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Archive: February 1, 2009 - February 7, 2009
Benedict Undermining His Own Legacy
Why is the Vatican putting so much effort into reconciliation with the Society of St. Pius X? The real reason is because these men are bishops. If they were simple priests, the Vatican would not give them the time of day.
By Thomas J. Reese, S.J. | February 6, 2009; 12:50 PM ET | Comments (85)
Why I Joined Obama's Faith Council
President Obama's vision for the faith-based council connects his domestic goals with his foreign policy goal of reaching out to people of all faiths and nations.
By Eboo Patel | February 6, 2009; 10:24 AM ET | Comments (22)
Madness Demands Protest, Not Argument
Denial of the holocaust does not have the status of an intellectual position; it is simply an insult. So no, we do not argue. There is no arguing with madness. Instead we protest. We demand decency.
By David Wolpe | February 6, 2009; 9:01 AM ET | Comments (15)
Freedom of Speech Includes Holocaust Deniers
Holocaust deniers have the right to their opinion, just like any one else does. They have the right to publicly declare their opinions, to publish them, and promote them. In response, the rest of us have the right, even the duty, to disagree with them, and to take them to task for shoddy history, or religious/racist prejudice.
By Pamela K. Taylor | February 6, 2009; 8:08 AM ET | Comments (29)
Best Not to Dignify Holocaust Deniers
We are not to dignify any Holocaust denier.
By Elie Wiesel | February 6, 2009; 6:33 AM ET | Comments (367)
On Pitying the Fool: Dealing with Holocaust Deniers
By talking to the fool and offering to restore communion to him, the Pope appeared to make light of the wickedness and folly. The Vatican had to quickly acknowledge this danger and clarify that no bishop could be in full communion who wickedly denied the reality and horror of the Holocaust.
By John Mark Reynolds | February 6, 2009; 3:47 AM ET | Comments (2)
Engaging Holocaust Deniers is Betraying Truth, Friends
The refusal of Holocaust deniers to face the facts of the horrendous crimes against the Jewish people means that we cannot hold out an olive branch to them without betraying our Jewish friends.
By Richard Mouw | February 6, 2009; 2:00 AM ET | Comments (0)
Grace & Truth: Hand-in-Hand
Pope Benedict is trying to reconcile a group of Catholics who have been out of communion with the Church. Bishop Williamson happens to be part of that group. The fact that he is delusional and a victim of his own brand of self-righteous finger-pointing and bigotry, although unfortunate, is purely a coincidence.
By Matt Maher | February 6, 2009; 12:00 AM ET | Comments (2)
Finding Citizen Change-Makers at Boarding School
Today's guest blogger is Hannah McConnaughay, an Outreach Education and Training Associate at the Interfaith Youth Core. Hannah graduated in June of 2008 from the University of Chicago, where she studied religious studies and economics and was a member of...
By Eboo Patel | February 5, 2009; 2:07 PM ET | Comments (1)
Ignore Holocaust Deniers, Except...
In most cases, I would argue that ignoring Holocaust deniers is the best thing to do, as it cuts off their publicity hungry life blood -- but not when it comes to the Head of State.
By Julia Neuberger | February 5, 2009; 7:30 AM ET | Comments (0)
Conversation and Conversion
President Obama was right to reach out to the Islamic world at his inauguration. Given his background, Obama has a unique chance to promote what is good about the United States while distinguishing those virtues from our problems and failures.
By John Mark Reynolds | February 5, 2009; 12:24 AM ET | Comments (13)
Holocaust Denial Is Not Just a Quirk To Be Ignored
Holocaust denial is not just a harmless human quirk; it is founded upon vicious and calculated propaganda and promoted for malicious political, racial and religious ends. Those who deny the Holocaust should not just be ignored, but hunted and persecuted.
By Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz | February 5, 2009; 12:18 AM ET | Comments (76)
Waiting for the Second Coming of Sadat
Those of us who see no contradiction between being pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian listened for common ground.
