Faith Ensures a Future

Peter Edman

In an excellent piece from April, Cardinal Pell, the Archbishop of Sydney, assesses Islam and the West. This is precisely the tone—nuanced, respectful, confident, cheerful—I wish I heard more from Christians when considering their cultural context. 

In ”Islam and Western Democracies,” Cardinal Pell makes a useful survey of the history of the relationship of Islam and Christianity and considers the resources that each side brings to bear. He offers both an optimistic assessment and a pessimistic assessment of the chances for reform within Islam—and what is important, adds in a realistic and vibrant sense of Christian hope for the future. He also touches on the often vexed question of whether Islam and Christianity and Judaism worship the same God and the question of the respective influences of culture, religion, and politics.

One point of interest to me, which the Cardinal politely does not address, is the way the later, more actively violent sections of the Koran are said to abrogate the earlier, more peaceful sections. How any of it could be abrogated is an interesting question for a document that claims to be literally divinely inspired—and why would Allah change his mind?

A few relevant quotes follow on Islam and also on the issues of the secularist West (including a nice bit on global warming hysteria), but don’t bother with this summary unless you’re in a hurry. Read the original.

The claims of Muslim tolerance of Christian and Jewish minorities are largely mythical, as the history of Islamic conquest and domination in the Middle East, the Iberian peninsula and the Balkans makes abundantly clear. . .

Considered strictly on its own terms, Islam is not a tolerant religion and its capacity for far-reaching renovation is severely limited. To stop at this proposition, however, is to neglect the way these facts are mitigated or exacerbated by the human factor. History has more than its share of surprises. . . .

Probably the key quote:

In the present challenge it is religious people who are better equipped, at least initially, to understand the situation with Islam. Radicalism, whether of religious or non-religious inspiration, has always had a way of filling emptiness. But if we are going to help the moderate forces within Islam defeat the extreme variants it has thrown up, we need to take seriously the personal consequences of religious faith. We also need to understand the secular sources of emptiness and despair and how to meet them, so that people will choose life over death. This is another place where religious people have an edge. Western secularists regularly have trouble understanding religious faith in their own societies, and are often at sea when it comes to addressing the meaninglessness that secularism spawns. An anorexic vision of democracy and the human person is no match for Islam.

Also:

It is not just a question of having more children, but of rediscovering reasons to trust in the future. Some of the hysteric and extreme claims about global warming are also a symptom of pagan emptiness, of Western fear when confronted by the immense and basically uncontrollable forces of nature. Belief in a benign God who is master of the universe has a steadying psychological effect, although it is no guarantee of Utopia, no guarantee that the continuing climate and geographic changes will be benign. In the past pagans sacrificed animals and even humans in vain attempts to placate capricious and cruel gods. Today they demand a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions.

Hat tip: Kathy Shaidle

Gleanings, Faiths and Worldviews, Good and Evil, Religious Liberty, Fri 05 May 2006