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Jihad!
"Many recall what happened in Rome, at St. Peter’s Basilica, the night of Christmas Day of the year 800. After the Mass, pope Leo III solemnly placed upon the head of Charlemagne the crown of the Holy Roman Empire.
"That night, the basilica of St. Peter gleamed with breathtaking brilliance. A few years earlier, Leo III’s predecessor, pope Hadrian I, had covered the entire floor of the sanctuary with plates of silver; he had covered the walls with gold plates and enclosed it all with a balustrade of gold weighing 1,328 pounds. He had remade the sanctuary gates with silver, and had placed on the iconostasis six images also made of silver, representing Christ, Mary, the archangels Gabriel and Michael, and saints Andrew and John. Finally, in order to make this splendor visible to all, he had ordered the assembly of a candelabrum in the form of a huge cross, on which 1,365 candles burned.
"But less than half a century later, none of this remained..." -- Sandro Magister
"That night, the basilica of St. Peter gleamed with breathtaking brilliance. A few years earlier, Leo III’s predecessor, pope Hadrian I, had covered the entire floor of the sanctuary with plates of silver; he had covered the walls with gold plates and enclosed it all with a balustrade of gold weighing 1,328 pounds. He had remade the sanctuary gates with silver, and had placed on the iconostasis six images also made of silver, representing Christ, Mary, the archangels Gabriel and Michael, and saints Andrew and John. Finally, in order to make this splendor visible to all, he had ordered the assembly of a candelabrum in the form of a huge cross, on which 1,365 candles burned.
"But less than half a century later, none of this remained..." -- Sandro Magister
no subject
having said that, I comepletely agree with amp23.
We can't forget that:
1-Christianity does indeed have a tradition of holy war. This is totally unrefutable. Anytime a group raises the banner of Christianity in the context of war, you have holy war, whatever the circumstances.
2-Most western countries no longer kill in the name of the Church. They are now secular, they use secular reasoning, therefore. Muslims commit acts of murder also, but in religious terms. these are the terms for most everything in their societies.
3-George Bush is very clear that God inspires his decisions. Holy War.
4-The Prophet and his followers did engange in holy warfare and Islam does have a legacy of violence. It is permitted but tempered by clear laws. Terrorsts don't follow them. Christians don't follow Christ when they support the war in Iraq, I believe, either.
5-The Prophet was non-violent for the first 13 years of his role, while under siege, becuase he had not received Divine Permission to retaliate against his attackers.
So, these things are not so black and white. Let us all pray for all of this to end. That would be, by far, the most helpful thing we could do. There is a Sufi syaing that if you want the dogs to be called off, you talk to their Owner.
Love,
R
no subject
This really is grossly unfair, because the assumption behind it is that I can sully the name of any religion or ideology I like simply by raising its banner and doing something reprehensible. In any event, this claim fails to address the point which I made earlier:
The Christian "core," if you will, has no tradition of holy wars of conquest. Though the pope may not have criticized the Conquistadors (I don't know), one can mount a good argument against them from the New Testament. Jihaddi, on the other hand, are much, much tougher to refute from the Qur'an. In other words, Christians who criticize those who kill in the name of Christ have much, much firmer ground on which to stand than Muslims who criticize those who kill in the name of Muhammad's Allah.
Like I said, the question is one of theology.