Still Running Off at the Keyboard

ELIJAH INTERFAITH INSTITUTE AND BENEDICT XVI

The Elijah Interfaith Institute has issued a statement addressing the crisis caused by Benedict XVI's comments about a 14th century view of Islam. The statement is signed by The Most Rev. Frank T. Griswold, Presiding Bishop, Episcopal Church, USA (a very liberal bishop indeed), and by Rabbi David Rosen, among others. A few quotes will summarize the statement...

** The text quoted by Pope Benedict is drawn from a polemical work. Christianity and Islam have a rich library of polemical words...

** Polemics are ways of defending the truth-claims of one's own religion...

** Such polemical literature is also representative of historical relations between other religious traditions...

** [They] feed our view of other religions...

** religious leaders and adherents today have the responsibility to reframe our communications and relationships in accordance with our core values and contemporary global realities...

** Some of our traditions have taken stock of dark moments in their past and offered apologies...

** [Views expressed] should be upheld, rejected or reframed, in light of the broad and prevailing awareness that dignity and respect must characterize inter-group relations in the present. Citations from polemical literature must accordingly be handled with the appropriate awareness of the nature of this literature...

** While upholding the various freedoms (academic freedom, freedom of speech and the freedom of the press), we also urge religious leaders and scholars to be mindful of the change in the environment of communications...

** Careful and full listening and mutually respectful dialogue are the only way of moving forward and the only remedy to violent reactions.

I read this statement as a slap on the wrist of Benedict XVI. They seem to be saying to him, "Your predecessor understood that the Catholic Church has an ugly past that must be apologized for. You need to get with the program and watch what you say."

I also think it's noteworthy that freedom of religion is not among the freedoms listed. How long do we have before claiming that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world will be considered a fundamentalist anathema?

The Board of World Religious Leaders in their first Board Meeting have already stated that: "The topic of the religious attitude to the Other was chosen as a gateway to future conversations and research to be carried out in the framework of the Academy. The issue of xenophobia is a contemporary global problem." Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold, USA as well as Rabbi David Rosen are both listed as participants in this Board Meeting. The liberal position is one of syncretism.