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Expounding On Ambiguity?

Reader comment on item: A Key Change to "The Pope and the Koran"

Submitted by orange yonason (United States), Jan 31, 2006 at 16:08

BS"D


"Note first that it was the Koran that was referred to, not Islam." (Fessio)

...as if there can be an "Islam" without "the Koran?"

No doubt what he is referring to as "Islam," as opposed to "the Koran," is the oral tradition necessary to interpret the written material? I do not know for certain what Islam claims for whatever oral tradition(s) it has, and whether the clerics have to decipher it on their own or if they are given help 'from above', but it has been my belief that they have to derive new rulings from existing material, and 'inspiration' (i.e., prophecy) is hardly possible if Mohammed was their last. My guess is that Fessio is just attempting a little 'damage control', and relying on ignorance of the masses (no pun) to give his sophistry a pass.

As to Christianity, the Pope himself admits that he has no fixed interpretation of his doctrine, and so must rely on an alleged divine inspiration, which conveniently comes through him and his fraternity at the Vatican. Interestingly, in order to 'validate' that approach, he imputes the same belief to Judaism, despite the fact that anyone even cursorily familiar with Orthodox Jewish belief knows that nothing could be further from the truth. Although the Rabbis with the authority to "Interpret" the Torah do derive "new" rulings, these must be consistent with both Written and Oral Torah, otherwise they are invalid. No ouija boards are involved: only knowledge of, and a strict and faithful adherence to, our immutable Tradition.

For the Pope to deny knowledge of Christianity's rejection of the Jewish Oral Torah, a seminal event in Church history, is either historical revisionism at it's lowest, or gross and irresponsible ignorance of his own roots. Either way, they make an excellent case for the Pope and company's irrelevance as reliable authorities in these matters. Even if he doesn't agree with us, he should at least correctly acknowledge what we Jews believe. The only reason I can think why he might not is that it would weaken the Church's claim to being the next logical step forward in an existing continuum, rather than a profound backwards plunge.

Continuing with the question of expecting any of the big three to "change" "for the better" without defining what specifically needs to be changed and why it's better, sounds too much like one of those 'cart before the horse' deals that only work in one's imagination. Sorry Daniel, but you are still way to vague on what you think needs to be done.

Oh, yes. And one more not so minor detail. Why put the onus of change on Islam? There is no a-priori reason that this should be the case, other than they are uncivilized barbarians by our standards. Unfortunately, without invoking an immutable morality to point the way, who can say it's them and not us who are the problem? In order to do that, one would have to have access to an absolute value scale from the Source of creation, not a sliding scale based on human perceptions of self-interest. And, since most of Islam doesn't seem too disturbed by their treatment of us, indicating that they see no problem that requires their attention, exactly how do we persuade them that they alone should shoulder that enormous burden merely to humor those who's values they hold in contempt?
Submitting....

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Reader comments (34) on this item

Title Commenter Date Thread
Another Lie [35 words]AaronMay 7, 2006 07:2544977
A French newspaper [141 words]Kees RudolfApr 21, 2006 16:2043756
Goosa [11 words]RajJul 19, 2009 15:2243756
Don't over-react to what Fessio thinks he understood what Pope said [165 words]SA FranceApr 5, 2006 10:1542450
WITHOUT CHRIST [99 words]donvanMar 8, 2006 17:2839419
Peace [91 words]JumanaMar 7, 2006 23:4839296
1Struggling with Identity of Islam [304 words]PonderingFeb 23, 2006 04:0837549
1Qu'ran or Islam [109 words]tellisMar 16, 2006 20:0037549
struggling Identity [60 words]observerSep 26, 2006 00:4837549
Keep dreaming [171 words]NOORFeb 19, 2006 02:1236302
Hey, then please go back to that and let us be!!! [136 words]AnneMay 6, 2006 12:2336302
Leave us alone [62 words]Octavio JohansonMay 6, 2006 17:5236302
version corrected for diplomatic resons? likely [162 words]brunoFeb 6, 2006 15:2133952
Expounding On Ambiguity? [563 words]orange yonasonJan 31, 2006 16:0833309
Conspiracies to Control The World [810 words]howlinJan 30, 2006 16:2133146
kuran and reform [134 words]G.BisvasJan 31, 2006 12:5533146
Reply to Howlin [353 words]No DhimmiJan 31, 2006 22:0733146
No Dhimmi [60 words]howlinFeb 1, 2006 12:1833146
Reforming Barbarians [359 words]orange yonasonFeb 1, 2006 14:2233146
Howling at Howlin: Learn the Facts [635 words]JoeFeb 14, 2006 22:0233146
an all out effort [76 words]donvanFeb 21, 2006 13:4833146
To Joe: [29 words]jeffreybFeb 25, 2006 23:0833146
reply to Jeffery, here is the proof [52 words]JoeFeb 28, 2006 00:2233146
To Joe [99 words]jeffreybFeb 28, 2006 16:1533146
again [666 words]JoeMar 1, 2006 13:2533146
To Joe [23 words]jeffreybMar 1, 2006 16:4033146
Does Benedict XVI agree with Ratzinger? [473 words]Tom McLaughlinJan 30, 2006 09:1333097
Conditions for Changing Islam [553 words]Mike RamirezJan 29, 2006 18:4033045
Last chance to turn this around? [284 words]Darwin barrettJan 29, 2006 17:3333037
The compounding of error [284 words]WilliamJan 29, 2006 09:0633001
Comments by William [15 words]JerryJan 29, 2006 20:0633001
oil and women [72 words]yuval brandstetterJan 29, 2006 08:4032998
why u people see only one side of picture [42 words]Ahsan HussainJan 30, 2006 08:5932998
Comment to #643 Correction to Pope and the Koran [135 words]William Sumner ScottJan 29, 2006 04:2932982

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