Pope Benedict XVI has put his foot squarely in it during last Tuesday with his speech at the University of Regensburg, Germany. And he is still attempting to extract it so he can carry on with his tour to Turkey.
Once again Muslims are up in arms, some taking the opportunity to go on a rampage and in doing so, ironically affirm the view expressed in the unfortunate quote by the Pope from Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Paleologus: "Show me just what Muhammad 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 Pope continued along the lines of faith and reason: "[N]ot to act in accordance with reason is contrary to God's nature."
His lecture contrasted the Hellenistic foundations of Catholicism in which a rational God is the premise, with religions such as Islam where God is supreme above all reason including His own dictates. He could not let slip the opportunity to gaff at the Reformation by noting that dehellenisation of the Christian religion started with the Reformation.
Science was not spared and the Pope took a firm swing at the scientific foundations of Platonic/Cartesian formulation and empirical verification. Accusing science thus defined of leaving no room for God and thus limiting faith in God to subjective conjecture or experience, Benedict was clearly on a gallop.
The target now loomed large as his argument converged on science and religion, both of which must be obedient to the truth and are founded in reason. Therefore, by implication science is challenged to leave scope for the metaphysical of religion. A reason that does not accommodate the possibility of the divine reduces religion to a subculture and therefore exclude cultures. A faith that does not allow reason is bound to be relegated to the realm of the subjective, where ethics and conscience are purely personal choices.
His discourse screeched to a halt with the final stroke: A call to the worlds of reason and faith to reunite, for a new enquiry into the rationality of faith and ultimately, for dialogue of reason amongst cultures and religions.
To which one question stands up with quiet resolve: Where do the Crusades and Inquisition fit into this logos?
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