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Politics : America Under Siege: The End of Innocence -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: lorne who wrote (19037)	10/11/2002 9:28:01 AM
From: DeplorableIrredeemableRedneck	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 27666

Muslims urged to show faith has not 'run amok' Catholic intellectual puts onus on Islam Graeme Hamilton National Post Friday, October 11, 2002 MONTREAL - It is up to spiritual leaders in the Muslim world to show that Islam is a religion of peace and not the ''fierce fanatical face of religion run amok'' manifested in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, a leading Catholic intellectual told a conference yesterday. Father Richard John Neuhaus, president of the New York-based Institute on Religion and Public Life and editor of the journal First Things, said George W. Bush, the U.S. President, and other Western leaders were perhaps overzealous in spreading the message following Sept. 11 that Islam is a peaceful religion. ''We must all want to believe that that is the case. We must also, however, in the months and the years ahead, see more vindication of that claim, and that vindication has to come from within lslam. It doesn't matter whether we want to say nice things about Islam,'' Fr. Neuhaus said. The message needs to come from ''representatives of Koranic, devout, practising, on-the-ground Islam .... the dialogue with that voice of Islam is today almost non-existent.'' Speaking at the Pluralism, Religion and Public Policy conference at McGill University, the Canadian-born Fr. Neuhaus said last year's terrorist attacks forced North Americans, many for the first time, to realize that there are more than a billion Muslims in the world, and for the most part they are angry and resentful about being ''pushed to the margins of history.'' A deeper understanding of Islam, however, has been made difficult by the face the religion presents the world. ''We have to face the fact that there are today what are called the bloody borders of Islam, that is, wherever Islam is in power around the world, it is at war with its neighbours,'' he said in an interview. ''There is no peaceful, secure, democratic Islamic regime in the world. That is what people look at.'' He agreed that Osama bin Laden does not represent Islam, but he said responsible Muslims need to demonstrate a capacity for democratic pluralism. One of his own attempts to establish dialogue with Islamic religious leaders collapsed when Middle East governments effectively vetoed the idea. ''I am sober but not despairing,'' he said of the chances of a serious dialogue. ''It has to happen, or else we're heading for all hell breaking loose.'' Jordan's Prince El Hassan bin Talal, the brother of the late King Hussein and a man who some have touted as a possible replacement for Saddam Hussein in Iraq, said the absence of dialogue has contributed to a ''mushrooming of bin Laden-type organizations.'' Prince Hassan told reporters all religions have un-enlightened elements, recalling an Israeli friend who used to criticize what he called ''pagan Judaism.'' ''I think we have something of pagan Islam and possibly even of pagan Christianity in all of us, if we don't understand the importance of developing what I call the noble art of conversation,'' he said. ''I would dearly love to see an analytical concordance of the St. James Bible and the Koran, so as to focus on the values that we share,'' he added. ''I'm not talking about metaphysics. My point of departure is very clear: We enhance what is universal and we respect differences, but to do that we have to comprehend them.'' Prince Hassan said he has travelled the world trying to make heard what he considers the true voice of Islam. ''But you, the media, have to help us as well, because those of us who talk sense are not generally reported,'' he said. ghamilton@mon.nationalpost.com © Copyright 2002 National Post