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Post by lennie on Sept 16, 2006 0:14:22 GMT -5
Muslims demand apology for Pope's speech from ABC NewsMuslim leaders have condemned remarks on Islam by Pope Benedict XVI and many say he should personally apologise to dispel the impression that he has joined a campaign against their religion. In a speech in Germany on Tuesday, the Pope appeared to endorse a Christian view, contested by most Muslims, that the early Muslims spread their religion by violence. The 57-nation Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC), the world's largest Muslim body, says quotations used by the Pope represented a "character assassination of the Prophet Mohammad" and a "smear campaign". "The OIC hopes that this campaign is not the prelude of a new Vatican policy towards Islam ... The OIC also hopes that the Vatican will issue statements that reflect its true position and views on Islam and Islamic teachings," it said. In the speech, the Pope repeated criticism of the Prophet Mohammad by the 14th century Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Palaeologus, who said everything Mohammad brought was evil "such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached". The Pope, who used the terms "jihad" and "holy war" in his lecture, added "violence is incompatible with the nature of God and the nature of the soul". A ngry reactionMorocco's leading daily Attajdid has responded that the Pope has joined in "the Zionist-American alliance against Islam". Beirut-based Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah, one of the world's top Shiite Muslim clerics, has demanded an apology from the Pope. "We demand that he apologises personally, and not through [Vatican] sources, to all Muslims for such a wrong interpretation," he said. Mohamed Sayed Tantawi, the Sheikh of al-Azhar - one of the Sunni Muslim world's most prestigious seats of religious studies - says the Pope's statements indicate clear ignorance of Islam. "They attribute to Islam what it does not contain," he said. Egypt's Foreign Minister, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, has told Cairo's ambassador to the Vatican to seek clarifications on the Pope's remarks, state news agency MENA says. Possible backlashMiddle Eastern leaders and analysts have warned of a potentially violent backlash in the region to the Pope's remarks implicitly linking Islam to violence. Middle East expert Antoine Basbous, from France's Observatory of Arab Countries, says the Middle East is at risk of further violence once word spreads further of the Pope's speech. "Certain Arab media, from now on, will begin covering this subject in their newspapers, which can only cause reactions," he said. He says he fears the angry reactions to the Pope's comments are increasing and could soon snowball into something similar to the deadly worldwide protests that followed a Danish newspaper's decision to publish satirical cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed in September last year. Abdel Moneim Abul Futuh, a senior official with Egypt's main opposition Muslim Brotherhood, predicts "an extreme reaction to the Pope's words, which harm Islam more than the cartoons because they come from a leader who represents millions of people and not just from a journalist". Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit's spokesman, Alaa Al-Hadidi, says the Minister fears the Pope's comments did nothing but reinforce calls for a war of the civilisations. Among others joining the chorus of condemnation Friday were the governments of Jordan, the ruling Palestinian Islamist militant movement Hamas, and senior Muslim clerics in Iraq, Iran and Lebanon. In response to the Muslim backlash against his comments, the Pope's official spokesman said the Pope respected Islam but rejected violence motivated by religion. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has told Bild newspaper the aim of the Pope's speech has been misunderstood. "It was an invitation to dialogue between religions," she said. "What Benedict XVI emphasised was a decisive and uncompromising renunciation of all forms of violence in the name of religion." Now it's all on
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Post by lennie on Sept 16, 2006 7:22:06 GMT -5
Malaysia condemns Pope commentsMalaysia is the latest country in the Muslim world to criticise Pope Benedict over controversial comments he made regarding Islam earlier this week. Both the current Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and his predecessor Mahathir Mohamad have taken issue with the Pontiff's speech. The Pope quoted a 14th century Christian emperor who said the Prophet Muhammad had only brought the world "evil and inhuman" things. Dr Mahathir told Singapore-based Channel News Asia that the new Pope's attitude was in contrast to that of the late Pope John Paul II. "I met the late Pope and he was a very understanding person - he even forgave the man who tried to assassinate him," he said. "But this Pope has not said anything good about Islam or about the Palestinian issue and now he has made a statement that I'm afraid Muslims will not take kindly to." This might just get nasty!
