[CobaltBlue]

At the same time, he is calling on Islam to temper the passion of faith with reason.

And what makes you think they will listen?

Surely the history of the past 1400 years should disabuse you of that hope.

[spatso]

"And what makes you think they will listen?

Surely the history of the past 1400 years should disabuse you of that hope."

Well, at the same time, Benedict XVI is saying the West may have gone too far if we cannot "overcome the self-imposed limitation of reason to the empirically verifiable." And, in terms of listening, Benedict goes on to say that "the worlds profoundly religious cultures see the exclusion of the divine from the universality of reason as an attack on their most profound convictions." Perhaps an explanation why they (Islam) see us as a Godless society.

I believe Benedict is opening the door to the idea that because of the West's commitment to secularism and reason, we may be deaf and unable to hear or comprehend the deep religious commitment of deeply religious cultures (Islam). I think President Bush is driving towards the same point. When he says we will lose if it becomes a war between Christianity and Islam, I don't think he means we will lose the war of military force. I believe he means we will lose the war of faith informed by reason. If it becomes a war of Christianity vs Islam than faith and reason lose and evil triumphs.