What ELSE Did the Pope Say?

“A recent topic in the news has been the remarks of Pope Benedict XVI at Regensburg University. Well, to be accurate, his remarks have not been in the news so much as the reaction of the moslem world. We in the west see clearly the irony of moslems who use violence to demonstrate that Islam is not inherently violent! What we westerners, we Catholics, and dare I say we Anglicans do not see clearly is the point that his holiness was trying to make in his brief speech. He was addressing not Islam but Europe and America, and asserting that our failure in the West is the error of secularism. Secularism, of course, is the error of attempting to separate faith from the rest of our lives. Especially in America we face a culture that views religion as a private affair and tries to relegate all religious discourse to private venues. Christians, of course, know better. We know that our relationship to God in Christ through the Holy Spirit is not something we can keep sequestered away in some little closet or other out-of-the-way part of our lives. Our faith, if it is to be at all real, must be the compass that guides our actions, the map that charts our course, and the force that sustains our being. The biggest enemy of Christianity, bigger even than the false imaginings of Islam, is secularism. Rather than trying to compartmentalize our lives we should try even harder to ensure that our religion spreads into our work, our study, our friendships.”

From Anglo-Catholic Musings — thanks to FWD from blog reg, Keith.