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Post by keith on Sept 16, 2006 13:16:57 GMT -5
Malaysia condemns Pope commentsMalaysia is the latest country in the Muslim world to criticise Pope Benedict over controversial comments he made regarding Islam earlier this week. Both the current Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and his predecessor Mahathir Mohamad have taken issue with the Pontiff's speech. The Pope quoted a 14th century Christian emperor who said the Prophet Muhammad had only brought the world "evil and inhuman" things. Dr Mahathir told Singapore-based Channel News Asia that the new Pope's attitude was in contrast to that of the late Pope John Paul II. "I met the late Pope and he was a very understanding person - he even forgave the man who tried to assassinate him," he said. "But this Pope has not said anything good about Islam or about the Palestinian issue and now he has made a statement that I'm afraid Muslims will not take kindly to." This might just get nasty! Lennie said The Pope quoted a 14th century Christian emperor who said the Prophet Muhammad had only brought the world "evil and inhuman" things. keith said One poor vatican speechwriter will be sent to the Congo Thats the trouble in recycling old material Come to think of it the Vatican hasnt changed in centuries Allowing Priests to marry and find a more suitable target for their dick would be a good start. Forgive me father for I have sinned. www.newwzseek.com
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Post by lennie on Sept 17, 2006 3:26:58 GMT -5
Pressure mounting on Pope over Islam commentsPressure is mounting on Pope Benedict to issue a personal apology when he makes his first public appearance since his comments about Islam sparked Muslim fury across the world. The Vatican said on Saturday the Pope was sorry Muslims had been offended and that his comments had been misconstrued, but Muslim countries and religious groups remained angry at what they said portrayed Islam as a religion tainted with violence. Morocco withdrew its ambassador to the Vatican, calling the Pope's remarks "offensive", while Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood - the main opposition force in the country's parliament - said the statement issued by the Vatican was not enough. "We feel he has committed a grave error against us and that this mistake will only be removed through a personal apology," said the Brotherhood's deputy leader Mohammed Habib. The Pope, leader of the world's 1.1 billion Roman Catholics, was due to give his regular Sunday blessing - known as the Angelus - in St Peter's Square, an occasion often used by pontiffs to express the church's views on current affairs. Muslim anger erupted when the Pope made a speech in Germany on Tuesday referring to criticism of the Prophet Mohammad by 14th century Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Palaeologus, who said everything Mohammad brought was evil "such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached". Using the terms "jihad" and "holy war", the 79-year-old Pope said violence was "incompatible with the nature of God". Vatican statementBut the Vatican's Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, said in a statement the Pope "had absolutely no intention" of presenting Emperor Manuel's opinions on Islam as his own. "The Holy Father thus sincerely regrets that certain passages of his address could have sounded offensive to the sensitivities of the Muslim faithful," Cardinal Bertone said in a statement, only a day after taking over as "deputy pope". He said the Pope, elected 17 months ago, confirmed "his respect and esteem for those who profess Islam" and hoped his words would be understood in their "correct meaning". The academic speech was meant as a "a clear and radical rejection of the religious motivation for violence, from whatever side it may come," said Cardinal Bertone. The backlash over the the Pope's comments has cast doubt on his planned visit to Turkey in November. Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, a pious Muslim with roots in political Islam, said before the Vatican statement the Pope's comments were "ugly and unfortunate" and should be withdrawn. Yemen's president publicly denounced the pontiff and five churches - only one of them Catholic - were attacked in the West Bank, although no one was hurt. Egypt's Foreign Ministry summoned the Vatican's envoy to Cairo to express "extreme regret" at Benedict's speech. But Chancellor Angela Merkel and other German politicians defended his comments, saying he had been misunderstood. "It was an invitation to dialogue between religions," Ms Merkel told the mass circulation Bild newspaper in an interview. Vatican insiders and diplomats say the Pope may have mixed up his new role with his former posts as a theologian and head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, when as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger he was known as a disciplinarian. Angry Muslim leaders flung what they saw as allegations of violence back at the West. "How can (the Pope) imply that Muslims are the creators of terrorism in the world while it is the followers of Christianity who have been aggressive against every country of the Islamic world?" prominent Saudi cleric Salman al-Odeh said. "Who attacked Afghanistan and who invaded Iraq?" Now!!!! who the hell is going to be able to sort this one out? I wonder how 'The Queen' feels about the whole affair?
