Brethren, Peace be with you.
I read with increasing shock the violent reaction to the accidental burning of Korans at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan, fanned by local Islamicists and celebrated by Taliban terrorists, while our President once again bows in apology for what was an innocent oversight. It reminds me of these words pronounced by the Holy Father in Regensburg:
In the seventh conversation edited by Professor Khoury, the emperor touches on the theme of the holy war. The emperor must have known that sura 2, 256 reads: "There is no compulsion in religion". According to the experts, this is one of the suras of the early period, when Mohammed was still powerless and under threat. But naturally the emperor also knew the instructions, developed later and recorded in the Qur'an, concerning holy war. Without descending to details, such as the difference in treatment accorded to those who have the "Book" and the "infidels", he addresses his interlocutor with a startling brusqueness on the central question about the relationship between religion and violence in general, saying: "Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman (or bad and inhumane), such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached". The emperor, after having expressed himself so forcefully, goes on to explain in detail the reasons why spreading the faith through violence is something unreasonable. Violence is incompatible with the nature of God and the nature of the soul. "God", he says, "is not pleased by blood — and not acting reasonably is contrary to God's nature. Faith is born of the soul, not the body. Whoever would lead someone to faith needs the ability to speak well and to reason properly, without violence and threats… To convince a reasonable soul, one does not need a strong arm, or weapons of any kind, or any other means of threatening a person with death…(Source).
For the ensuing bad and inhumane reaction to the speech in many Muslim capitals, the Holy Father had to apologize.
Today, we continue to see the same reprehensible behavior in Afghanistan, a country mired in corruption and illiteracy, whose only permanent contribution to global culture has been its ancestral hatred for foreigners, loosely defined as those not belonging to their particular tribe or Islamic affiliation.
Let us continue to pray for our troops in Afghanistan, for their safety, for the eternal rest of those who have given life or limb in this cause and the comfort of their families, and for more common sense behavior by our national authorities.