Faith is born of the soul

More threats from the Islamofascists---Death to America, Death to the Danish cartoonists, Death to Israel, Kill Bush, now kill the Pope, because they object to his words. He began an address to scientists, engaging in a dialogue between faiths, and between theologians and scientists, by referring to an historic dialogue between a Byzantine emperor and a Persian scholar. The Pope says the dialogue was probably written down by the emperor, so his views were set down more fully. Here is the passage that has elicited threats:

In the seventh conversation (*4V8,>4H - controversy) edited by Professor Khoury, the emperor touches on the theme of the holy war. The emperor must have known that surah 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, 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 [the Byzantine emperor] 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...".

Read the full text for more of the dialogue. Pope Benedict goes on to talk more about faith and reason, ending with this:

In the Western world it is widely held that only positivistic reason and the forms of philosophy based on it are universally valid. Yet the world's profoundly religious cultures see this exclusion of the divine from the universality of reason as an attack on their most profound convictions. A reason which is deaf to the divine and which relegates religion into the realm of subcultures is incapable of entering into the dialogue of cultures.

Yes, it is clear he is opposed to violent conversion, but does this sound like a man intolerant of other religions? Rather, the Pope is defending religion against a too-secular world that ignores the ethical foundation of society at its peril, and is extending an olive branch to other religions. At least that is how I read it.

As a man of faith, the Pope may be able to reach out, where others can not. That is, if he survives. Here is the "Orwellian quote" Hot Air picks up on, by the Pakistan government:

"Anyone who describes Islam as a religion as intolerant encourages violence," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam said.