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Post by lennie on Sept 17, 2006 3:32:45 GMT -5
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Post by bill on Sept 17, 2006 3:55:05 GMT -5
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Post by lennie on Sept 17, 2006 7:44:20 GMT -5
Pope sorry for angering MuslimsPope Benedict XVI says he does not share the views of an emperor he quoted in a speech earlier this week that triggered outrage across the Muslim world. He says he is "deeply sorry" for the anger he caused. In his speech in Germany, the Pope quoted the 14th century Christian emperor saying everything Prophet Mohammad brought was "evil and inhuman", "such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached". Using the terms "jihad" and "holy war", the 79-year-old said violence was "incompatible with the nature of God". The Pope has voiced his regret during the traditional Angelus blessing from the papal summer residence at Castel Gandolfo, his first public appearance since the speech. "I am deeply sorry for the reactions in some countries to a few passages of my address... which were considered offensive to the sensibility of Muslims," he said. He says the passages were taken from a medieval text that did not "in any way" reflect his personal thoughts. "I hope that this serves to appease hearts and to clarify the true meaning of my address, which in its totality was and is an invitation to frank and sincere dialogue, with great mutual respect," he said. _____________________________________________ [glow=red,2,300]WTF [/glow]- sounds to me a bit of the old "Sorry But I Meant It"
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Post by lennie on Sept 18, 2006 6:40:35 GMT -5
Pope has nothing to apologise for: PellThe Catholic Archbishop of Sydney has backed the controversial speech Pope Benedict XVI made in Germany last week that linked Islam to violence. The Pontiff has apologised saying he is deeply sorry about angering so many Muslims, and that the 14th Century passages that he referred to in no way reflect his views. Some Muslim groups have accepted the apology. Cardinal George Pell says the Pope did nothing wrong in making the speech. "I think he's trying to move the dialogue on a bit so that we can agree without resorting to the use of weapons," he said. "I think what he feared has been established and that is that if there is some sort of criticisms, even mild, there are elements among the Muslims who will resort to violence or threaten violence." Pell? - send him to the Congo!!!!
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Post by keith on Sept 18, 2006 15:38:45 GMT -5
Many Priests and Nuns have been killed in the Congo.
Pell links Islamists to violence September 19, 2006
THE Archbishop of Sydney has drawn a link between Islamists and violence in a strident attempt to defend the Pope - just as the pontiff tries to hose down the flames of Muslim anger around the world.
Cardinal George Pell says "the violent reactions in many parts of the Islamic world" to a speech by Pope Benedict justified one of the very fears expressed in that address. "They showed the link for many Islamists between religion and violence, their refusal to respond to criticism with rational arguments, but only with demonstrations, threats and actual violence," Cardinal Pell said in a statement yesterday.
He described as "unfortunately typical and unhelpful" attacks on the Pope's comments by two local Muslims, Taj el-Din al Hilaly, the Mufti of Australia, and Ameer Ali, from the Government's Muslim advisory committee. Security was increased around the Pope yesterday, despite his declaration that he was "deeply sorry" for the reaction of Muslims offended by his speech last week. It quoted a 14th-century Byzantine emperor who linked Muhammad to "things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached".
Cardinal Pell begins by saying it is a sign of hope that "no organised violence has flared here in Australia … No one compared the Pope to Hitler or Mussolini (as in Turkey) or called for his murder as Sheik Malin did in Somalia. No group like the League of Jihadists in Iraq promised 'that the soldiers of Muhammad will come sooner or later to shake your throne and the foundations of your state'."
