Taliban Warn Pope on "Proselytism"

Not only do the Taliban enjoy blowing up children, now they have even issued a warning to the Pope. All the while President Obama desperately searches for "moderate" Taliban members.

Hat tip to the The Religion of Peace.

TALEBAN WARN POPE ON 'PROSELYTISM'
'Reaction' threat after US soldiers seen with Bibles http://islaminaction08.blogspot.com/2009/05/afghandon.html


(ANSA) - Rome, May 7 - The Taleban have warned Pope Benedict XVI to help stop alleged attempts to convert Muslims in Afghanistan, in order to prevent ''serious consequences''.

The apparent threat appeared on a Taleban-linked website Thursday after Arab-language network Al Jazeera showed US soldiers in Afghanistan holding copies of the Bible translated into local languages.

''The Islamic Emirate in Afghanistan asks Pope Benedict XVI to act to stop the foolish and irresponsible actions of the crusaders upsetting the feelings of Muslim rebels, without awaiting the consequences of a severe reaction,'' said a Taleban message on the website, alemarah1.org.

''The Taleban forcefully exhort the mujaheddin, scholars and all religious circles to control the activities of the invaders and crusaders, and not allow anyone to preach religions except Islam,'' the message said.

Al Jazeera showed US soldiers in Bagram, not far from Kabul, with a pile of Bibles translated into the two local languages.

The US army subsequently said that ''any form of religious proselytism by troops is prohibited'' and assured that the bibles had been ''confiscated and destroyed''.

Trying to convert Muslims is a crime in Afghanistan and other Islamic countries.

The warning was issued amid mounting protests in Afghanistan against civilian deaths in recent US bombing raids.

It also came on the eve of the the pope's week-long trip to the Holy Land.

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Pope Questions Interfaith Dialogue

While Pope Benedict XVI will continue to show the world that he tried by having more interfaith talks, it appears that he knows that nothing will result from them. He sees that these conferences are full of empty talk by Muslims, as nothing actually gets any better for the Christians and Jews living in Islamic countries.

Pope Questions Interfaith Dialogue

By RACHEL DONADIO
Published: November 23, 2008
ROME — In comments that could have broad implications in a period of intense inter-religious conflict, Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday cast doubt on the possibility of interfaith dialogue but called for more discussion of the practical consequences of religious differences.

The pope’s comments were from a letter he wrote to Marcello Pera, an Italian center-right politician and scholar whose forthcoming book, “Why We Must Call Ourselves Christian,” argues that Europe should stay true to its liberal, Christian roots. A central theme of Benedict’s papacy has been to focus attention on the Christian roots of an increasingly secular Europe.

In comments from the letter that appeared on Sunday in Corriere della Sera, Italy’s leading daily, the pope said the book “explained with great clarity” that “an inter-religious dialogue in the strict sense of the word is not possible.” In theological terms, he added, “a true dialogue is not possible without putting one’s faith in parentheses.”

But Benedict added that “intercultural dialogue which deepens the cultural consequences of basic religious ideas” was important. He called for confronting “in a public forum the cultural consequences of basic religious decisions.”

The Vatican spokesman, Rev. Federico Lombardi, said the pope’s comments seemed intended to draw interest for Mr. Pera’s book, not to cast doubt on the Vatican’s many continuing inter-religious dialogues.

“He has a papacy known for religious dialogue, he went to a mosque, he’s been to synagogues,” Rev. Lombardi said. “This means that he thinks we can meet and talk to the others and have a positive relationship.”

Instead, the pope’s remarks seemed aimed at pushing some more theoretical inter-religious conversations into the practical realm.

“He’s trying to get the Catholic-Islamic dialogue out of the clouds of theory and down to brass tacks: how can we know the truth about how we ought to live together justly, despite basic credal differences?” said George Weigel, a Catholic scholar and biographer of Pope John Paul II.

This month, the Vatican hosted a conference with Muslim religious leaders and scholars aimed at improving ties that had been strained in 2006, when some Muslims were offended when the pope quoted a Byzantine emperor criticizing the Prophet Muhammad.

The conference participants agreed to condemn terrorism and protect religious freedom, but they did not address issues of conversion and of the rights of Christians to worship in majority Muslim countries.

The Church is also engaged in dialogue with Muslims organized by the King of Saudi Arabia, a country where non-Muslims are forbidden from worshipping in public.

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Ex-Muslim Tells the Pope That Islam is a Religion of war

Magdi Allam the Egyptian born ex-Muslim who the Pope had sensationally converted to Christianity on national TV last Easter, has come out against one of the Pope's Cardinals, who has said that Islam is a religion of peace and that some Muslims have betrayed Islam. Mr. Allam has said that terrorism is breed from Islam and the actions of Mohammad. I say that we take the word of the ex-Muslim over the either politically correct or ignorant Cardinal.

Muslim convert to Catholicism tells Pope Islam is not inherently good

By Cindy Wooden
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Muslim-born journalist baptized by Pope Benedict XVI at Easter asked the pope to tell his top aide for relations with Muslims that Islam is not an intrinsically good religion and that Islamic terrorism is not the result of a minority gone astray.

As the Vatican was preparing to host the first meeting of the Catholic-Muslim Forum Nov. 4-6, Magdi Allam, a longtime critic of the Muslim faith of his parents, issued an open letter to Pope Benedict that included criticism of Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue.

In the letter, posted on his Web site Oct. 20, Allam said he wanted to tell the Pope of his concern for "the serious religious and ethical straying that has infiltrated and spread within the heart of the church."

He told the Pope that it "is vital for the common good of the Catholic Church, the general interest of Christianity and of Western civilization itself" that the Pope make a pronouncement in "a clear and binding way" on the question of whether Islam is a valid religion.

The Catholic Church's dialogue with Islam is based on the Second Vatican Council's Declaration on the Relationship of the Church to Non-Christian Religions ("Nostra Aetate"), which urged esteem for Muslims because "they adore the one God," strive to follow his will, recognize Jesus as a prophet, honor his mother, Mary, "value the moral life and worship God especially through prayer, almsgiving and fasting."

The council called on Catholics and Muslims "to work sincerely for mutual understanding" and for social justice, moral values, peace and freedom.

Allam told Pope Benedict he specifically objected to Cardinal Tauran telling a conference in August that Islam itself promotes peace but that "'some believers' have 'betrayed their faith,'" using it as a pretext for violence.

"The objective reality, I tell you with all sincerity and animated by a constructive intent, is exactly the opposite of what Cardinal Tauran imagines," Allam told the pope. "Islamic extremism and terrorism are the mature fruit" of following "the sayings of the Quran and the thought and action of Mohammed."

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