After spending 18 of the last 30 years in Egypt, I am not a romantic when it comes to the realities of religious intolerance, social discrimination and sectarian violence experienced by many Christians due to religious fanatics who claim to be Christian, Jewish or Muslim. I have overheard various “men of religion” refer to Christians using the religious “M” word, “mushrik” meaning polytheist and idolater or “K” word “kafr” meaning infidel. I’ve heard it all and seen a lot. While two wrongs never make a right, Christians of most denominations should never fail to recall the violence, discrimination and persecution we have been guilty of during our own 2,000 year history “in the name of God and Jesus Christ”.

I cannot speak for Muslims outside of Egypt, but I can try to explain the reactions of many to such a film without equating these reasons to being justifications. Most Americans get quite upset when we watch the American flag being burned or trampled on. We at least get upset if someone desecrates the Bible and Catholics get very upset if someone desecrates the Eucharist. Maybe we don’t burn those who do or torture them anymore, but we have in the past. We claim to be “one nation under God with liberty and justice for all” and yet we have always found at least one race, nationality, religion or orientation to focus on and “go after”.

Western societies that profess “freedom of religion” have moved toward “freedom FROM religion”. Personally, even as a Catholic priest, I feel that “religion” in civil democracies have the obligation to form and educate the individual and collective conscience of its followers and to be “a voice of conscience” in society. However, I oppose any religion dictating to government how it should legislate morality according to any particular religious belief system. At the same time, this is NOT the current reality in the Muslim world whether I/we like it or not. Cultural sensitivity must include religious and social sensitivity.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Culture-Watch • Movies & Television • Religion & Culture • Violence • * Economics, Politics • Foreign Relations • Politics in General • * International News & Commentary • Middle East • Egypt • * Religion News & Commentary • Inter-Faith Relations • Other Churches • Roman Catholic • Other Faiths • Islam • Muslim-Christian relations

1. Phil wrote: “Maybe we don’t burn those who do or torture them anymore…” There’s no “maybe” about it.  We don’t.  We don’t even think about it.  To try to make this moral equivalence argument is repugnant.  And to talk about what “we” (do they teach the part about there being neither Jew nor Greek nor bond nor free in Catholic seminaries anymore?) used to do at some time beyond the memory of any living person’s grandparents is irrelevant. Wrong is wrong is wrong.  Most people’s parents teach them two wrongs don’t make a right.  And, if that doesn’t carry enough weight for this gentleman, Jesus said that if someone strikes one cheek, offer him your other.  While I won’t claim most of us live up to those teachings, I will claim a Catholic priest should refrain from advocating, in only thinly disguised language, the morality of revenge. October 3, 11:00 am | [comment link]

2. Todd Granger wrote: Fr may doesn’t quite cross the line, but he comes perilously close to providing an apology (in the sense of a defense) for violence.  I agree with him that blasphemous irreverence is inappropriate, but to suggest that we should expect violence in reaction?  I don’t deny the ugliness of the accusation, and I could be completely wrong, but the word that bubbles up when I read his essay is dhimmitude. October 3, 8:26 pm | [comment link]

3. clarin wrote: A depressing piece from a man who works in an admittedly depressing place with a great number of adult Muslim children full of explosive rage. October 4, 1:37 am | [comment link]

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