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<b><b><b><h1><font size="2">Vihar Levente, k. Lttag ajánlásával E/M kiemelésével küldjük az alábbi óvatosságra intő cikket.</font><br></h1><h1>Islam, Realism, and the Church</h1>
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<p style="color:rgb(146,0,0);line-height:0.5"><a href="https://www.thecatholicthing.org/author/william-kilpatrick/" title="Posts by William Kilpatrick" rel="author" target="_blank">William Kilpatrick</a></p>
<p style="color:rgb(40,79,160);text-transform:uppercase;font-size:12px;line-height:0.5">Tuesday, January 7, 2020 <br></p><p style="color:rgb(40,79,160);text-transform:uppercase;font-size:12px;line-height:0.5"><a href="https://www.thecatholicthing.org/2020/01/07/islam-realism-and-the-church/?utm_source=The+Catholic+Thing+Daily&utm_campaign=163f7f05ce-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_12_07_01_02_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_769a14e16a-163f7f05ce-244185585" target="_blank">https://www.thecatholicthing.org/2020/01/07/islam-realism-and-the-church/?utm_source=The+Catholic+Thing+Daily&utm_campaign=163f7f05ce-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_12_07_01_02_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_769a14e16a-163f7f05ce-244185585</a></p></div>
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<p>In comments last year,<a href="https://www.ilsussidiario.net/news/cronaca/2017/7/10/marcello-pera-vs-papa-francesco-bergoglio-fa-politica-e-in-atto-uno-scisma-nella-chiesa/773071/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> <span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)">Marcello Pera</span></a><span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)">,
a prominent Italian intellectual and non-believer, criticized Pope
Francis for “openly <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">going against</span> tradition, doctrine, and <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">introducing
inexplicable innovations, </span>behaviors and gestures.”</span></p>
<p>A philosopher of science, former president of the Italian Senate, and
close friend of Pope Benedict XVI, <span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)"><span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">Pera asserted that</span> Francis <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">had
turned </span>Catholicism into “a Church <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">so outgoing that it can no longer be
found anywhere.”</span></span></p>
<p>In an earlier <a href="https://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2017/07/the-ultimate-interview-to-understand.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">2017 interview with Il Mattino</a>,
Pera was even more outspoken. In answer to a question about
<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">“indiscriminate” welcoming of migrants to<span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)"> Europe</span>, </span>he replied:<span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)"> “Frankly, I
do not get this pope, whatever he says is <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">beyond any rational
understanding</span>. </span> It’s evident to all that <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">an indiscriminate welcoming<span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)"> is
not possible: </span></span><span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)">there is a critical point that can’t be reached.”</span></p>
<p>He continued: “If the pope. . . insists in a massive and total
welcoming, I ask myself: why does he say it?. . <span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)"><span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">.Why does he lack a
minimum of realism, that very little that is requested of anyone? The
answer I can give myself is only one: </span>The Pope does it because he<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"> hates
t</span>he West, he<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"> aspires to destroy</span> it. . . .As he <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">aspires to destroy <span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)">the
Christian tradition.”</span></span></span></p>
<p>Two years ago, most Catholics would have found that hard to swallow.
But now, the idea that Pope Francis hates the West is beginning to seem
plausible. It would explain much of what he says and does <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">– his
criticism of </span><span style="background-color:rgb(207,226,243)">capitalism and colonialism</span>, <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">Amazonian initiative </span>and, above
all, <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)">encouragement of mass Muslim migration into Europe.</span></span></p>
<p>Does he also aspire to destroy the Christian tradition? <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">Well, he
</span>rarely misses an opportunity to criticize <span style="background-color:rgb(207,226,243)">traditional Catholics. </span></span> At the
same time, he seems intent <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">on introducing exotic and decidedly
non-traditional practices into <span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)">the life of the Church.</span></span></p>
<p>The key word, of course, is “aspires.” Does Francis consciously
desire to “destroy” the West and traditional Christianity (aka
Christianity). Or is he simply a well-intentioned do-gooder who doesn’t
understand the consequences of his experiments?</p>
<p>That’s a serious question, but it’s unnecessary to know the answer in
order to raise a related question: <span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)"><span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">Whatever the intention, do</span> his
policies and programs actually <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">tend toward the destruction of<span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"> the West
and of Christianity?</span></span></span></p><span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)">
</span><p><span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)">I would say, <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">“Yes, they do.</span>” </span>And I would argue, as Professor Pera
does, that <span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)">t<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">hey “lack</span> a minimum of realism.</span>” Future historians may well
look back upon our era as the Age of Unreality. And many in the Church
have embraced this unreality as though it were a newly revealed Gospel.</p>