By Eboo Patel | February 4, 2009; 2:33 PM ET | Comments (1)
Obama's Screw Up
What Obama realizes, and the previous administration could not ever acknowledge, is that good intentions are not enough.
By Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite | February 4, 2009; 9:40 AM ET | Comments (14)
Not All Holocaust Denial Is Equal
A total ban on engaging Holocaust deniers is a convenient way to ignore the real challenge of engaging people with ugly views. And those are usually the most important people to engage. The real choice one has to make is which deniers to ignore and which to engage.
By Brad Hirschfield | February 4, 2009; 7:39 AM ET | Comments (16)
Holocaust Deniers, as Enemies of Public Fact, are Enemies of Truth
Benedict is a good man, a competent scholar, and a faithful celebrant in all the holy orders of the Roman Catholic Church. But, like everybody else, popes sometimes make disastrous decisions with consequences the size of their power, in their case monarchic. How refreshing it would be were Benedict to repent of this disastrous decision!
By Willis E. Elliott | February 4, 2009; 12:16 AM ET | Comments (4)
Holocaust Deniers Living In Denial
When it comes to Holocaust deniers, I think the deliberately ignorant can best be neutralized by the sane maintaining silence.
By Arun Gandhi | February 3, 2009; 3:18 PM ET | Comments (1)
Appeals for Peace Must Move Beyond Religion
Every administration has a new opportunity. President Obama will try. Will he succeed? The mutual interests of the Jews, the Muslims and the world cry out for it. The odds of the situation may be against him, but hopes of the world are soaring.
By John Shelby Spong | February 3, 2009; 10:00 AM ET | Comments (11)
U.S. Must Earn Respect With Consistent Values
Yes, we can move forward into a new era of peace and trust, if we do three simple things: recognize the diversity and humanity of Muslims and all people, return our country to respect for human rights and international law, and demand the same from our allies.
By Starhawk | February 3, 2009; 7:35 AM ET | Comments (14)
Time to Embrace the Muslim World as a Partner, not an Enemy
A shift in U.S. foreign policy that embraces the Muslim world as a partner rather than an enemy is not only possible, but is necessary for the future interests of humanity. Anti-Americanism in the Muslim world is not driven by hatred of U.S. values, but U.S. policies in the region.
By Hadia Mubarak | February 3, 2009; 5:47 AM ET | Comments (21)
Muslims Speaking Up for Islam and Peace
The report states that such peacemaking efforts are organic to the tradition of Islam itself, and Muslim intellectuals are increasingly articulating these dimensions of Islam both within Muslim circles and beyond them.
By Eboo Patel | February 2, 2009; 12:27 PM ET | Comments (88)
A Peace Plan for the Evolution/Creation Wars
Using the same word to describe faith in God and support for a scientific theory strikes me as foolish and pernicious. It's bad for both science and faith, creating a false dichotomy between the two positions.
By Brad Hirschfield | February 2, 2009; 11:25 AM ET | Comments (84)
Jewish Reaction to Pope Disproportionate
How is it that the view of some cranky bishop who has no power evokes calls of a crisis in Catholic - Jewish relations despite the revolutionary changes in Church teachings regarding Jews since Vatican II?
By Irwin Kula | February 2, 2009; 8:30 AM ET | Comments (77)
Obama to Muslims: "We Are Not Your Enemy"
What is astonishing to me is less the Inaugural rhetoric of "mutual interest and mutual respect" than the fact that the President today spoke directly to many in the Muslim world. This is not only a new foreign policy approach, it is also a different ethics for engaging with the peoples of the world.
By Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite | February 2, 2009; 7:39 AM ET | Comments (33)
Weaving an Abrahamic Peace
Repairing relations and affirming the legitimacy of Islam in America, by visiting some major Muslim venues; Repairing the bloody wounds of the Gaza-Israel relationship; and making a broad Middle East peace among Israel, Palestine, all the Arab states, Iran and the USA itself.
By Arthur Waskow | February 2, 2009; 6:07 AM ET | Comments (2)
