Monday, September 25, 2006

One cherry-picked quote taken out of c context can destroy reason, and Pope Benedict XVI is learning that the hard way now.

In a speech he gave at Regensburg University, where he taught theology from1969 to 1977, the pontiff spoke about how Christianity is tightly linked to reason and that God’s nature was in reason. Therefore those who act without reason are acting contrary to the nature of God.

The pope quoted Emperor Manual II Paleologos, a 14th century Byzantine emperor, from his dialogue with a Persian scholar on the truths of Christianity and Islam.

The emperor touches on the theme of the Islam jihad (holy war) making the central question on the relationship between religion and violence with these words from Manual II.

The pope quoted, “Show me just what Mohammed 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.”

This is the quote that has enraged the Muslim world. Muslim fanatics, egged on by the media, have come out of the woodwork and demanded the pope’s head on a silver platter. A Turkish lawmaker compared Pope Benedict to Hitler and Mussolini. The Mujahideen’s Army movement in Iraq has targeted the pope for a suicide attack. A Somalian cleric has called for Muslims to hunt down and kill the pope. Al Qaeda militants have declared war on “worshippers of the cross.”

Television news has broadcasted images of protestors burning an effigy of the pope in Basra. Muslims extremists in Cairo, Egypt firebombed five churches in the Palestinian territories. Of course, let’s not forget Sister Leonella Sgorbita, the nun who many speculate was killed in retaliation for the pope’s comments.

It’s nice to see that Islam has progressed so much since the 14th century. Emperor Manual II Paleologos would feel right at home as if nothing has changed since his time.

What people keep missing is that the comments that caused this controversy were the emperor’s words – not the opinion of Pope Benedict. The pontiff simply quoted the emperor to show that religious conversions through violent means are not reasonable and are contrary to the nature of God. But the problem is that radical Islam has always given the world only two choices: convert or die.

We were reminded once again of this in August when two Fox News journalists, Steve Centanni and Olaf Wiig were kidnapped in Gaza by a Muslim terrorist group. The two men were forced at gunpoint to declare that they have converted to Islam.

What is ironic about the whole pope controversy is that Benedict XVI’s speech was meant to inspire peaceful, interfaith dialogue, and to speak against all types of violent, religious fundamentalism. But that doesn’t fit well into a 30 second sound bite.

Pope Benedict has noble goals. He wants to initiate a dialog with both Christian and Muslim leaders. He wants to see them work through their basic fundamental differences and inspire both sides to become closer together as worshipers of God.

But, instead, the pope ran into an iceburg that’s now trying to sink his ship. The quote that caused the pope so much grief was only two lines out of an eight page speech.

The lines were purposely picked out to make large blaring headlines by people that have no love for God or the religions that worship him.

So, for the sake of media sensationalism, we get a dead nun, firebombed churches, death threats, and the threat of a religious war.

It’s nice to see journalistic integrity in full swing. The media took a quote from a speech out of context and then demanded an apology from the very person who they misrepresented.

The pope has tried to apologize to anyone who was hurt by his comments, but his apology has not been accepted. Instead, extremist violence and animosity on both sides have continued – which was what Benedict XVI was trying to put and end to.

Dan Sealana contributed to this article.