The Pope's Comments On Islam
Picked up yesterday in the press were comments made by Pope Benedict XVI in Germany which have ignited a fire across the globe in Islamic communities. Muslim governments around the world called for the Pope to give a personal apology as they have perceive that he has slandered Islam.
You can read the full article with global events here:
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=514&u=/ap/20060915/ap_on_re_mi_ea/pope_muslims_10
The Pope's comments were focused on a quote from a 14th century figure who stated that Islamic violence and forced conversions could not be from God.
In our world today religion is becoming a divisive issue. Some people are on one side yelling "stop the violence in the name of Islam" and other people are on the other side yelling "stop the crusaders and stop the hatred". One thing that I have learned from my global travels is that people are in essence the same on the inside; have the same needs and the same desires. The outside shaped by economics, society, and culture can be drastically different.
We need to look beyond the differences to the similarities in humanity. Yes, religion and values will always be polarizing conversations as these things are held dear by many, but tolerance of other values and points of view will achieve the objective of peace for the world.
If you believe in God, he will judge you for your life when the time comes, but for now, I do not feel that it is in our best interest to judge others for their beliefs, as for me, I am leaving that to God.
You can read the full article with global events here:
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=514&u=/ap/20060915/ap_on_re_mi_ea/pope_muslims_10
The Pope's comments were focused on a quote from a 14th century figure who stated that Islamic violence and forced conversions could not be from God.
In our world today religion is becoming a divisive issue. Some people are on one side yelling "stop the violence in the name of Islam" and other people are on the other side yelling "stop the crusaders and stop the hatred". One thing that I have learned from my global travels is that people are in essence the same on the inside; have the same needs and the same desires. The outside shaped by economics, society, and culture can be drastically different.
We need to look beyond the differences to the similarities in humanity. Yes, religion and values will always be polarizing conversations as these things are held dear by many, but tolerance of other values and points of view will achieve the objective of peace for the world.
If you believe in God, he will judge you for your life when the time comes, but for now, I do not feel that it is in our best interest to judge others for their beliefs, as for me, I am leaving that to God.
