Lucubratrix

The Pope and Islam, Part II

Having promised (or implied) more long posts, I now feel compelled to deliver.

I'll start with a follow-up to yesterday's post, noting a further irony in some responses to the Pope's speech.

Employees of the state body that organizes Muslim worship in Turkey asked the authorities on Tuesday to open legal proceedings against Pope Benedict and to arrest him when he visits the country in November.

Muslims worldwide have been angered by remarks the pope made in a lecture last week that they said portrayed Islam as a religion tainted by violence and irrationality.

I'll leave you to decide whether that's rational, or whether more people should listen to Hasyim Muzadi:

"The pope has apologized, and that’s enough, so let’s calm down," said Hasyim Muzadi, head of Indonesia’s largest Islamic organization, Nahdlatul Ulama. "If we remain furious, then the pope will be proved correct."

Now, we all know that Christianity also has an unsavory history of forced conversions and violence; e.g., the Spanish Inquisition and the Crusades. Finally, there isn't as much emphasis placed on moderate reactions, these being relegated to the final paragraphs of news articles. That said, the response raises two possibilities: one, the Pope was correct, as shown by the violence and threats of violence; or two, moderate Muslims lack a global voice, and allow the radicals to speak for all of Islam.

posted by Just Me @ 10:41