Religion...

OK, you know me. You KNOW I am the least religious person on the planet. I'm in no ones corner, I am not putting one down or bigging up another. But here goes.

Argh!

Pope 'Sorry For Offence'

The Pope is said to be "extremely upset" that his comments about Islam have caused offence to Muslims and is sorry they have led to such controversy.

Vatican secretary of state Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone said in a statement: "The Holy Father is very sorry that some passages of his speech may have sounded offensive to the sensibilities of Muslim believers.

"The Pontiff respects followers of Islam and hopes the true meaning of his speech is understood."

The statement came amid mounting anger from Muslims over remarks by the Pope in a speech in his native Germany on Tuesday that was seen as critical of their faith.

Calls for him to apologise had spread beyond the Islamic world.

In the speech, the Pope appeared to endorse a Christian view, contested by most Muslims, that the early Muslims spread their religion by violence.

Islamic fury erupted on Thursday and cast doubt on a visit the Pope plans to Turkey in November.

Sky sources have learnt that Catholic bishops in the country are due to hold a meeting on Monday to discuss the row.

In Srinagar, India, police detained nearly two dozen Muslim protesters after minor clashes on Saturday. Effigies of the Pope were burnt in the street.

Two churches in the West Bank city of Nablus were fire bombed while in Gaza there was a small explosion outside a Greek Orthodox Church. No one was hurt.

Pakistan's Foreign Ministry summoned the Vatican's ambassador to express regret over the comments.

The Pakistan parliament also passed a resolution condemning the comments while radicals held protests across the country.

The Muslim Brotherhood, the Arab world's largest group of political Islamists, called on the governments of Islamic countries to break relations with the Vatican.

But there was support for the Pope from German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

She told the Bild newspaper that the German-born Pontiff had been calling for dialogue with other religions.
So, Mr Pope has hacked off a large wad of people for things he has said. Did he mean them bad, was he quoted out of context? Who knows. I have a couple of friends that are Muslims and I have friends that are Catholic, Christian, Jehova Witness, Morman. But here is the thing that REALLY gets me.
  • Pope uses a quote that suggests "early Muslims spread their religion by violence".
  • Muslim world reacts in outrage and denys this.
  • Muslims then protest by... Blowing stuff up. "The Prophet was pure and peaceful and we never used violence" to "Let's bomb that church".
Is it just me, or does anyone else spy the irony here?

And before people start accusing me of "taking sides" or anything else, I KNOW the Christian church hacked and chopped their way across the middle easy, and I KNOW that religion has been one of the biggest causes of war and violence since, well, forever.

They're all as bad as each other. In the corner, no supper, all of you. Now.

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3 Responses to “Religion...”

Anonymous said...

aw, Dan...do I have to go to the corner with no supper?

just one little scone with no tea?

sigh...ok, but for what it is worth, I agree religion that religion has been one of the biggest causes of war and the like for centuries. I believe (!) it is because it is about belief. Hope that makes sense..
I will skulk off to my corner now. See if you get snack at my house!

Anonymous said...

Teehee. I love it. Thank you, I'll post a link to this one in my blog...

Mark said...

I think you hit the nail on the head. it's just a real shame that people react this way and just compounds their problems and certainly does not give the rest of the world much to praise them about. Me I like the fence.