He adds: "Our major priority must be to maintain peace and harmony within the Australian community, but no lasting achievements can be grounded in fantasies and evasions."
He then details his criticisms of Sheik Hilaly and Dr Ali.
"It is always someone else's fault and issues touching on the nature of Islam are ignored.
"Sheik al-Hilaly often responds to criticism by questioning the intelligence and competence of the questioner or critic. So too with the Pope, whose speech he claimed was not what was expected of a holy person and indeed 'the Church needs to re-examine its thoughts about someone who doesn't have the qualities or good grasp of Christian character or knowledge'."
Cardinal Pell said Dr Ali misunderstood the Pope's speech and "called on Pope Benedict to be more like Pope John Paul II than Pope Urban II, who called the First Crusade. In fact the Pope's long speech was more about the weaknesses of the Western world, its irreligion and disdain for religion and he explicitly rejected linking religion and violence. He won't be calling any crusade."
But Cardinal Pell added: "Today Westerners often link genuine religious expression with peace and tolerance. Today most Muslims identify genuine religion with submission (Islam) to the commands of the Koran. They are proud of the spectacular military expansion across continents especially in the decades after the prophet's death. This is seen as a sign of God's blessing. Friends of Islam in Australia have genuine questions, which need to be addressed, not regularly avoided. We are grateful for those moderate Muslims who have spoken publicly."
Sheik Hilaly said Muslims had a right to be angered by the Pope's "veiled and not-so-veiled insults". But he agreed Muslims must answer hard questions and that terrorists misquoted religious texts to justify murders.
"We thank God that Cardinal Pell … confirms that Australian Muslims are part of Australian society and are not threatening its peace and security." Dr Ali said Cardinal Pell's language was not helpful. "The point is Pope Benedict quoted a most inappropriate quote at a most inappropriate time."
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Post by keith on Sept 18, 2006 15:48:41 GMT -5
More From George Pell: Talk while we can The key to world peace is open dialogue between the West and Islam -----
19sep06
THREE years ago I visited Lebanon for the second time, was well treated everywhere, received by President Emile Lahoud and paid courtesy visits to the leaders of the Sunnis and Shi'ites there, Mohammed Rashid Kabbani and Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah.
Kabbani, the Sunni leader, spoke to me for an hour, with the help of a translator. He set out to justify the practice in the Ottoman Empire whereby Christians had to walk on the other side of the road from Muslims (for their protection, he explained). Christians then were also publicly branded with signs on their clothing, but we didn't discuss this. As I was leaving, Kabbani asked me to do what I could to protect the rights of the Muslim minority in Australia to live peacefully. I gave him an explicit assurance on that point and asked him to work to protect the Christian community in Lebanon. He said that wasn't really necessary as they weren't a minority but Arabs like himself.
All in all it was an interesting exchange, and I am more than happy to repeat publicly here my promise to work for continuing peace in the Australian community, to work to avoid the violent confrontations which are occurring overseas between Muslims and Christians, even in Indonesia.
I am committed to dialogue and if necessary debate with our Muslim friends within the democratic constraints of Australian life. I hope I am contributing to long-term peace by what I am saying.
Let me spell out some pre-suppositions and fixed points as I see them which set the boundaries for me in the delicate, and perhaps dangerous, journey confronting Western societies.
Wherever possible, dialogue and personal contacts are desirable among religious leaders, local communities, especially religious communities, and among young people.
Accurate information, accurate understandings and a respect for truth, even across differences, are the only long-term bases for fruitful exchanges.
Dialogue among friends does not preclude public questioning and public criticism, which should be constructive, not designed to make a situation worse by threatening peace or inciting hatred, for example.
These are the fixed points: Western democracies are at war with Islamic terrorists. Security agencies, including Australia's, are working regularly to thwart terrorist attacks. These Islamic terrorists want a clash of civilisations, they want the West to overreact, to make mistakes and so bring this Armageddon closer.
