It is with awe and wonder that I hear and read so many comments from people about the current situation with Israel and Gaza.
A recent comment I have read seems quite poignant. It is the Rowsey Blog entry entitled The Mess in the Middle East.
Some people are claiming that Israel is perpetuating a holocaust on Arab Islamists. Others are just as adament in professing that Israel has a right to defend itself in preventing another Holocaust.
It was The Holocaust that has resulted with the phrase Never Again being more than just a phrase.
The silence of the Pope back then has never truly been explained, at least not to my satisfaction. With that in mind, I cannot help but wonder why the current Pope seems to be following the established past practice of the Roman Catholic Church with his silence and seemingly indifference to the current situation.
5 comments:
Roland,
Popes, for the most part, have tried to remain apolitical, leaning more heavily on the side of religion and morality issues.
But one would expect to hear something on the topic/issue from the former "Benny the Enforcer..."
Paradoxical, isn't it?
Thanks for the link! On January 4, Pope Benedict called for peace by both sides. Perhaps it wasn't strong enough? I don't know.
Roland,
I am not sure that the term Holocaust is valid from either side of the argument. That being said, certainly Israel has the right to defend itself from what is nothing short of daily terrorist attacks, or maybe guerilla warfare. I can recall no war that did not also involve the deaths of innnocents, but that would certainly not qualify as systematic extermination.
As for the silence of the Pope, one can only say that every holder of that office has not performed equally. Human frailty, human weakness, and political expediency have from time to time defined and burdened he who wears "The Shoes of the Fisherman".
You're most welcome, Jason, and thank you for the link to the article concerning the Pope's comments. Now, having read the linked article, I believe it is much too soft. But then again, maybe the Michael Brooks' historymike blog entry On Papal Rhetoric and Muslim Anger might provide a clue on the Pope's soft touch.
Hooda Thunkit,
I would think that ongoing killing would be high on the priority list of morality issues. Killing is killing, regardless of politics.
Tim Higgins,
Whether the word holocaust is valid or not, people are indeed using the term. Passions run deep and emotions seem to be controlling the dialogue. Regarding Popes, at one time many years ago I was told by several Roman Catholics that they were taught that priests and the Pope were divinely chosen. They must have been mistaken.
Roland,
As someone who survived 8 years of Catholic grade school, 3 years of Catholic high school, and a year of Catholic college before finally rejecting the Carmelite robes; I believe that I can speak with some experience, though absolutely no authority. A calling to serve God in any form, priest, minister, or rabbi, must have something divine to it. Higher office in the Catholc Church unfortunately, is all too often clouded with politics (as I am sure you well know).
I was taught to believe the same things that you point out when I was younger. I was taught to believe in Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny at the same time.
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