Lost in Translation?

So, is this how world history changes?

Oh, oh, the casual observations of a pontiff to a gathering of students in Germany seem to be spinning wildly out of control. Salman Rushdie and those Danish cartoonists can now come on out of their hiding places, even George Bush might catch some slack now, there’s a new object of hate for the fury of the believers.

Pope Benedict, while back in his homeland, stopped in to speak at the gathering at the University of Regensburg and gave a rather lengthy address to the students, entitled Faith, Reason and the University: Memories and Reflections.

The full text is available here, but the part that has the world in the heat of a rhetorical Armageddon is the highlighted in blue below, described by the Pope as " itself rather marginal to the dialogue as a whole - which, in the context of the issue of "faith and reason", I found interesting and which can serve as the starting-point for my reflections on this issue."

He then provides a bit of a pre-amble to those reflections and then utters the quotes, that have seemingly convulsed the Islamic world.

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".

Well, marginal it apparently wasn't!

That one sentence has resulted in burning pictures and street prostests and an uneasy feeling that the rage is destined to carry on for a good while longer than anyone might have expected.

The feeling of the offended is that the Pope did not provide any direction on his thoughts about that passage, suggesting in the minds of many Muslims’ a tacit approval of that belief.

They are also quite annoyed that he never mentioned the inhuman things conducted by Christians and others during the age of the Crusades. In fact, some commentators who took to the streets in Islamic lands today suggested that the Pope was trying to launch a modern day version of those ancient battles.

Official reaction from Islamic leaders has been swift and rather emotional. Pakistan’s legislature unanimously condemned Pope Benedict XVI. Lebanon’s top Shiite cleric demanded an apology. And in Turkey, the ruling party likened the pontiff to Hitler and Mussolini and accused him of reviving the mentality of the Crusades.

Andwell, that’s the good press.

The Vatican concerned over the inflammation of the situation has been busy sending out feelers to the Muslim community to try and soothe the escalating crisis. Suggesting that the pontiff was taken out of context, the Vatican has made numerous statements on his behalf. However, most of those attempts have been rebuffed as Islamic leaders call on the Pope to personally apologize for his words and thoughts, not have some subordinate relay his regrets.

So with not to much success to speak of on the PR front, and to be on the safe side, they’ve stepped up security at the Vatican. In a world already on edge over the threat of terrorism, this latest bit of tension between Islam and Christianity has officials particularly on alert...

While they plan their next attempt at reconciliation, the Vatican is receiving no shortage of suggestions from points afar.

The New York Times in an editorial stated; "The world listens carefully to the words of any Pope,” The Times continued. “And it is tragic and dangerous when one sows pain, either deliberately or carelessly. He needs to offer a deep and persuasive apology, demonstrating that words can also heal.”

Pope Benedict had a trip to Turkey scheduled for a little over a month from now, the current state of emotions probably will find that trip rescheduled for more less inflamed times.

In whatever century that may happen to fall into.