I do not believe that such a clash is inevitable, but with every massive and successful terrorist attack on the West we lurch closer to such a catastrophe.
American anger if there was a succession of September 11-style events in the US does not bear contemplating. A succession of such events in Australia would produce a similar public opinion, but we would not have the military capacity to do much about it.
Knowledge of fundamental Islamic sources, for example the Koran, is useful, perhaps indispensable, as is a basic knowledge of the history of Islamic expansion. A politically correct ignorance of all this history, except for a hostile verdict on the evil Crusades, provides no basis for an adequate understanding of the crisis in which we find ourselves.
Two misleading stereotypes of religion need to be abandoned. First, that all religions are basically the same: either all good or all bad.
In fact, the great religions differ mightily one from the other in doctrine and in the societies they produce. Religions can be sources of beauty and goodness and they can be, through corruption, sources of poison and destruction. I do not exempt Christianity from this.
Second, that religions are the cause of all wars or that religion never provokes war.
The worst evils of the 20th century were provoked by anti-religious men: Hitler, Stalin, Mao and Pol Pot. Religion is more often used as a pretext for war or as a symbol of division, for example in the IRA's armed struggle in Ireland, but religion can directly contribute to and has been used to justify armed conflict and aggression.
Outside events could put great strain on the internal workings of Australian society. The time to advance peaceful dialogue across differences is now.
Australians are entitled to an answer from me on controversial Catholic or Christian teachings. And we Australians are entitled to specific answers from our friends on aspects of Islamic teaching, for example on the Suras of the Sword 9:5 and 9:36 in the Koran. It is disappointing when such requests or criticisms are met only by accusations of ignorance or abuse, while the specific points are studiously avoided.
Reciprocity is a fundamental notion in our dialogue with Islam: not in the sense of promising evil for evil, not an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, but as a requirement that the civil rights we extend to all here are also to be extended to Christian minorities in all Islamic countries. This is presently not the case.
Let me move beyond my fixed points to conclude with a few remarks Pope Benedict made to his old university at Regensburg last week. Considerable attention has focused on his use of a quotation - which he described as "brusque" and did not endorse - from the 14th century Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Paleologus in dialogue with an Islamic scholar fromIran.
It is possible that the dialogue took place while the Byzantine capital Constantinople was being besieged by the Turks. It eventually fell to them about 60 years later, in 1453. This quote was a small part of a dense but beautiful address on faith and reason.
The Pope quoted an old cynic who said that Regensburg University was unique because it had two faculties (a Protestant and a Catholic theology faculty) dedicated to the existence of something that did not exist. This was another quote he did not endorse.
A major thread in the address was that violence was incompatible with the nature of God and the nature of the soul. Pope Benedict had been an explicit public opponent of the second Iraq war and he also acknowledged that religions contain many different strains. One commentator claimed that the Pope's explicit appeal to reason was "a building block towards finding a way to argue with each other without using weapons".
Pope Benedict is right to stress the need for dialogue across differences, including the differences within Western civilisation. At mass, the Pope scoffed at "the idea of a mathematically ordered cosmos" without any hand of God.
He emphasised that "a reason which is deaf to the divine and which relegates religion into the realm of subcultures is incapable of entering a dialogue of culture". This is particularly true in any dialogue with Islam, especially for our secularised Western societies.
George Pell is the Catholic archbishop of Sydney.
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Post by lennie on Sept 20, 2006 7:04:35 GMT -5
PM defends Cardinal amid papal comments controversy
Prime Minister John Howard has warned against over-reacting to the latest comments from the Catholic Church about Islam and violence.
Pope Benedict XVI sparked anger throughout the Muslim world after he quoted a 14th Century emperor who accused the Prophet Mohammed of spreading his word by the sword.
He also called for an examination of what the Koran has written about violence. The Pope has since apologised for the comments.
The Archbishop of Sydney, Cardinal George Pell, has defended the Pope's actions and says he does not rule out a link between Islam and violence.
