Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post - Muslim scholars send letter to Pope urging mutual tolerance and respect

Jimellow · 10-20-2006, 08:51 AM

TFP doesn't have a Tilted Religion forum, so I figured this was the most fitting place for the following.

I just read an article in The Christian Science Monitor regarding a letter thirty-eight Muslim scholars sent to Pope Benedict XVI regarding mutual tolerance and respect, as well as the signing of a religious ruling rejecting violence against civilians, which was signed by 500 prominent Muslims.

The article goes on to note that neither received much publicity in the West, whereas Osama bin Laden and his associates are the ones capturing headlines instead. Conversely, an article covering the same issues, but released to a Muslim audience, has been widely read and distributed.

While I would certainly agree that American media has a tendency to create and maintain an atmosphere of constant fear and panic, I found the closing portions of the article interesting, as the author described the inability of the Muslim leaders to succinctly address and report to the media, with the ultimate result being that their message is lost; thus making America's negative view of the Muslim world easier, due to it being one-sided as a result of poor "public relations" on the non-violent Muslim side.

It's a lengthy article, and I am not going to quote it in its entirety here. Instead, I will link to the article, which also include a portion of the letter that was sent to the Pope by the Muslim community.

The article, and letter, can be found HERE

I thoroughly enjoyed reading the article. I think it's very easy to be tricked into the mindset that all Muslims are evil, especially if one relies solely on the Western mass media as a source. I've actually had discussions in the past with people that truly thought the majority of Muslims wanted to kill all Americans. For that alone, I will hold onto this article in the hopes of enlightening them.

10-20-2006, 08:51 AM	#1 (permalink)
Jimellow Junkie	Muslim scholars send letter to Pope urging mutual tolerance and respect TFP doesn't have a Tilted Religion forum, so I figured this was the most fitting place for the following. I just read an article in The Christian Science Monitor regarding a letter thirty-eight Muslim scholars sent to Pope Benedict XVI regarding mutual tolerance and respect, as well as the signing of a religious ruling rejecting violence against civilians, which was signed by 500 prominent Muslims. The article goes on to note that neither received much publicity in the West, whereas Osama bin Laden and his associates are the ones capturing headlines instead. Conversely, an article covering the same issues, but released to a Muslim audience, has been widely read and distributed. While I would certainly agree that American media has a tendency to create and maintain an atmosphere of constant fear and panic, I found the closing portions of the article interesting, as the author described the inability of the Muslim leaders to succinctly address and report to the media, with the ultimate result being that their message is lost; thus making America's negative view of the Muslim world easier, due to it being one-sided as a result of poor "public relations" on the non-violent Muslim side. It's a lengthy article, and I am not going to quote it in its entirety here. Instead, I will link to the article, which also include a portion of the letter that was sent to the Pope by the Muslim community. The article, and letter, can be found HERE I thoroughly enjoyed reading the article. I think it's very easy to be tricked into the mindset that all Muslims are evil, especially if one relies solely on the Western mass media as a source. I've actually had discussions in the past with people that truly thought the majority of Muslims wanted to kill all Americans. For that alone, I will hold onto this article in the hopes of enlightening them. __________________ Desperation is no excuse for lowering one's standards.