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| Olde Tyme Religion |
| The Regensburg Effect: The Open Letter from 38 Muslims to the Pope |
| 2006-10-18 |
| EFL- ROMA, October 18, 2006 – One month after his lecture at the University of Regensburg, Benedict XVI received an “open letter” signed by 38 Muslim personalities from various countries and of different outlooks, which discusses point by point the views on Islam expressed by the pope in that lecture. The letter came to pope Joseph Ratzinger through the Vatican nunciature in Amman, to which it was delivered by one of the signatories, prince Ghazi bin Muhammad bin Talal, special advisor to the king of Jordan, Abdullah II. The complete text of the letter, in English, has been available since Sunday, October 15, on the website of “Islamica Magazine,” a periodical published in the Unites States that holds the copyright to this document. ... A first point on which the letter from the 38 Muslims “reasons” with Benedict XVI concerns sura 2:256 of the Qur’an: “There is no compulsion in religion.” The authors of the letter assert that Mohammed formulated this commandment, not when he found himself “powerless and under threat” – which the pope maintains as “probable” in his lecture – but when he was in a position of strength, in Medina. And that he intended by this to appeal to Muslims, whenever they conquered a territory, “not to force another’s heart to believe.” ... The fourth point is holy war. The 38 signatories of the letter recall that the word “jihad” properly means “struggle in the way of God,” which is not necessarily war. Even Christ used violence when he chased the merchants from the temple. They sum up in this way Islam’s three “authoritative and traditional” rules on war: – civilians are not approved targets; – religious creed alone cannot make a person the object of an attack; – Muslims can and must live peacefully beside their neighbors, although the legitimacy of self-defense and the maintenance of sovereignty remain valid principles. So if some Muslims – they write – have ignored such well-established teaching on the limits of war, preferring to this “utopian dreams where the end justifies the means, they have done so of their own accord and without the sanction of God, His Prophet, or the learned tradition.” Well, it's "dialogue". I wonder if the Vatican's reply will be sent before or after Benedict's trip to Turkey (end of November)? (via vaticanwatcher.blogspot.com) |
| Posted by:mrp |
| #10 All taqqiya, all the time. In the midst of death fatwas for apostasy, having the audacity to claim that, “There is no compulsion in religion.” is simply an outright insult. Islam will say anything, do anything and sign any agreement to buy whatever time it takes to overthrow the West. That is all we should expect and to think otherwise is the height of insanity. We must begin a purge of all Muslims from our lands and ship them straight back to their Islamic |
| Posted by: Zenster 2006-10-18 17:38 |
| #9 What compelled these Muslim scholars to reply at all? The Pope's divisions. The Pope has said it's OK to question Mohammedanism. They know that if they don't engage in the debate, he'll turn the European population on them. Blair's latest comments and the comments from others have gotten much wider distribution than they otherwise would because the Pope has opened the debate. They are arguing for the minds, if not the hearts of the Euros. Because if the Pope can make the Euros face reality with reason, the game is up for Muddy's boys. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2006-10-18 17:38 |
| #8 We found 38 Mythical Moderate Muslims. Or 38 engaging in the taqiia thingy - you know, I spelled it wroing. I think I'll leave wroing wrong, too. |
| Posted by: Bobby 2006-10-18 17:38 |
| #7 What I find interesting: What compelled these Muslim scholars to reply at all? |
| Posted by: mrp 2006-10-18 17:27 |
| #6 I didn't bother to read it. It's just another piece of "blah, blah, blah, we aren't capable of tolerating your religion but we demand you tolerate ours". Tell it to those who care - but better hurry - their numbers are getting smaller everyday. |
| Posted by: Clkethel OHlkdj 2006-10-18 16:29 |
| #5 BS and Dielogue. |
| Posted by: Duh! 2006-10-18 16:16 |
| #4 Any chance we'll see a return letter from the Pope to the 38 idiots? Something along the lines of FOAD (but in German), I hope. ;-p |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2006-10-18 16:13 |
| #3 Mark - Yes, I read the original text at the Islamica Magazine site. While I did so, the Baron's Bloody Borders Project came to mind. Muslims have zero(0) incentive to hold themselves accountable to infidels. The signers' "Forced Conversion" argument, for instance, is simply unbelievable. One thing I've perceived from this episode is that for Muslims, Western history from a Western perspective is simply irrelevant. Western philosophy, empiricism, and social constructions have no place within the tent of Islam. What we think as members of Western civilization is seen as an incomprehensible threat to the Islamic order. Now, Pope Benedict XIV is a Western man to his fingertips - how he responds to this "letter" is going to have profound ramifications will affect the lives of hundreds of millions of people. |
| Posted by: mrp 2006-10-18 16:05 |
| #2 Even Christ used violence when he chased the merchants from the temple. Admittedly, it has been awhile since I cracked open a Bible, but I don't seem to remember Christ beheading the merchants and videotaping the corpses. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2006-10-18 15:43 |
| #1 Bill Clinton & the entire DNC could take lessons from muzzies in the Art of Subterfuge. |
| Posted by: Mark Z 2006-10-18 15:27 |