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To: PeterFinn; Unam Sanctam
Ratzinger said that a universally valid "natural law" is far from being recognized today by all cultures and civilizations..."

The problem is that Islam does not recognize reason, and in fact, has a concept of God that is radically different from the Judeo Christian concept. The Islamic "God" is an unpredictable, arbitrary being who may decree one thing at one moment, another thing at another moment, and cannot be understood by reason because his actions are not predictable. Even science is impossible, because the Islamic god could, at any moment, decide to completely upend the laws of the universe and do something else entirely. In fact, there are no laws and no natural law, because this would mean that their god was "bound" by something.

The Jewish view is a God who has order and reason within Himself, whose world reflects this, and who made a covenant with man essentially agreeing to maintain the law of life, the natural law, forever in the universe. Acceptance of the moral law (that is, how the created is suposed to react to creation and other creatures) was man's response.

But the Islamic god has no law, establishes no law of nature in the world, and all law comes as a form of positive law, that is, specific instructions created by man (the fatwas of the mullahs) based on a sort of manual to be found in the sayings of Mohammed. So law is given or imposed, but is not part of the universe and human nature. This is the crux of the difference between their view of society and ours, leaving aside, of course, the fact that they worship a false and even demonic "god."

8 posted on 11/26/2007 2:34:26 PM PST by livius
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To: livius
the Islamic god could, at any moment, decide to completely upend the laws of the universe and do something else entirely.

That's an interesting point ... Interesting because I've seen folks argue that precisely this has happened, more than once. It wasn't islamics so arguing.

9 posted on 11/26/2007 2:37:50 PM PST by ArrogantBustard (Western Civilisation is aborting, buggering, and contracepting itself out of existence.)
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To: livius
I do believe that Pope B16 method to dealing with this letter from 138 Muslim scholars is based on the position that there are way too many differences between the God of the Jewish/Christian scriptures and the Muslim God. Also this Pope is not only a philosper but also an historian combined with theology to boast. Plus he sees what is really going on with Christians in the Muslim countries.
14 posted on 11/27/2007 5:36:33 AM PST by Biggirl (A biggirl with a big heart for God's animal creation, with 4 cats in my life as proof. =^..^=)
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