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{ 2008 04 17 }

Pope’s Visit Meets With Mixed Feelings Among American Muslims

The visit of Pope Benedict XVI to the United States this week has spurred mixed reactions in America’s Muslim community.  Muslims cite the pontiffs remarks about their religion in the fall of 2006 and his baptism this past Easter of  a high profile Muslim as evidence that he has at times offended Muslim sensibilities.  Some Muslims accuse him of adopting patterns of polemical thinking and speaking about Islam and Muslims by some Christians that go back centuries.  

See:  Daniel Wakin, “Wary Reception Among Muslims Who Recall Pontiff’s Remarks About Muhammad,” New York Times, April 17, 2008, A24.

Perspective: Islam, for its part, has also engaged in polemical attacks upon Christians, and, in some Muslim countries, Christians are either not allowed to practice their faith openly (Saudi Arabia, for example), or, are subject to discriminatory regulations.  At the heart of the argument is the claim by both faiths to be God’s final revelation to humanity (what theologians refer to as “supersessionism - See:  ”Wars of Words and Images: Religious Polemics”).

Posted by Ted Thornton on Thursday, April 17, 2008, at 8:48 am. Filed under Christianity, Islam and the West. Follow any responses to this post with its comments RSS feed. You can post a comment or trackback from your blog.

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