<p><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">Some Church leaders have been flirting with the idea of same-sex
marriage, and some seem willing to believe that females can transition
to males and males to females</span>. Others, including the pope himself, seem
to believe in <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">the fantasy idea that the lot of the poor can be improved
by getting rid of fossil-fuels</span> – which may be the reason that they have
also revived the fantasy of the Noble Savage. Because, minus the
benefits of electric power, much of the world will be quickly reduced to
a primitive level. <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">In which case, we may all find ourselves praying to
Pachamama and the rain gods for a good harvest.</span></p>
<img src="https://1hx5ll3ickiy2waa471l3o2x-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/1280px-Counquest_of_Jeusalem_1099.jpg" alt="" style="margin-right:0px" width="471" height="270"><b>*</b>
<p><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">The most dangerous fantasy, however, is <span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">the one that Church leaders
have created</span> about Islam</span>. <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">We are told that it’s a religion of peace,
that it shares much common ground with Christianity</span>, that Muslims
venerate Jesus just as Catholics do, t<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">hat terrorism has nothing to do
with Islam, </span>and <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">that the slaughter of Christians by Muslims can be
attributed to a tiny minority who “misunderstand” their religion.</span></p>
<p>At the same time, we are taught that “Islamophobia” – an irrational
fear of Islam – is a far greater danger than Islamic aggression.</p>
<p>Pera’s point is that these supposedly “irrational” fears are actually
quite reasonable. He is mainly concerned with <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">the fantasy that Europe
can successfully absorb millions of Muslim migrants who don’t want to
assimilate. </span> But as one can see, there is a whole basketful of other
fantasies that Catholic leaders believe about Islam.</p>
<p><span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)">Where does<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"> the fantasy </span>come from</span>? Some attribute it to <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">the influence
of Louis Massignon (1883-1962), a French Catholic scholar of Islam
whose work had a profound effect on Catholic thinking</span>. Yet Massignon’s
main interest was in the Sufi mystical tradition within Islam, which is
only a sliver of the whole. In short, <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">Massignon and his followers seem
to have confused Islam with a relatively small sect of Islam –</span> one that
is unrepresentative of mainstream beliefs and practices. Indeed, many
Muslims look upon the Sufis as heretics.</p>
<p>Massignon’s <a href="https://amzn.to/2urtvE1" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><i>magnum o</i><i>pus</i></a>
was published almost 100 years ago, yet many Catholics still take his
idiosyncratic view of Islam to be the “true” and “authentic” Islam. <span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)">
Ever since the publication of <i>Nostra Aetate</i> in 1965, </span><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">this
woefully inadequate view of Islam<span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)"> has been handed down to successive
generations of Catholics</span></span><span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)">,</span> and it’s well past time to challenge it.</p>
<p>Over against the fantasies, there stands <span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)">an abundance of facts about
Islam that are not friendly to the current Catholic narrative.
</span>Catholics need to acquaint themselves with these facts lest they be
lured into a deadly complacency.</p>
<p>Let’s start with one rather large and longstanding fact: <span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)">All of
North Africa, Turkey, and the Middle East were once Catholic. In fact,
for many centuries they were the great centers of Catholic culture.
<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">Now, however, these regions are over 90 percent Muslim.</span></span></p>
<p>Fast forward a millennium and it looks like <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">the same thing is
happening again.</span> <span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)">Lebanon was 62 percent Christian in 1970, </span><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">but by 2010
the Christian population was only 36 percen</span>t. <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">In Iraq, the Christian
population has declined by more than 90 percent just since 2003.
</span>Meanwhile,<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"> Christians are being slaughtered in the name of Islam all
over the world – in Nigeria, Syria, Kenya, Burkina Faso, the
Philippines, Sri Lanka, and elsewhere.</span></p>
<p>It’s not a pretty picture, but it’s a much more accurate one than
that painted by the Church’s current cadre of whitewashers, and one that
those of us possessing even “a minimum of realism” need to take very
seriously.</p>
<p> </p>
<blockquote><p><b>*Image:</b> <i>Taking of Jerusalem by the Crusaders, 15 July 1099</i> by Emile Signol, 1847 [<a href="http://en.chateauversailles.fr/discover/estate/palace/crusades-rooms" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Castle Museum, Versailles</a>, France]. Godfrey of Bouillon is giving thanks to God in the presence of Peter the Hermit after the capture of the city.</p></blockquote>
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<img src="https://1hx5ll3ickiy2waa471l3o2x-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/Kilpatrick-150x150.jpg" alt="William Kilpatrick" width="100" height="100"> </div>
<h4>William Kilpatrick</h4>
<p style="font-size:12px">William Kilpatrick is the author of <i><a href="http://amzn.to/2esgVrc" target="_blank">Christianity, Islam and Atheism: The Struggle for the Soul of the West</a></i>, and a new book, <i><a href="http://amzn.to/2e6asB1" target="_blank">The Politically Incorrect Guide to Jihad</a></i>. His work is supported in part by the Shillman Foundation. For more on his work and writings, visit his website, <i><a href="http://turningpointproject.com" target="_blank">The Turning Point Project</a></i></p>
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