I WISH PEOPLE WOULD READ WHAT THE POPE ACTUALLY SAID AND MAKE SOME ATTEMPT TO UNDERSTAND IT!!!
http://zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=94748
He WAS NOT DISCUSSING THE USE OF VIOLENCE FOR RELIGIOUS PURPOSES!!! He was not discussing Islam at all!!! He was discussing: "Faith, Reason, and the University" ... and stated as part of his conclusion that "...theology rightly belongs in the university and within the wide-ranging dialogue of sciences..." and that "... the world's profoundly religious cultures see this exclusion of the divine from the universality of reason as an attack on their most profound convictions."
His final statement was, "It is to this great logos, to this breadth of reason, that we invite our partners in the dialogue of cultures. To rediscover it constantly is the great task of the university." The "cultures" he was referring to had little or nothing to do with Islam - he was talking about the clash of "empirically verifiable" vs. "theology" cultures, as he earlier had said, "A reason which is deaf to the divine and which relegates religion into the realm of subcultures is incapable of entering into the dialogue of cultures."
He is being excoriated for using a quote from over 600 years ago "-- by the erudite Byzantine emperor Manuel II Paleologus and an educated Persian on the subject of Christianity and Islam, and the truth of both.": "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." The Pope made clear he was quoting an ancient conversation. He made clear that this is NOT HIS words, but that of the Byzantine emperor, and that emperor then went on to make a "... decisive statement in this argument against violent conversion is this: Not to act in accordance with reason is contrary to God's nature."
The last sentence was the whole point that the Pope was making during his whole presentation: Not to act in accordance with reason is contrary to God's nature. It was one of his many starting points for his theological discussion of "Faith, Reason and the University", part of his conclusion being, "...We will succeed in [broadening our concept of reason and its application] only if reason and faith come together in a new way, if we overcome the self-imposed limitation of reason to the empirically verifiable, and if we once more disclose its vast horizons. In this sense theology rightly belongs in the university and within the wide-ranging dialogue of sciences, not merely as a historical discipline and one of the human sciences, but precisely as theology, as inquiry into the rationality of faith. Only thus do we become capable of that genuine dialogue of cultures and religions so urgently needed today..."
The reaction to the very profound things the Pope said illustrates several things. One of them is that the people are completely incapable of understanding the profound, and that Western universities have fallen short in their education responsibilities, including in their education of the NYSlimes' reporters and their readers who can't bring themselves to acknowledge that they don't know everything. Another is this illustration that people should not be given access to specialized knowledge and discussion, whether that be theological, political, or scientific, without thorough and accurate filtering. Yet another, but by no means the final, is that biased people always misunderstand what even the finest communications expert says.
My take is the Pope's major point of this address is that ALL of the profoundly religious cultures whether they be Christianity, Islam, Jewish, Hindu, etc., should not be marginalized by being snootily looked at as a "subculture" not worthy of inclusion in the university environment, and that the university "culture" must engage in reason with the religious "culture".
Well, in all fairness, it wasn't about jihad alone, but it wasn't about secularism all alone, either. He started with an analysis of Islam's rejection of reason, support for coerced conversion, and different concept of God ("who could just as easily order idol worship"), and asked Muslims and other religions to dialogue on the basis of honesty about their positions.
It should be, as many have said, a golden opportunity for Islam to show that, contrary to 1400 years of appearances, it is not violent and repressive at root and core; but instead, it is determined to run forth and prove that it richly deserves all the negative things said about it.
Yes, of course, you're right. But you see, the problem is that I, like so many of my fellow Americans, am up to "here" with Islam. I've had enough of this religion, this religion of disdain, derision, hatred, and violence for those who will not convert. And so, you can see why so many have had a quick and perhaps less than thoughtful reaction to the news.
This Pope's only sin seems to be that he actually had the guts to speak the truth about Islam even if only through an indirect argument and a reference to a quote from the distant past. Regardless of whether the Pope actually agrees with the premise is immaterial, at least from a political perspective.
What does matter is that he uttered the truth about Islam. And that's what Islam cannot tolerate, and hence the angry reaction.