Christianity, Islam And The Pope

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The Pope hardly qualifies as a great uniter if that means "seeking ties with only those who invoke the name of a single god." In matters of faith and religion, prescriptive morality should be avoided, as it is the root cause of hostility and divisiveness. There can be no divine right vested in anyone to pronounce the final word and the ultimate truth. Reason cannot be attributed only to Christianity; it equally informs Hinduism and Buddhism. Distinguishing between different religions on the basis of reason shows a narrow understanding of other faiths.
Gyan Ranjan Saha
Calcutta

Pope Benedict XVI's initiative to kindle a debate between religions is laudable. The world will eagerly follow this exchange of ideas. His predecessor, Pope John Paul II, made a significant contribution in dismantling communism. Likewise, the present Pope's dialogue may well rid the world of religious bigotry. In the ultimate analysis, this process should hopefully lead us to the one aspect the communists got right: atheism.
C.P. Belliappa
Coorg, India

Mehmet Ali Agca, a Turkish citizen, made an assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II in 1981. Two-and-a-half years after the attack, the Pope personally favored the would-be killer. Benedict XVI deserves to be welcomed in Turkey with respect and dignity. This kind of tolerance could signify a fundamental step toward peace and mutual understanding between Islam and Christianity.
Daniel C. Ammann
Zurich, Switzerland

The Challenge to Islam
Re Father Richard Neuhaus' viewpoint [Nov. 27], in which he explained that Pope Benedict XVI is challenging Muslims to confront hard truths: Islam indeed has a menacing aspect, and the Pope finally addressed it directly. Since the defeat of the Turks in Vienna in 1683 and the subsequent decline of Muslim power, jihadists have dreamed of reconquering the Christian West. Islam has an expansion policy, which is that every Muslim has a duty to spread the religion in the name of the Prophet. Criticized as a myopic hard-liner when elected, Benedict might become the Pope of progress in Christian-Muslim relations.
Veith Ruehling
Augsburg, Germany

Neuhaus made the most important point of all when he said, "Mosques proliferate throughout cities in the West, while any expression of non-Islamic religion is strictly forbidden in many Muslim countries." No matter what moral failures we find in the "Christianized" West, people have the freedom to exercise their faith and religion. For people to be deprived of that freedom in Muslim countries is blatantly immoral.
James E. Ruark
Kentwood, Michigan, U.S.

I liked very much the dualing viewpoints by Richard John Neuhaus and Tariq Ramadan [Nov. 27.]. Neuhaus noted that, in a letter to the Pope, 38 Islamic authorities explained that that "jihad … means struggle, and specifically struggle in the way of God. This struggle may take many forms, including the use of force." Instead of trying to teach Westerners how to approach Islam, perhaps Islamic authorities should formulate a statement against violence in the name of God.
Alfredo Formiga
Lisbon

Defining Europe
Tariq Ramadan listed "mutual re-spect of human rights, basic freedoms, rule of law and democracy" as values common to Christianity and Islam [Nov. 27]. But instead of claiming that Islam is misunderstood, why don't Muslims openly oppose Islamic nations that do not share those ideals? And even if Islamic radicals make up only a "marginal minority" of the roughly 1.5 billion Muslims worldwide, that is still an enormous number of fanatics willing to die and take as many infidels with them as they can.
Richard Cole
San Jose, California, U.S.

Commentator Ramadan's viewpoint column urged the West to remember "the critical role that Muslims played in the development of Western thought." If Ramadan wants to bolster the image of Islam in the West today, however, he would do better to implore Muslims around the world to protest any and all acts of violence, intimidation and terrorism committed in the name of Allah. Until then, how can Ramadan blame anyone for fearing Muslim immigration? Only when Muslims learn to accept Christians and members of other religions will they no longer be taken as a threat to world peace.
Jack Treese
Simi Valley, California, U.S.

I would like to ask Ramadan three questions. If Islam is a European religion, why are other European religions not permitted in many Islamic countries? If atrocities like 9/11 and the bombings in London, Madrid and Bali are being committed by a marginal minority of radicals, why weren't European Muslims out on the streets demonstrating against such atrocities, as Europeans demonstrated against the Iraq war? And if jihadists are supposedly defending Islam against the decadent West, why are they murdering each other on a daily basis in Iraq?
Guy Johnston
Kirchhundem, Germany