Although the pope has made some gestures of reconciliation, he has fallen short in taking the right step by apologizing for his remarks, not just the reaction.
SAYED MOUSTAFA AL-QAZWINI
Imam of the Islamic Educational Center of Orange County
Costa Mesa
The question should rather be what are the profound reasons for Christian-Muslim dialogue which Pope Benedict XVI proposed in his Regensburg lecture.
The best interpreter of a text is its author and the pope has explained what he meant. It is mere fairness to take him at his word. The reality that he brilliantly elucidated is that intolerance and violent acts are being directed at people and communities of different religions, violating their human rights.
The words which the same Holy Father spoke in the same country at the 20th World Youth Day in Cologne in August 2005 seem to have been forgotten that "the lessons of the past must help us to avoid repeating the same mistakes. We must seek paths of reconciliation and learn to live with respect for the other's identities." His university address should be viewed as advancing, not hindering, this plea.
It would be tragic, in the midst of current polemics, to ignore the three critical issues the pope highlighted for a rational conversation. Firstly, he contextualized his remarks in stating that all the great questions of our lives, are ultimately theological. In our everyday lives, how we think about God effects our actions.
