This week, during a meeting with Catholic Church leaders in Germany, the Pope gave a talk that contained strong language against any religious motivation for endorsing or promoting violence. As part of this communication the Pope quoted a Byzantine emperor who characterized some of the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad as "evil and inhuman," particularly "his command to spread by the sword the faith."
The pontiff did not endorse that description, but he did not question it, and his words set off a firestorm of protests across the Muslim world. In the past two days since this quote was made public we have seen Muslims actually torch and burn two Christian churches in the east bank. We have seen crowds of Muslims screaming epithets of hatred and violence against the Pope and the Catholic church and we have seen others burn the Pope in effigy. In addition, all over the mid-east and parts of Europe, Muslim men and women have called for a holy jihad against Rome.
In Iraq an insurgent group threatened the Vatican with a suicide attack over the pope's remarks on Islam. According to a statement posted today (Saturday) on the Web: "We swear to God to send you people who adore death as much as you adore life." This message was posted in the name of the Mujahedeen Army on a Web site frequently used by militant groups. This message's authenticity could not be independently verified but the statement was addressed to "you dog of Rome" and threatens to "shake your thrones and break your crosses in your home."
The Saudi Grand Mufti, Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Sheikh said: "This is all a lie ... Islam is far from terrorism and was spread only through the conviction of peoples who saw the good and justice of Islam". In the past 48 hours, virtually all the leaders from every Muslim country have issued statements condemning the Pope and have demanded a retraction.
I am not a Catholic, and I have no religious reason to follow the Pope, but I do believe that using violence in the name of God, or killing people in the name of any religion would seem to be the exact opposite of what God would want from His children. However, the strong reactions from much of Muslim world to the Pope's comments would seem to be in direct contradiction to this viewpoint.
In the world today it now seems acceptable for Muslim leaders to make outrageous statements about anyone they feel does not support Islam, including statements of hatred and death directed towards the U.S. In the last couple of months, the leader of Iran actually said the holocaust did not happen and Israel should cease to exist, but that does not seem to create more than a ripple of a reaction or more than a flicker of outrage in the remainder of the civilized word.
Let me share an e-mail I received today from a man who was born in the middle-east and is an Arab by nationality. I have eliminated his name and e-mail address to protect his anonymity, but his comments seem to be a perfect summary for what has been happening in the past two days:
Dear Fox6, when a Muslim Sheikh in his weekly Friday sermon on Palestinian TV calls Christians and Jews devils, and when other sheikhs echo this hate daily on Arab TV and call for "jihad" in the sense of Martyrdom, I do not see mass demonstrations, and I never see any apologies.
I only see extremist-Muslims being further allowed to express their racist, extreme views in Hide Park in London and in NYC 4 years after the attacks, under the Umbrella of Freedom of Expression. They call for death to those who will not follow Islam and the think nothing of killing innocent women and children in their bombing attacks.
Well, the Pope´s words, whatever they meant, are protected and allowed under this same Umbrella of Freedom of expression and Muslims should learn that the same way they are freely allowed to express their views, so are others allowed too. If you want to deny this right to others, it shall be denied to you too. They should learn to live with it.
Signed: An Arab Christian.
“Terror is a pronounced state of fear, an overwhelming sense of imminent danger”. In the world we live in today it seems we are now dealing with people who are determined to make terror a constant condition for anyone who does not to agree with their outlook on life or in the way they choose to worship God.
More and more, it seems that the world is upside down, that too many people are trying to portray what is wrong, as right. We can only hope that people will continue to have the courage to speak up for what is right, and when they do, this freedom of communication will be able to be enjoyed without the resultant threat violence or imminent danger.