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Pope
Francis Equates Muslim and Christian Violence
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Originally published under the title "Pope Francis: A
Fool or Liar for Islam?"
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At a time when Muslims all around the world are terrorizing and
slaughtering non-Muslims in the name of Islam, Pope Francis, the
head of the Catholic Church, continues trying to distance Islam from
violence.
Last Sunday a journalist asked
him about the recent and "barbarous
assassination of Fr. Jacques Hamel" in France, and how the
priest was clearly "killed in the name of Islam." To this
Francis
replied that he doesn't like speaking
about Islamic violence because there is plenty of Christian violence as
well... [He] said that every day when he browses the newspapers, he sees
violence in Italy perpetrated by Christians: "this one who has
murdered his girlfriend, another who has murdered the mother-in-law...
and these are baptized Catholics! There are violent Catholics! If I speak
of Islamic violence, I must speak of Catholic violence. And no, not all
Muslims are violent, not all Catholics are violent. It is like a fruit
salad; there's everything."
Is the Pope really that dense? Is he incapable of distinguishing
between violence committed in the name of a religion, and violence
committed in contradiction of a religion?
Yes, Catholics—and people of all religions, sects, creeds—commit
violence. That is because humans are prone to violence (or, to use
Christian language that some—maybe not Francis—might understand, humans
are fallen creatures). And yes, the Catholics that Francis cites do not
commit crimes—murdering girlfriends and mothers-in-law—because of any
teaching contained in Christianity or Catholicism; on the contrary,
Christian teachings of mercy and forgiveness are meant to counter such
impulses.
Pope Francis conflates violence
committed in the name of a religion with violence committed in
contradiction of a religion.
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On the other hand, the violence that Muslims are committing around the
world—the beheadings, the sex slavery, the church burnings—are indeed
contained in and a product of Islam, and they have been from day one.
Francis continued offering half-truths in the interview. After he
acknowledged that there are "violent persons of this religion
[Islam]," he immediately added that "in pretty much every
religion there is always a small group of fundamentalists.
Fundamentalists. We have them."
This is another sloppy generalization. Sure, "in pretty much
every religion there is always a small group of fundamentalists,"
but that which is "fundamental" to them widely differs. One may
say that Muslim and Christian fundamentalists adhere to a
literalist/strict reading of their scriptures. While that statement may
be true, left unsaid by those who think the issue is settled right there
is: what do the Bible and Koran actually teach?
The long and short of it is, the Christian fundamentalist will find
himself compelled to pray for his persecutors, and, depending on the
situation, maybe even turning the other cheek; conversely, the Muslim
fundamentalist will find himself attacking, subjugating, plundering,
raping, enslaving, and slaughtering non-Muslims. In
both cases, the scriptures—Bible and Koran—say so.
Not for Francis. Poverty is supposedly the real reason behind all the
Islamic violence plaguing the world:
Terrorism grows when there are no other
options, and when the center of the global economy is the god of money
and not the person — men and women — this is already the first terrorism!
You have cast out the wonder of creation — man and woman — and you have
put money in its place. This is a basic terrorism against all of
humanity! Think about it!
This has got to be one of the silliest arguments ever devised to
justify terrorism. So the Muslims screaming "Allahu Akbar!"
while slaughtering a priest or driving a truck into people in France were
suffering from poverty? What about the fact that one of the richest
nations in the world—Saudi Arabia—is violent to and intolerant of
non-Muslims? What about the fact that there are billions of impoverished
non-Muslims—yet, strangely, they do not engage in wanton acts of terror
against "infidels" in the name of their religion. What to make
of these facts?
But apparently none of these questions about scriptures and
demographics matter; after all, Francis "knows how Muslims
think":
I had a long conversation with the
imam, the Grand Imam of the Al-Azhar University, and I know how they
think. They [Muslims] seek peace, encounter.
This is just plain sad. Dr. Ahmed al-Tayeb, the Grand Imam of
Al-Azhar, arguably the most authoritative Islamic institution in the
world, did indeed recently visit Francis and inform him of how Muslims
desire peace and harmony with the world.
But back home in Egypt, the grand imam and Al Azhar promote an Islam
that is virtually indistinguishable from that of ISIS. Indeed, days
before he went to take pictures hugging the pope, Tayeb said that it is a
criminal offense to apostatize from Islam, and the punishment is death.
In response, the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies blasted
the grand imam and Al Azhar. After accusing them of being
twofaced—preaching a moderate Islam in the West and a radical one in
Egypt—the statement concluded with some words that people like Francis
should take to heart:
Combating terrorism and radical
religious ideologies will not be accomplished by directing at the West
and its international institutions religious dialogues that are open,
support international peace and respect freedoms and rights, while
internally promoting ideas that contribute to the dissemination of
violent extremism through the media and educational curricula of Al Azhar
and the mosques.
In the end, and when it comes to the question of whether Islam
promotes violence against non-Muslims, Pope Francis falls within the
ranks of those Western
leaders who are either liars or fools, or a little bit of both.
Raymond Ibrahim is a Judith
Friedman Rosen fellow at the Middle East Forum and a Shillman fellow at
the David Horowitz Freedom Center.
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