Cardinal Pell's comments have angered members of Australia's Islamic community.
But speaking on ABC TVs Lateline program, Prime Minister John Howard said they were not intended to be inflammatory.
"I think we should all take a deep breath on these things and all have a sense of proportion," he said. Mr Howard says Cardinal Pell was simply defending the head of his Church.
"I'd defend the head of the church if I were in Cardinal Pell's position," he said.
"I'm not - but as an observer and knowing Cardinal Pell who is a great believer in religious tolerance and religious understanding in the Australian community, I'm sure he wasn't intending other than to defend his Holiness and that's very understandable."
Cardinal Pell says:- The key to world peace is open dialogue between the West and Islam.
I'll eat my words - the man is right on this one. If the Muslim Religious Community was serious about wanting the Terrorism to stop they would sift them out, hand them over to the Authorities, and bannish them from the religion. It is understandable that the world expects this from these Muslim Countries as that is where most of these Terrorists came from.
This should not be an argument about religion as much as it should be about how they as Religious Leaders can collectively assist in sending a clear message that these terrorists lie when they say it is in the name of God.
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Post by keith on Sept 20, 2006 22:07:28 GMT -5
PM defends Cardinal amid papal comments controversyPrime Minister John Howard has warned against over-reacting to the latest comments from the Catholic Church about Islam and violence. Pope Benedict XVI sparked anger throughout the Muslim world after he quoted a 14th Century emperor who accused the Prophet Mohammed of spreading his word by the sword. He also called for an examination of what the Koran has written about violence. The Pope has since apologised for the comments. The Archbishop of Sydney, Cardinal George Pell, has defended the Pope's actions and says he does not rule out a link between Islam and violence. Cardinal Pell's comments have angered members of Australia's Islamic community. But speaking on ABC TVs Lateline program, Prime Minister John Howard said they were not intended to be inflammatory. "I think we should all take a deep breath on these things and all have a sense of proportion," he said.Mr Howard says Cardinal Pell was simply defending the head of his Church. "I'd defend the head of the church if I were in Cardinal Pell's position," he said. "I'm not - but as an observer and knowing Cardinal Pell who is a great believer in religious tolerance and religious understanding in the Australian community, I'm sure he wasn't intending other than to defend his Holiness and that's very understandable." Cardinal Pell says:-The key to world peace is open dialogue between the West and Islam. I'll eat my words - the man is right on this one. If the Muslim Religious Community was serious about wanting the Terrorism to stop they would sift them out, hand them over to the Authorities, and bannish them from the religion. It is understandable that the world expects this from these Muslim Countries as that is where most of these Terrorists came from. This should not be an argument about religion as much as it should be about how they as Religious Leaders can collectively assist in sending a clear message that these terrorists lie when they say it is in the name of God. Australian cardinal wades into debatePublished: Wednesday, 20 September, 2006, 09:06 AM Doha Time SYDNEY: The head of Australia’s Catholic church said the violent reaction to the Pontiff’s comments on Islam in many parts of the Islamic world “justified one of Pope Benedict’s main fears”. Cardinal George Pell, the conservative leader of Australia’s 5.1mn Roman Catholics, said he was pleased there had been no violence in Australia in reaction to Pope Benedict’s use of a mediaeval quotation on Islam and holy war. But he criticised acts of violence elsewhere. “The violent reaction in many parts of the Islamic world justified one of Pope Benedict’s main fears,” Pell, the Archbishop of Sydney, said in a statement on Web sites of the Catholic Church of Australia. “They showed the link for many Islamists between religion and violence, their refusal to respond to criticism with rational arguments, but only with demonstrations, threats and actual violence,” he said. Some Australian Muslim leaders said the comments by both the Pope and Pell should be condemned. Ameer Ali, head of a government-appointed Muslim reference group, said Pell’s comments were “especially unhelpful in a charged atmosphere”, while academic Samina Yasmeen said leaders should remember that religion often dealt with raw emotions. “The fact that Cardinal Pell decided to come into the controversy and add more to that, I