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| Olde Tyme Religion |
| The Vatican Confronts Islam |
| 2006-07-05 |
| “Enough now with this turning the other cheek! It’s our duty to protect ourselves.” Thus spoke Monsignor Velasio De Paolis, secretary of the Vatican’s supreme court, referring to Muslims. Explaining his apparent rejection of Jesus’ admonition to his followers to “turn the other cheek,” De Paolis noted that “The West has had relations with the Arab countries for half a century…and has not been able to get the slightest concession on human rights.” De Paolis is hardly alone in his thinking; indeed, the Catholic Church is undergoing a dramatic shift from a decades-old policy to protect Catholics living under Muslim rule. The old methods of quiet diplomacy and muted appeasement have clearly failed. The estimated 40 million Christians in Dar al-Islam, notes the Barnabas Fund’s Patrick Sookhdeo, increasingly find themselves an embattled minority facing economic decline, dwindling rights, and physical jeopardy. Most of them, he goes on, are despised and distrusted second-class citizens, facing discrimination in education, jobs, and the courts. These harsh circumstances are causing Christians to flee their ancestral lands for the West’s more hospitable environment. Consequently, Christian populations of the Muslim world are in a free-fall. Two small but evocative instances of this pattern: for the first time in nearly two millennia, Nazareth and Bethlehem no longer have Christian majorities. This reality of oppression and decline stands in dramatic contrast to the surging Muslim minority of the West. Although numbering fewer than 20 million and made up mostly of immigrants and their offspring, it is an increasingly established and vocal minority, granted extensive rights and protections even as it wins new legal, cultural, and political prerogatives. This widening disparity has caught the attention of the Roman Catholic Church, which for the first time is pointing to radical Islam, rather than the actions of Israel, as the central problem facing Christians living with Muslims. Rumblings of this could be heard already in John Paul II’s time. For example, Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, the Vatican equivalent of foreign minister, noted in late 2003 that “There are too many majority Muslim countries where non-Muslims are second-class citizens.” Tauran pushed for reciprocity: “Just as Muslims can build their houses of prayer anywhere in the world, the faithful of other religions should be able to do so as well.” Catholic demands for reciprocity have grown, especially since the accession of Pope Benedict XVI in April 2005, for whom Islam is a central concern. In February, the pope emphasized the need to respect “the convictions and religious practices of others so that, in a reciprocal manner, the exercise of freely-chosen religion is truly assured to all.” In May, he again stressed the need for reciprocity: Christians must love immigrants and Muslims must treat well the Christians among them. Lower-ranking clerics, as usual, are more outspoken. “Islam’s radicalization is the principal cause of the Christian exodus,” asserts Monsignor Philippe Brizard, director general of Oeuvre d’Orient, a French organization focused on Middle Eastern Christians. Bishop Rino Fisichella, rector of the Lateran University in Rome, advises the Church to drop its “diplomatic silence” and instead “put pressure on international organizations to make the societies and states in majority Muslim countries face up to their responsibilities.” The Danish cartoons crisis offered a typical example of Catholic disillusionment. Church leaders initially criticized the publication of the Muhammad cartoons. But when Muslims responded by murdering Catholic priests in Turkey and Nigeria, not to speak of scores of Christians killed during five days of riots in Nigeria, the Church responded with warnings to Muslims. “If we tell our people they have no right to offend, we have to tell the others they have no right to destroy us, ” said Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the Vatican’s Secretary of State. “We must always stress our demand for reciprocity in political contacts with authorities in Islamic countries and, even more, in cultural contacts,” added Archbishop Giovanni Lajolo, its foreign minister. Obtaining the same rights for Christians in Islamdom that Muslims enjoy in Christendom has become the key to the Vatican’s diplomacy toward Muslims. This balanced, serious approach marks a profound improvement in understanding that could have implications well beyond the Church, given how many lay politicians heed its leadership in interfaith matters. Should Western states also promote the principle of reciprocity, the results should indeed be interesting. |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #18 I'm glad you came back safe and sound, Bodyguard. I look forward to hearing your thoughts and adventures. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2006-07-05 19:53 |
