The Saudi government and people have taken great exception to quotes taken from a speech Pope Benedict XVI gave in Germany a few days ago.
I think there are two wrongs going on here. Neither separately nor together do they make a “right”.
First, I think the Pope was ill-advised to quote a statment from a Byzantine emperor about Muslims and Islam. If there’s one thing I’ve learned in living in the Middle East, it’s that you don’t ask the member of one faith to tell you about another, at least if you want anything approaching an objective answer. The follower of one faith will, consistently, be ignorant about the other faith and put it in a very poor light. It doesn’t matter which religion you ask about if you ask the question of the follower of another religion. The Pope’s advisors should have recognized this as well as recognized the danger of provoking people who are ready to take exception to anything they see as a slight, reasonably or not.
Second, it would be helpful in the name of world peace if people would bother to pay attention to what was actually said, in what context, not just look for something which, out of context, might be abusive. Quoting a 14th C. document does not necessarily mean that the person doing the quoting agrees with those words. The words are being repeated because they shed some sort of perspective on the issue being discussed, not because they are necessarily correct. We can learn from the mistakes of earlier ages, if we choose to do so.
Choosing to take umbrage at the least perceived slight isn’t very intelligent. It shines its own light—a very unfavorable one—on those who get unduly upset. In fact, it plays into the stereotypes that the region and the religion are trying to avoid, that of being over-emotional, thin-skinned, and prone to violent reaction disproportionate to the cause.
Everyone loses on this one.
Among the Saudi media reaction are these:
Pope’s Comments Outrage Saudis
Saud Asks Pope to Clarify Stance on Islam
Pope, Byzantine Emperor, ‘Educated Persian’ and Islam
Pope Sorry Muslims Were Offended
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September:17:2006 - 10:36
Good analysis.
I think the global media combined with a largely ignorant and uneducated population, devoid of critical thinking skills, are two major factors. The Arab press spins coverage and the general response is predictable.
September:17:2006 - 10:44
Not just the Arab press, I’m afraid. The South Asian, South East Asian, African press are all filled with it.
But yes, it is taking advantage of an ignorant and ill-educated population.
September:18:2006 - 12:49
[...] Crossroads Arabia [...]
September:21:2006 - 15:22
I suppose one can add the former editor-in-chief of Asharq Al- Awsat to the list of people who didn’t “bother to pay attention to what was actually said:”
The most recent tape issued by Al Qaeda’s Ayman al Zawahiri is in keeping with the Pope’s latest sermon. Whilst the former declares an extremist version of Islam that is propagated via the media, the Pope asserts this version of Islam, adopting al Zawahiri’s interpretation of the concept of Jihad and claiming that it defines Islam.
He doesn’t know what the Pope said, yet claims to know what people say to the Pope.