09-19-2006, 12:32 AM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Manufactured rage </b>
The Pioneer Edit Desk
Reason must triumph fanaticism
Pope Benedict XVI delivers a scholarly lecture on the importance of reason in theology at a university in Regensburg, Germany, during the course of which he quotes Manuel II Paleologus, the 14th century Christian emperor of Byzantine telling his Persian interlocutor: <b>"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." Within hours, Muslim clerics across the world use the pulpit during Friday prayers to incite and instigate violent protests, including firebombing of churches, even as the lib-left intelligentsia and 'secular' politicians pour vitriol on the Pope, demanding an unconditional apology from him. The Pope, on his part, tries to smother the rapidly spreading bush-fire by saying that he is sorry Muslims have taken offence. That, however, is not enough to silence grievance-nurturing Muslim leaders who believe that the whole world, barring their faith and the faithful, are to blame for the brutal bloodletting also known as jihad: The Pope, they insist, must offer a grovelling apology. It is entirely up to the Pope and the Vatican how they wish to handle the latest outbreak of manufactured Muslim anger, but the entire issue has once again brought to the fore the increasing intolerance that has made free speech a near impossibility lest it hurt Muslim sensitivities. More importantly, what we are witnessing is the emergence of a matrix whose framework is decided not by the spirit of open debate, discussion and deliberation but the dogmatic view that anything remotely critical of Islam must be abjured while Muslims should have the unfettered right to denigrate other religions and their practitioners. Hence, we have a situation where influential Muslim clerics openly indulge in hate speech, inspiring followers to turn into human bombs and remorseless mass murderers, as their secular patrons look on indulgingly.</b> With Islamists setting the terms of engagement and deciding what can and cannot be said from a public platform, not to mention what can and cannot be written or drawn, we are reduced to nothing more than silent spectators as Iran's President Ahmedinejad and his ilk describe the Holocaust as "Jewish fiction", suicide bombers as "martyrs" and fanaticism as "true faith".
By seizing upon what is nothing more than a passing reference to illustrate the incompatibility of religious violence and religious faith, those who are crying themselves hoarse have obviously chosen to ignore the larger message of the <b>Pope's lecture: The need to balance faith with reason without which theology and its practice are of little relevance. In a sense, this repudiation of the larger message is understandable. </b>Having allowed themselves to be blinded by the irrational preaching of clerics who believe that murderous fanaticism is the answer to the social, economic and political problems that plague the ummah, they cannot be expected to act in a different manner; we must not look forward to reciprocal tolerance from those who insist that the blood-thirsty campaign in the name of Islam should be met with tolerance. It would, however, be incorrect to blame them alone. For, equally to blame is the tyranny of political correctness, ironically defined by values that are alien to fanatical Islam, which sanctifies the criticism of all religions barring that which demands unquestioning surrender of both the faithful and the infidel<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
The Pioneer Edit Desk
Reason must triumph fanaticism
Pope Benedict XVI delivers a scholarly lecture on the importance of reason in theology at a university in Regensburg, Germany, during the course of which he quotes Manuel II Paleologus, the 14th century Christian emperor of Byzantine telling his Persian interlocutor: <b>"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." Within hours, Muslim clerics across the world use the pulpit during Friday prayers to incite and instigate violent protests, including firebombing of churches, even as the lib-left intelligentsia and 'secular' politicians pour vitriol on the Pope, demanding an unconditional apology from him. The Pope, on his part, tries to smother the rapidly spreading bush-fire by saying that he is sorry Muslims have taken offence. That, however, is not enough to silence grievance-nurturing Muslim leaders who believe that the whole world, barring their faith and the faithful, are to blame for the brutal bloodletting also known as jihad: The Pope, they insist, must offer a grovelling apology. It is entirely up to the Pope and the Vatican how they wish to handle the latest outbreak of manufactured Muslim anger, but the entire issue has once again brought to the fore the increasing intolerance that has made free speech a near impossibility lest it hurt Muslim sensitivities. More importantly, what we are witnessing is the emergence of a matrix whose framework is decided not by the spirit of open debate, discussion and deliberation but the dogmatic view that anything remotely critical of Islam must be abjured while Muslims should have the unfettered right to denigrate other religions and their practitioners. Hence, we have a situation where influential Muslim clerics openly indulge in hate speech, inspiring followers to turn into human bombs and remorseless mass murderers, as their secular patrons look on indulgingly.</b> With Islamists setting the terms of engagement and deciding what can and cannot be said from a public platform, not to mention what can and cannot be written or drawn, we are reduced to nothing more than silent spectators as Iran's President Ahmedinejad and his ilk describe the Holocaust as "Jewish fiction", suicide bombers as "martyrs" and fanaticism as "true faith".
By seizing upon what is nothing more than a passing reference to illustrate the incompatibility of religious violence and religious faith, those who are crying themselves hoarse have obviously chosen to ignore the larger message of the <b>Pope's lecture: The need to balance faith with reason without which theology and its practice are of little relevance. In a sense, this repudiation of the larger message is understandable. </b>Having allowed themselves to be blinded by the irrational preaching of clerics who believe that murderous fanaticism is the answer to the social, economic and political problems that plague the ummah, they cannot be expected to act in a different manner; we must not look forward to reciprocal tolerance from those who insist that the blood-thirsty campaign in the name of Islam should be met with tolerance. It would, however, be incorrect to blame them alone. For, equally to blame is the tyranny of political correctness, ironically defined by values that are alien to fanatical Islam, which sanctifies the criticism of all religions barring that which demands unquestioning surrender of both the faithful and the infidel<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->