| #17 The muslim hard boyz think about a billion or so pissed off muslims are a force to be reckoned with. phef. problem is the muslims don't recall the last time a bunch of hard core catholics had a say in the out come of the defense of western civiliation. the muzzies might want to brush up on history as taught (truthfully) by western civ. muzzies are in for a rude awakening. butchery was taught to catholics by the muzzies. later the catholics perfected the art/science of butchery as taught by sub human muzzies. setting aside the notion that catholics should turn the other cheek, muzzies will rue the day the catholics were allowed to survive anywhere in the so-called muslim world. mark my words well. muzzies will truly be a tiny minority before the next fifty years passes. how many divisions does the pope have he asked? the muzzies are about to find out the hard way... |
| Posted by: Mark Z 2006-07-05 19:05 |
| #16 Horace Mann "Tolerance becomes a crime when applied to evil." (apologies to that great website someone linked to on rantburg yesterday - don't have time to find the link) |
| Posted by: 2b 2006-07-05 17:30 |
| #15 Welcome back Bodyguard! |
| Posted by: Seafarious 2006-07-05 17:27 |
| #14 Hiya BodyGuard! Turn the other cheek and while they're off guard, crush they instep, and smitem throat. |
| Posted by: 6 2006-07-05 17:11 |
| #13 A man only has 4 cheeks. When they are used up its time to open a whole case of Fundamental Whoopass. |
| Posted by: BrerRabbit 2006-07-05 16:14 |
| #12 Also Jesus said "turn YOUR other cheek". He never told you had to let the bad guy rape or kill another person. Also the only people he speaks about as beyond pardon is "those who scandalize the little ones". And I think a guy who has sex with a nine year old girl fits the description. |
| Posted by: JFM 2006-07-05 16:07 |
| #11 Wait till Subsaharan African Christianity comes fully into its own. At that time, the leadership of the various Christian communities will no longer be in the hands of Western elites with an appeasement habit. It will be in the hands of people who have no illusions about Islam and no inclination to "make nice." Islam will reap such a whirlwind that our current conduct of the GWOT will be the subject of Muslim nostalgia for the good old days. |
| Posted by: Angotch Glaising9070 2006-07-05 13:52 |
| #10 This is beginning to happen in many of the protestant churches, as well. Very "devout" Bush followers for the WoT in the Southern Baptist org. Of course, even the church has its LLL moonbats, like the Methodist groups calling for pulling all funding of the JOOOOOOS in Israel, etc. I, for one, am with you, OS. As a Christian, yes I will pray for them, and even try to explain my faith to them in order to convert them. However, I draw the line at lying down in fear for my family, my country or my God. They only need to read the history of their ancestors vs. the God of Abraham in the O.T. to see what He is truly capable of, through His people. |
| Posted by: BA 2006-07-05 13:37 |
| #9 If the Vatican wants to do something good, announce that they support Jerusalem being an international city and hands off. Stick a UN office or 2 there, get them out of NYC. |
| Posted by: anonymous2u 2006-07-05 13:01 |
| #8 We make no difference between one and another of them, and we bow to God [In Islam]" The islamists interpretation of this is that they alone bow to Allah and the other two are to be dismissed together. |
| Posted by: Thinemp Whimble2412 2006-07-05 12:52 |
| #7 http://www.pakistanchristianpost.com/newsviewsdetails.php?newsid=553 From Pakistan, our ally, Wed 05th Jul,2006. A group of Muslims bulldozed the house of a Christian Munsha Masih and killed his son.... Kasur: The Sharing Life Ministry Pakistan team rushed to a small village in Kasur on information of killing and demolishing home of one Christian family. Mansha Masih son of Izhaq Masih his father and two brothers were living at village Gadi Wind district Kasur from their forefathers. They are poor laborer and hardly meet their needs. Mansha and his brothers are married. A Muslim fellow named as Nazar Mohammad son of Murly Khan claimed that the house in which they were living is his property; litigation is pending with the courts. Nazar Mohammad is a businessman and has strong terms with police officers and political leaders. According to Mansha Masih, Nazar Mohammad made fake documents of the disputed property with the help of “Patwari” (record keeper of lands). One of SLMP team members asked Mansha Masih that how long they are living for. Mansha replied, “We are living in the house from our forefathers”, “Now about 40 years later Nazar Mohammad claimed that the land of the house belongs to him”. On the day of occurrence Mansha, his father and brothers were at their work place while Mansha’s wife named as Arshad Bibi was present at the house with her daughter aged 2 years and a son about 40 days’. Nazar Mohammad came there along with some vagabonds armed with deadly weapons, some policemen and started beating Mansha’s wife Arshad Bibi and throwing the households out in the street and bulldozed the house. Mansha’s 40 days’ son was lying in the bed. When Nazar Mohammad etc were throwing the households out in the street they also threw bed with. 40 days old baby son of Mansha received injury on his chest and got expired. When police saw the dead body of Mansha’s son they fled away from the spot. Mansha and his brothers were informed later about the occurrence, they rushed the house and saw the house was demolished and households were scattered in the streets while Arshad Bibi was weeping on the dead body of her son |
| Posted by: SamAdamsky 2006-07-05 12:52 |
| #6 I'll believe it when I see it. Like the rest of the potical entities they pile on Israel because it seems the easier action. This is another reason for the pro-Israel Evangelical Movement who brave trips to the Holy Land for their faith. But the Catholic Church is dynamic and capable of change and growth. |
| Posted by: SamAdamsky 2006-07-05 12:23 |
| #5 WB Bodyguard! |
| Posted by: Frank G 2006-07-05 12:12 |
| #4 I'm Baaaack! Them Islamists need to look a little deeper in the Qur'an, viz. Say ye: "We believe in God, and the revelation given to us, and to Abraham, Ismail, Isaac, Jacob, and all the Tribes, and that given to Moses and Jesus, and that given to [all] Prophets from their Lord. We make no difference between one and another of them, and we bow to God [In Islam]" Qur'an, CH 2, Al-Baqara, Verse 136 V/R Bodyguard |
| Posted by: Bodyguard 2006-07-05 11:53 |
| #3 Amen, O.S. Part of the problem is that when a Hajji thinks of a christian, he pictures one of the tame, beaten down varieties native to his land. We do not fit the template. We are different enough that labeling us christian causes severe cognitive dissonance. Whe a Hajji tries to make us fit the template, he gets his head handed to him. The other Hajjis observe this. More dissonance, followed by frightened seething ensues. Don't forget tht they are weak on the whole Cause-Effect thing. And pitifully ignorant of both their own and other's history. I wonder if the fools in the vatican will dig out some olde tyme Church Millitant(tm), and remind themselves and the world that we too are (or should be, at least) an expansionist faith that is willing to bring the world into it's fold. At gunpoint, if others insist on making it a physical as opposed to a spiritual/intelectual contest. Turn the other cheek (to verbal and symbolic provocations and insults) is one thing, lie down and die (when physicaly attacked) is another. The treasonous secular left, is broadly similar in outline to Hajji. Particularly WRT their ignorance of the outside world. It explains why the moonbats and the Islamonutz align so well. Should Western states also promote the principle of reciprocity, the results should indeed be interesting. As soon as the political leaders of the west get over their inordianate fear of oil embargos, this will be a natural weapon to beat the tyrants over the head politicaly and diplomaticly with. Fat chance of that happening. |
| Posted by: N guard 2006-07-05 11:34 |
| #2 I've prayed for my enemies, my Catholci faith says I shoudl do so. But that didn't stop me from putting a bullet into his head or calling in an airtrike or artillery back in the day, because the situation was just and right. Muslims are sadly mistaken if they think Christians are docile. They obviously have not met the Irish. They may think they want to wake a second crusade, but God have mercy on them if they do - because we will have no mercy in us if they provoke us to such extremes. |
| Posted by: Oldspook 2006-07-05 10:55 |
| #1 The God of Israel is a jealous god. He says so in his ten commandments. Christ preaches tolerance but one only need look at the old testament to see what God the Father is capable of. It is a grave misunderstanding to think that Christians tolerance is a weakness. It is a strength. Every opportunity is given to forgive the enemy. Our enemy has no desire for redemption, thus forgiveness is not what's at play here. I'm sad because I can see that a major war is inevitable. |
| Posted by: 2b 2006-07-05 10:23 |