The pope apology...is Islam violent?

The pope made an apology on Sunday for his comments on Islam last week in Germany. In that speech, he quoted a 14th century emperor who said, "Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." The Holy Father said he was deeply sorry that the comments offended some and that the quote did not reflect his personal views of Islam.

Muslims were angered by the pope's remarks because they seemed to suggest that Islam is a religion of violence. So what is the response by some of the Muslims to the pope's remarks? Radicals attacked seven churches this weekend to express outrage at suggestions that their religion is violent! Extremists attacked one church by throwing a grenade at it. In another area, gunmen threw Molotov cocktails at four churches. Other gunmen set car tires on fire in a church seriously damaging the building. The most disturbing act of reprisal was the murder of a nun in heavily Islamic Somali. Ironically, these people are proving the 14th century emperor's statement of Islam as violent.

However, this was not the response by the many other Muslims, including some factions who are often considered extremists. For example, in the city of Jenin, armed members of the radical Islamic Jihad faction guarded a Catholic church in the city. They were quoted as saying, "Ten of us are here all the time to protect the church...to prevent anyone from doing any harm to the church because it's a holy place." Other Muslim leaders condemned the violence, including the head of Hamas, members of the Fatah party and other Muslim factions.

So, what does all of this mean? I honestly don't know. Every religion has extremists, including Catholicism. Yet Islamic extremists seem to immediately turn to violence to promote their agendas. We've spoken about Islam on this blog before, but discussions have always been geared toward pointing out that the vast majority of Muslims are peaceful. This latest uprising of Muslims, coupled with the Muslim violence over the Mohammed cartoons earlier this year, will cause many to question the peacefulness of the Islamic faith.

I am curious to hear what my readers think. Do you agree that many will question whether the Islamic faith is peaceful? Do you believe that the Islamic faith is primarily peaceful? My thoughts in this blog entry are just my opinion and I'm not sure how solid I am on this, but I would like to hear from my readers and their feelings. Until next time...God bless.

posted by: crossman at 18:40 | link | comments (1) |
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#1  19 September 2006 - 18:07

 

I was pondering this exact thing earlier today and even began writing my own blog entry on the topic.

The mass media gives me the impression that Islam is violent. But my admittedly limited knowlege of Islam indicates that it is supposed to be a religion promoting peace and charity.

I, too, am confused.

Anonymous

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