A very small, yet hopeful sign:
Amman, Dec. 28, 2007 (CWNews.com) – The leader of an Islamic group calling for inter-religious dialogue has responded positively to a papal invitation for talks with the Holy See, Vatican Radio reports.
Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad bin Talal, the president of the Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought in Jordan, has indicated that he would like to meet with Pope Benedict XVI early in the new year. The Jordanian prince has been the most prominent figure associated the “Common Word” initiative, in which 138 Islamic leaders signed a public statement, issued in October, calling for broader dialogue between Christians and Muslims. More recently the Common Word participants joined in a Christmas greeting to the world’s Christians, renewing their call for dialogue and cooperation.
Pope Benedict replied to the Common Word initiative in November, with his own invitation for members of the Islamic group to join in talks at the Vatican. Prince Ghazi was responding to this papal invitation.
In his reply — which was conveyed in a letter to the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone — Prince Ghazi said that he hoped to meet with the Pope in February or March 2008.
I’ve linked to that public statement in the quote – and I do recommend that everyone read it. As I said shortly after it came out, it is a brisk and forthright attempt to bridge the gap between Islam and Christianity (and thus bridge the gap between Islam and the West). At that time, I also deplored the wet-noodle response a few weak-kneed Christians made to it; grovelling is not what is needed, or desired. But the Vatican holding a conference – at which I hope that other Christian leaders also attend – is a far better response. To get together and talk can often be an exercise in futility – but it some times can break logjams.
Just as there is a tiny element in Christianity which has forgotten what its all about, so there is a tiny element in Islam which is entirely off the Islamic ranch. Tiny, but still quite large in raw numbers (even if only 1% of Islam is radicalised, that is approximately 10 million people) – and, unfortunately, backed for varied reasons (some base, some just foolish) by politicians and rich people in the Arab/Moslem world. The ultimate key to victory in the War on Terrorism is for the Arab/Moslem world to be transformed into a free society which makes room for the religious dissident and seeks the betterment of the Arab people, rather than the revival of an archaic Caliphate. In this transformation, there is a role for everyone to play – including, not least, religious leaders on both sides who can come together and issue statements which will tend to isolate the Islamo-fascists and bring them into disrepute among the Arab population.
In this war of ideas, we must use our armed might, our economic might and our diplomatic might – but we also must make use of well-disposed people in the Moslem and Christian worlds who are willing, often at great personal risk, to come together past the divide. Small results will come from this conference – initially; but with good will and God’s grace, much will be accomplished over time.
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The gap is that the Islam doe snot want the Catholic church to exist and the Catholic church does not want Islam to exist.
It will be interesting to see how they bridge that gap or trick each other into moving towards what they want.
The current Pope and the last Poe have had grave reservations about the war in Iraq
the jihadists will target these imams.
Strange enough, the duty of a muslim is to emulate the acts of mohammad, and this is actually emulating the acts of mohammad. We deem that the kaliphate is the ultimate goal of islam, or, we should understand it as a one world government under sharia. The kaliphate has not existed since WWI, when the Ottoman Empire fell, its lands placed under the mandate, where the west literally created the Middle Eastern borders and nations as we know them today.
Mohammad would send an emissary to a people, and offer them peace, but only if they submit to Islam, and its laws and taxation.
It would be heresy for the Pope to acknowledge Islam as legitimate. The Pope cannot do so because the prophet-hood of mohammad cannot be certified by scripture contained within the Roman Catholic Bible.
This is Islam, these muslims must offer peace on a condition that we accept allah as God, and Mohammad as a prophet. This is the same thing that Christianity and Judaism have rejected from the beginning, so this is nothing new. Just a repackaging of the old offer, inspired by the hopes of a kaliphate finally coming in the islamic world.
Separately, nations under islam can not fight as Islam, but under the kaliphate, all islamic nations are one, one religion, one nation, and will bring the battle to us (to filfill islamic prophecy). This is where the schism in islam is, al Quada is warring under the name of islam, but the kaliphate does not exist, confusing many muslims. The dreams of the Iranian ayatollah that Iran founds the kaliphate is probably the biggest threat to world peace that exists today.
Here now the truth about religion:
Religion is a reflection of a people’s culture, not divine intent; therefore all faiths are equal because all are equally false. Since all faiths are equal, faiths should be respected equally regardless of the god(s) worshipped or the method of worship.
No human or group of humans has the intellectual capacity to comprehend divine will.
Web,
I can’t speak for Islam, but as a Catholic, I’ve no particular objection to the continuation of Islam – save, of course, from my firm belief that everything would be much better if everyone were Catholic.
CW,
And Christianity reflected just what particular culture in, say, 5th century Europe?
religion serves not man, not culture, but only God, and is the binding of men to God, not culture
if all faiths are equal, then the faith of a fool would move a mountain, yet the mountain has not budged