Comments on: Contra Benedict: Taking Issue With the Pope on Postmodernity

By: Bibingioq Alexf

Bibingioq Alexf — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 08:08:00 +0000

Wonderful well this reading. More Mr Sparkle send greeting at Japan. LOL

By: Bob Robinson

Bob Robinson — Fri, 22 Sep 2006 23:18:56 +0000

The Catholic expert was the Very Reverend David M. O’Connell, C.M., President of The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.. A very good representative for the Catholic position.

And yes, they both did point out that the violence that has been birthed from the Pope’s remark was not justified in any way, though the Islam expert asserted that words themselves are “violent,” which I found to be faulty logic.

I agree that there is a irony that people in Islam reacted to the Pope calling them violent with threats to slit his throat!!

By: marcdav

marcdav — Thu, 21 Sep 2006 16:59:59 +0000

Hi Dan,

Please read my first post in this series where I specifically speak against Muslim extremists who want to kill the Pope just because he said some things they don’t agree with. But we have to also be clear about the history of the Christian church, both Prostestant and Catholic, which has a lot of blood on its hands too.

By: Dan E.

Dan E. — Thu, 21 Sep 2006 13:13:18 +0000

I wouldn’t expect NPR to be a voice of fairness on anything Catholic, but I can’t say I heard the debate. Hopefully the “leading Catholic scholar” asked the Muslim scholar to point out the time in history when it was official Catholic Church policy to spread the faith through violent means, as has been the case for Islam from the days of Mohammad through today.
Did the “Catholic scholar,” or NPR, point out the glaring irony in the violent threats by Muslims on the Pope’s life because of what he said?

By: Bob Robinson

Bob Robinson — Thu, 21 Sep 2006 04:02:24 +0000

Marc,

VERY PERCEPTIVE POST!!

I haven’t taken the time to read the Pope’s speech, but I was listening to NPR today–they featured a leading Islamic scholar and leading Catholic scholar debating the speech. They pointed out that the speech was mainly about the relationship between faith and reason, as you say.

As I listened to the Islamic scholar, he was winning the debate because he was pointing out the inherent flaws in the Pope’s insistence on Reason being such a great help to faith - that if we use Reason, we won’t be violent like the Muslims are. He pointed out that the history of the Catholic Church and its elevation of Reason has not resulted in a nonviolent history, but that the Catholic Church itself (and the Western Civilzations that have been influenced by Christianity) have acted extremely violently throughout history. To him, it makes no sense to say that Reason is the way to nonviolence.