VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - A Muslim author and critic of Islamic fundamentalism who was baptized a Catholic by Pope Benedict said on Sunday Islam is "physiologically violent" and he is now in great danger because of his conversion.
"I realize what I am going up against but I will confront my fate with my head high, with my back straight and the interior strength of one who is certain about his faith," said Magdi Allam."
HT Yahoo News
What courage this man has! He knows he may have signed his own death warrant by converting to Catholicism, particularly in such a public manner. We should value our faith as much. Pope Benedict invoked the ire and threats of Osama Bin Laden before the baptism, and Fr. Jonathan Morris, spiritual advisor to Fox News, explains why Osama should fear the intellectual octaginarian.
"While Benedict sees rationality as the only suitable launching pad of all true faith, bin Laden sees it as the great obstacle to his manipulation of the masses. While Benedict sees faith and reason as mutually enriching sources of truth, bin Laden sees the former as incompatible with the later. And while Benedict claims God can never command us to do evil because the first universal moral dictate of reason —“do good and avoid evil”— reflects his loving voice, bin Laden on the other hand claims Allah can do whatever he pleases, evil included."
Fr. Morris says that young Muslims are starting to listen to the Holy Father's call to dialogue, thus sparking panic in the radical Islamists like Bin Laden. Who will they get to carry out suicide missions?
The more Muslims enter into dialogue with Catholics, the more I am convinced that Pope Benedict will bring down the radical Islamic establishment the way his predecessor brought down the Iron Curtain. Both seem inpenetrable at first glance, but the Iron Curtain proved fragile against strong spiritual leadership and prayerful people. Are we uniting behind Pope Benedict in prayer? We may accomplish more to secure world peace in the next five years that way, than the war in Iraq did in the last five. We fought Communism all over the world, lost thousands of lives, destroyed whole countries, over 40 years, and under Pope John Paul II, it folded in 11 years like the house of cards it was. I was in Poland on December 8, 1987, when thousands of Poles prayed for the end of Communism on Our Lady's feast day, under the coat of arms of Pope John Paul II. That very day, Gorbachev and Reagan were starting the process which led to peace.
These evil empires cannot stand against the power of prayer and courageous people like Lech Walensa and Christian Magdi Allam. Not to mention Our Lady, revered by Catholics and Muslims alike. The President of Colombia credited Our Lady with halting a war between his nation, Ecuador and Venezuela.
CNS
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