
Extreme Christian 2008
Yesterday’s Wall Street Journal had a story on Pope Benedict’s U.S. visit. Much of the analysis was about Iraq, but then came this:
A major theme of Pope Benedict’s papacy has been the importance of reason and faith coexisting. Reason without faith, he has said, leads to empty materialism, while faith without reason leads to extremism, as in parts of the Middle East.
The problem with Islamic terrorists is not that they are extreme, but the what they are extreme about.
And what might that be?
Pope Benedict also has spoken out against intolerance in the Islamic world, provoking a violent backlash in the Muslim world with a 2006 speech in Regensburg, Germany. On Easter he baptized a well-known Italian Muslim in a ceremony that drew renewed criticism from parts of the Middle East. “The pope understands the danger of radical Islam,” said a former Bush administration aide.