By Errol F. Hosein
September 18th, 2006
To Catholics, the pope is infallible. To the larger mass of humanity he is just another man who represents a particular religious sect. And as such he can make mistakes and he can be wrong on a variety of issues.
Pope Benedict was deliberate and articulate when he quoted a 14th-century Byzantine emperor who regarded some of the Prophet Muhammad’s teachings as “evil and inhuman”. This was not an error. It was plain political arrogance. Now he says that he is “deeply sorry”.
I suspect that he may be sorry, not because of what he said but rather because of the response by the world wide Muslim community. As much as the West attempts to separate religion from politics in some instances referring to it as the “separation of church and state” the more obvious it becomes that it is a fraudulent perception.
If we are to believe that religion fosters morality, how then do we respond to the social atrocities perpetuated by Christian leaders upon the masses within their respective jurisdictions who are also Christians?
It would be hypocritical to continue the charade that Politics does not have a morality of its own, it does and it always has. Obeah won’t change that. I would suggest to Pope Benedict XVI that he abandon politics because violence in pursuit of religious domination is nothing new.
A prime example of this observation is the fact the presence of Christianity, Catholicism in particular throughout Latin America was not accomplished peacefully. Generations of Indigenous peoples were slaughtered, and robbed of their languages as Christianity was forcefully imposed upon them. So it is time for the kettle to stop calling the pot black. Archbishop Gilbert knows only too well of my observations even as he believes that the Pope cannot err.
Mr. Hosein, please know that I am not Muslim, I an an Anglican, and as such I was quite offended by the Pope’s insensitivity. I have sunbmitted a letter to the various newsgroups that carry my work. This one was picked up and published on Sunday, by Arab News. I wish you could have read it. Sensitive people of all faiths should have been offended at his remarks. There should be no place to hide for people who use a public platform to deride other’s faith, by quoting someone few people ever heard of. I wonder what kind of search engine did he use to come up with this one? The half hearted apology his subordinate originally gave did not cut it either. If I say I am sorry you took offence, I am implying that it is your fault that you were offended, when that was clearly not my intention. He has since moved to a kinder position.
I personally was disappointed that world leaders of other faiths remained silent on the issue. Only the Pope of the Orthodox Church,( yes, there have been two since some Christians moved to the headquarters of the church toRome from Byzantium/Constantinople,) spoke out against it. I think all good people of God should have let their voices be heard.
Silence here, is not golden..
Well, I do agree with you to a point. Yes, the quote was insensitive; I could not believe the ignorance of the Pope! However, I don’t think it was deliberate. I read his entire presentation, have you? And to be honest, anyone with any type of intellect can tell that this was not to be offensive. Futhermore, it was totally relevant to the topic. So, to be honest, the violence et al that errupted, I see, as very unnecessary. Politics has caused this to get out of hand and now it’s reflecting badly on the islamic world. The irony is how this proved the quotation to be right! It’s thesad truth……That’s way religion and politics are two seperate entities.
My dear KFEd; circular arguments do not prove anything. The man was wrong. End of story. I have many friends who are Muslim, as well as many who are Catholic. When they meet at my house, they do not fight each other- that’s called proof by selected instances,-but more Muslims and Catholics meet at my house than the Pope and his Obscurity Manuel 11 probably met in their collective lifetimes.(Exclude his apologetic meeting of a week or so ago) . Being a world leader used to require finesse and diplomacy; now it seems to require being pigheaded and having a big mouth that seeks laughs at others’ expense. The Pope was talking to a crowd of people who may well share his views. How many women, non-whites and Muslims were in the crowd? How many non-catholics? I wish someone could give the stats.
The Muslim leaders are now apparently comfortable with his regrets, apologies and meeting, so all good peole of God should let it lie also. I will.
Religion and politics have never really been two separate entities. The heirarchal structure of western Christianity takes its cue from the stucture of Rome under Constantine. The Cricifixion was a political issue. The religious cloak came later. Listen to American politicians as they try to invoke religious symbolism in the next five weeks. All kinds of frauds will find God, and visit the prime pieces of real estate they think he calls home. He in the Vatican used a religious cloak to take a stabat Non-European people. Every African Catholic, every Asian- especially Indonesian Catholic should have quit the church. Instead, brainwashed into believing his Infallibility, many look for justification for saying he is right.