Truthdig and Sam Harris have a good piece looking at the Pope’s recent speech. Here’s a little sample:
“Only thus do we become capable of that genuine dialogue of cultures and religions so urgently needed today….”
It is ironic that a man who has just disparaged Islam as “evil” and “inhuman” before 250,000 onlookers and the world press is now talking about a “genuine dialogue of cultures.” How much genuine dialogue can he hope for? The Koran says that anybody who believes that Jesus was divine—as all real Catholics must—will spend eternity in hell (Koran 5:71-75; 19:30-38). This appears to be a deal-breaker. The pope knows this. The Muslim world knows that he knows it. And he knows that the Muslim world knows that he knows it. This is not a good basis for interfaith dialogue.
In the pope’s defence, I couldn’t write a good speech in favor of Catholicism . . . just can’t be done.
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