think it’s a dangerous thing,” she told a security conference in Canberra. A spokesman for Australia’s Muslim community challenged Pell to debate Sheikh Taj El-Din Hamid Hilaly, head of one of Sydney’s biggest mosques. “Islam has nothing to hide, nothing to be ashamed of and if Cardinal Pell is up to this challenge he is welcome to this public forum,” spokesman Keyser Trad told Australian television. Muslim anger swelled after Pope Benedict’s speech in Germany last week in which he referred to criticism of the Prophet Muhammad by 14th century Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Palaeologus, who said everything the Prophet brought was evil “such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached”. The Pope said on Sunday this was not his view and apologised for causing offence, although he stopped short of retracting the speech. Echoing Pope Benedict’s explanation, Pell said he favoured dialogue between religions but described the reaction of some Muslim leaders in Australia as “unfortunately typical and unhelpful”. “Our major priority must be to maintain peace and harmony within the Australian community, but no lasting achievements can be grounded in fantasies and evasions,” Pell said. Pell is seen as a strict adherent to Catholic orthodoxy with some influence at the Vatican and was on the Papal conclave that voted for Pope Benedict to succeed Pope John Paul in 2005. Pell sought dialogue between the West and Islam and said he would like answers about teachings in the Koran and what he said were its links to violence. “I think we have to have a good look at what the Koran has written on violence, have a good look at the career of the early Muslims and the military expansion that went on for decades and invite some comment from our Islamic friends,” he told Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio. – Agencies
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Post by lennie on Sept 27, 2006 6:56:29 GMT -5
found this on another board
As to the popes speech firstly in the context that it was made in (yes I have read the whole transcript!)there was nothing wrong with it (hell its a lot less moderate than plenty of Islamic clerics that have called for people to convert or die), he has been the victim of a "sound byte", yes the dreaded 5 second clip that is supposed to rark up heaps of people, sell lots of papers without laying out the context it was put in. The reaction to this (and the Mahomet cartoons shows how intolerant hardline Islam is). I don't believe religion is the problem, I think the problem is loons twisting 2000 year old verses to fit thier own agenda.
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Post by keith on Oct 3, 2006 12:56:11 GMT -5
Thinkers support critic of prophet
INTELLECTUALS are rallying around a French philosophy teacher forced into hiding after writing an article describing the prophet Mohammed as a ruthless warlord and mass murderer. Robert Redeker, a writer who teaches at a high school near Toulouse, has been under police protection, moving between secret addresses, since threats against him appeared on Islamist websites last week.
His home address was published with calls to murder.
"You will never feel secure on this earth. One billion, 300million Muslims are ready to kill you," one message said.
One threat came from a contributor to al-Hesbah, an internet forum that is viewed as a channel for al-Qa'ida.
Despite the threats, the Government has offered Redeker, 52, limited support.
More than 20 stars of the French intelligentsia, including philosophers Bernard-Henri Levy, Alain Finkielkraut and Andre Glucksmann, urged the Government to offer more help.
Redeker, who is on the editorial board of Les Temps Modernes, a review founded by Jean-Paul Sartre, has said he cannot afford his accommodation and other costs in hiding. "I cannot work, I cannot come and go. I have to hide," he said. "So ... the Islamists have succeeded in punishing me on the territory of the Republic as if I were guilty of a crime of opinion."
Redeker stirred anger with a commentary in Le Figaro on September 19. He deplored the furore over the Pope's references to Mohammed. Redeker called him "a merciless warlord, a looter, a mass murderer of Jews and a polygamist". The Koran, he said, was a book of incredible violence.
The teacher and his supporters have been angered by the qualified backing from Education Minister Gilles de Robien, who voiced solidarity with the teacher but added he should have been "careful, moderate and sensible".
Similarly, Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin said: "Everyone has the right to express his views freely, while respecting others, of course." Mainstream Muslim groups deplored the threats and appealed to believers not to play into the hands of provocateurs.
The Times
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