Dumb like a fox, that Holy Father.
Posted on 09/22/2006 12:23:51 PM PDT by Dark Skies
Hearing pundits and spinmeisters opine that Benedict XVI had not mastered the skills of media management was a reminder that in the world of appearances, papier mâché figures usurp in surface what they lack in depth. Contrary to his detractors, the pope is dealing in the real world.
The leader of the world's most ancient institution, one with an unbroken continuity that spans over two millennia, and a memory to match, took a stand with his report of the dialogue between Byzantine Emperor Manuel II and an "educated Persian" on he subject of Islam and jihad.
That dialogue occurred in year 1391. There is a context, which only ignoramuses could suspect the pope of not having taken into full account: in those years, the Ottoman Turks crushed and overran the Serbian kingdom, the Muslim warlord Tamerlane broke the back of the Persian empire and occupied it, the empire of Bulgaria was destroyed by the Ottomans and incorporated into their empire.
The Muslim jihad was threatening the whole of Christendom, and was devastating Muslim lands as well, such as the anciently civilized Persia. To broaden the perspective, add that in short order, the Islamicized Mongols were to besiege Moscow, crush a Hungarian-German army in Central Europe, occupy Bosnia, besiege, sack, and slaughter New Delhi, and take Syria -- even before the 14the century expired.
Politics is theology diluted. The pope's admonition to "be obedient to the truth" is the core of the civilization built by Jerusalem, Athens, and Rome. His mention of the Muslim doctrinaire of "Zahirism," Ibn Hazm of Cordova (d. 1064) who, he recalls, went so far as to state "that God is not bound even by his own word, and that nothing would oblige him to reveal the truth to us. Were it God's will, we would even have to practice idolatry," ought to be taken seriously -- Ibn Hazm, after all, was a noted theorist of jihad.
Contrary to the naïve souls of unbounded cleverness, the pope is not trying to be nice, or to "sell" his doctrine like a Madison Avenue salesman. The dialogue he reports on takes place "in the winter barracks near Ankara." There is a war going on. It is not a war "on terror," it is a war on jihad and an Islam that has, for all practical purposes, throw its lot with the jihadis, or at least never clearly and practically distanced itself from jihad. The emperor wrote the dialogue "during the siege of Constantinople between 1394 and 1402." Ideas have consequences. The denial of human reason and the denial of faith go hand in hand to promote inhumanity. The West cannot defend itself if it believes in nothing. "God is not pleased by blood, and not acting reasonably is contrary to God's nature," Benedict XVI reminds us -- but what is Al Jazeera doing when it gleefully airs mass consumption snuff movies of jihadis beheading "infidels"? Jihad is the pathology of religion just as Nazism and Bolshevism were the pathologies of reason and modernity.
The irrational nihilism of modern jihad is what produces the torrents of blood spilled by the jihadis throughout the world. "We love death more than you love life," they proudly proclaim. In promoting a culture of life, of faith and reason, the pope is boldly taking the moral and intellectual leadership that has been sorely missing in our response to the war declared on us on September .
"We love death more than you love life," they proudly proclaim. In promoting a culture of life, of faith and reason, the pope is boldly taking the moral and intellectual leadership that has been sorely missing in our response to the war declared on us on September 11.
Somehow the "11" is awol from the article.
"Well there you go again now, eh?" Bump.
Dumb like a fox, that Holy Father.
Doing what the Islamists do best: worshipping death in glory of their satanic cult.
Thank you for finding and posting these articles.
I think they picked the right man at the right time, just as they did with JPII. Good job, Vatican!
hehe
Yep. he realizes this is a war about religion and politics has very little to do with the resolution. Muslims are not that afraid of Bush or any other politician. They are very, very afraid of a man like the Pope since he is a man of religion. He is one very perceptive man to start pushing moderate Muslims into a dialog. They have to start talking about their fellow Muslims who are taking the religion to the extreme.
It will take a long time but this is a very smart move on his part.
This is the best commentary exposing the inane reactions in the Western media to the Pope's speech. Madison Avenue, talking points, media management, etc, that's the swamp we swim in every day. Reading those reports and the equally deep one liners here immediately after the speech, I thought at the time that we would all miss it. You know, the Pope as a pundit; Buchanan, Benedict, what's the diff, right?
I really believe very few people have actually read, in its entirety, Pope Benedict's (speech is the wrong word) intellectual instruction. The wisdom, knowledge and intelligence exhibited in this oration is remarkable, astounding for those of us used to the language and reason of modern political speech. Charles Krauthammer does an excellent job today, in explaining the concepts which lie at the core of the Pontiff's words. The fact that Islamic religious leaders are unable to see the true meaning of Benedict's premise shows how thoroughly immature Islamic culture is. Maybe it once possessed greatness but is has regressed to the level of an angry child, unable to grasp the reality of life, unwilling to accept that it cannot have its way, and without any ability to prevent its wants from ruling its actions.
As more time passes, I have come to think that the Pope really clobbered the jihadis and they have yet to realize the full extent to which they have been damaged. And on top of that, all their lunatic ravings have done nothing but amplify their image of insanity and underscore the Pope's point about the importance of rational thinking.
One of the many soon to be extinct pundits remarked last week that the Pope was "too clever by half" in his lecture at Regensburg. I thought at the time that the pundit was grossly underestimating just how clever the Pope really is...and time has borne that out.
This war just experienced a sea change...and the enemy is still oblivious.
"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." -Manuel II Paleologus
Here's another good one!
btt
He is an extraordinary scholar in the best sense of the word. Before he was elected Pope, he had wanted to retire to his home in Germany to read and write books. If you are interested in reading more of his clear, eloquent and articulate writing, I would direct you to Ignatius Press which publishes his books in English or to the Vatican Web site's section on the Holy Father. Some of the stuff linked to is administrative, but the Angelus, audiences, encyclicals, homilies, and speeches contain some great content.
Not linked to from that page is the homily that Cardinal Ratzinger gave at the Mass for the Election of a Pope. It is another masterpiece. Here is the oft quoted section:
How many winds of doctrine have we known in recent decades, how many ideological currents, how many ways of thinking. The small boat of the thought of many Christians has often been tossed about by these waves - flung from one extreme to another: from Marxism to liberalism, even to libertinism; from collectivism to radical individualism; from atheism to a vague religious mysticism; from agnosticism to syncretism and so forth. Every day new sects spring up, and what St Paul says about human deception and the trickery that strives to entice people into error (cf. Eph 4: 14) comes true.Today, having a clear faith based on the Creed of the Church is often labeled as fundamentalism. Whereas relativism, that is, letting oneself be "tossed here and there, carried about by every wind of doctrine", seems the only attitude that can cope with modern times. We are building a dictatorship of relativism that does not recognize anything as definitive and whose ultimate goal consists solely of one's own ego and desires.
I missed it (I had to go to a wedding yesterday). Is it posted on FR. I'll try looking for it, but if you have a link, it would be appreciated.
You are so right! (And thanks for posting another good one!)
THANX MUCH!!!!
I'm totally computer challenged but try cut and pasting this address www.nydailynews.com/news/col/ckrauthammer/
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