By Isi Leibler
October 10, 2006
In what will probably become one of his defining speeches on Christian Moslem relations, Pope Benedict XVI ignited a hornets nest by incorporating a quotation from a fourteenth century Orthodox Byzantine Emperor alleging that the Prophet Mohammed promoted "things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached."
The Pontiff is neither naïve nor a fool. Everything that is ever said by or on behalf of the Pope is calculated and thought through to the very end. He was aware that offensive selective quotes can be found to demonize any and all religions and that his intervention would hardly represent a prescription for promoting interfaith dialogue. The Pope also knows that in historical terms Christianity would hardly qualify as a religion of tolerance.
Nor is Islam a monolithic religion. It incorporates a wide variety of interpretations of the Koran with starkly differing approaches prevailing at various periods. For example during the so called Golden Age in Spain, Christian Crusaders were brutally exterminating Moslems and Jews in the name of God, at the same time as Jews and Moslems were coexisting in relative harmony.
The Pope's intervention was designed to convey a message. He and his Vatican advisers surely knew from previous experience that this speech would enrage Moslems and lead to a disproportionate response. Yet, despite the murder of a nun, the torching of churches, and calls for the Pontiff to be beheaded, he refused to retract his remarks. He merely stated that he did not endorse the quote about the Prophet and was "deeply sorry" for the pain it caused Moslems.
The Pope was at pains to reiterate his central message that violence separates faith from reason, and that Jihad, holy wars, or religiously motivated violence were contrary to God's will. He insisted that if dialogue was to be meaningful, Christians and Moslems must be enabled to discuss their respective concepts of God and religion in an open manner.
Today, most Christians oppose violence, but many Moslems endorse the violent Jihadist upsurge and tolerate terrorism. The obscene hatred that spews from numerous Imams against infidels, and Jews in particular, inevitably culminates with violence.
The first major global manifestation of such violence in our times was the Fatwa issued against a lapsed Moslem, Salman Rushdie, calling for his execution for having written a satire on Mohammed. Since then, violence has become par for the course, with many Islamic clerics competing with one another to sanctify martyrdom to promote the faith. Moderate Moslems are intimidated and remained in the closet even when murderous Islamic bodies carry out acts of terror.
The incredible cowardice displayed by Western leaders in the face of the religiously inspired violence over the Danish cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed demonstrated the extent to which Europeans in particular, have simply capitulated to brutal intimidation. This was also exemplified when, in the face of Moslem threats of violence, the Berlin Opera House recently cancelled a performance of a Mozart opera containing offensive satiric references to Christ and Mohammed.
In this environment, it is somewhat sickening to observe Western politicians and religious leaders still monotonously repeating the false mantra that contemporary Islam is a religion of peace.
The reality is that many Moslems including those domiciled in Europe and in other democratic countries, who enjoy the privileges denied to infidels in Islamic countries, either endorse or remain silent in the face of the brutal violence, intolerance, and triumphalism expressed by their clerics and lay leaders. Shiites and Sunnis alike are subject to brainwashing by extremist Mullahs in the cult of death and martyrdom. Not surprisingly, the more impressionable youngsters succumb to the indoctrination with a number actually becoming perpetrators of terrorism. If these trends are not soon reversed, violent confrontations will inevitably erupt between Moslem minorities and the societies hosting them.
Clearly Pope Benedict XVI is concerned that, at a time when secularism is undermining Christianity, Islamic fundamentalists are making dramatic inroads and beginning to constitute a real threat to the Church, especially in Europe.
He is distressed that the world remains silent whilst Christians in Moslem countries are being persecuted. When a Moslem converting to Christianity in Afghanistan is condemned to be beheaded; when churches and houses of worship for Hindus, Buddhists and Jews are set aflame; when Moslem minorities in Europe brutally reject democratic procedures and agitate towards imposing Shariah law; when Imams openly justify and endorse terror; when Anjem Choudray, head of the umbrella body of British Moslem organizations in a rally outside Westminster Abbey, calls for the Pontiff to be executed -- Pope Benedict finally came to the realization that continued appeasement spells disaster for the Church.
The Pope's extraordinary intervention is his way of saying enough is enough. His clear underlying message is to indulge in a dialogue of faith and reason which would lead to a demand for reciprocity, insisting that Islamic countries provide other religions with the same rights Moslem minorities enjoy in Christian nations.
Where should Jews stand in relation to this? Obviously with Moslems loudly proclaiming that the Pope is a Zionist stooge and is being manipulated by the Jews, we have no reason to become embroiled in this conflict.
At the same time, any initiative which exposes the lie that Islam as practiced today is a religion of peace, warrants our support.
In this context, it was appalling that the Israeli Sephardic Chief Rabbi, Shlomo Amar, degraded us by sending a demeaning communication disassociating himself from the Pope to a Qatari Islamic cleric renowned for advocating violence and suicide bombings.
In order to curry favor and gain newspaper headlines, some of the Jewish Interfaith bodies have also been issuing bizarre statements about peace loving Moslems. The World Jewish Congress must have bewildered Pope Benedict when they recently requested him to act as an intermediary to bring about Moslem Jewish dialogue, informing him that "ninety nine percent of all Moslems reject all forms of violence". Such groveling approaches by Jews in the name of interfaith dialogue are utterly counterproductive and shame us.
Today, those Western leaders lacking the courage to publicly support the Pontiff are upholding a false form of political correctness and doing themselves a disservice. By kowtowing to blackmail and refusing to condemn Islamic violence, they are encouraging the fanatics into believing that their intimidating tactics will achieve their objective of subjugating the world.
I am no champion of Popes. But on the same grounds that we condemn the cowardly silence of Pope Pius X11 during the Holocaust, we should commend Pope Benedict for having had the courage to confront Hitler's Islamic Fundamentalist successors who today threaten civilization and Jews in particular. For that reason, on this occasion, I have no hesitation in saying "Bravo Papa!"
Views expressed by the author do not
necessarily reflect those of israelinsider.
 
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