[the invisib1e hand]

great read.

just don't know if Islam is capable of stopping terrorism. it's been woefully mute so far.

[publius1]

I agree, this is a good, thoughtful pope, not given to mushiness and feel-good thought. But here's the question: If everyone (Israel-Lebanon-Palestine-Iran etc.) agreed about Jesus tomorrow, would the fighting end?

[Radix]

Gosh, does one have to read all of that thread/article in order to be able to comment on it?

I have been pretty much in agreement with the Vatican on a lot of political stuff for most of my grown up adult life.

I seriously depart on the Israel stuff.

I also depart when the German priest now Pope asks the stupidest question ever presented in my lifetime.

"Why did God allow the Holocaust to happen?"

This fellow ought to ask his relatives, friends, school associates, and neighbors that question. Not to mention his henchmen in the Vatican.

What a joke.

[livius]

Excellent article about an excellent and very wise Pope!

[M Kehoe]

Ping.

5.56mm

[FJ290]

For Pope Ratzinger.......

Ooops! Asia News should have said Pope Benedict XVI.

[conservativecrowfest]

The pope condemned Israel today istead of condemning radical islam who started this entire confligration in the first place. He is wrong. All I see is "Sweet-talking" to islam to protect the vatican from a terrorist attack.

[AncientAirs]

Thanks. Great article - about both Benedict and Islam.

[docman57]

Wishfull thinking at best.

[UnbelievingScumOnTheOtherSide]

And here we find a crucial sentence: “This message is conveyed to us unmistakably by the quiet but clear voice of conscience.” “Only through recognition of the centrality of the person,” the Pope goes on to say, “can a common basis for understanding be found, one which enables us to move beyond cultural conflicts and which neutralizes the disruptive power of ideologies.”

Sorry, but conscience and centrality of the person are 180 degrees opposite of Islam.

Islam is based not on conscience but submission, submission not only to the words of the Qur'an and the example of Muhammad, but also to your neighbors who are individually responsible for enforcing your conformance to orthodoxy or to "kill you where they find you." [4:89] etc.

Also, the person is not only not central to Islam, but completely irrelevant, being a mere slave of God ("abdullah"). It is the "Ummah" or the whole community of Muslim believers that is central to the Islamic ideology. And Islam without ideology is nothing since almost all of its teachings would have to be discarded.

Sorry, but Benedict XVI is still extremely naive about Islam.

[RoadTest]

"contemporary Islam is being debated and its struggle to find a place in modern society."

There is no such place in modern society. Its place is Hell.

[NYer]

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[verity]

"To avoid a clash of civilizations, Islam should distance itself from terrorist violence; the west from secularist and atheistic violence."

If he understands human nature, he must realize that this is impossible.

[ZULU]

Islam, unlike most religions, is an evil cult born in violence, spred through violence and maintained through violence.

There is no coexistence with a cult which seeks to dominate the world through violnece.

[PGalt]

Very, very, very interesting. Thanks for posting. Thanks to all contributors to this thread.

[krunkygirl]

save

I have great respect for Pope Benedict.