State, not church

The controversial address of Pope Benedict XVI at the University of Regensburg on Wednesday may well be construed as Vatican8217;s seal of approval on Samuel Huntington8217;s famous clash of civilisations argument. Despite the strenuous efforts of his spokespersons to dispel any suggestion that it was meant as an attack on Islam, the fact that the Pope chose to privilege the narrow view of a medieval Christian emperor on the Muslim faith at a time of great tension between the Islamic world and the West, displays a lack of sensitivity, even diplomacy, on the part of the leader of Christianity8217;s most powerful institution. This cannot but surprise. The monochromatic interpretation of 8216;jihad8217; and the attempt to render the more violent tendencies within Islam as synonymous with the faith, is unhelpful in achieving 8220;a dialogue of cultures and religions8221;, a project that the Pope sees as an urgent one in today8217;s world.

The Pope missed a point, too. It is the separation between church and state and the reduced relevance of the sacred within the secular realm, and indeed the emergence of the Cartesian worldview, which has allowed western society to be shaped in a manner that would never have been possible if the Church had continued to be the dominant force within society. At every stage in the evolution of modern society 8212; from the days of the reformation and Galileo Galilei onwards 8212; the Church had not exactly been a force for change. In fact, it is the struggle to break free from its control that has helped to engender a modern world. And the debate still rages to this day. The Vatican8217;s intransigent stand on contraception is only one in a series of contentious issues that continues to polarise not just secular society but the Roman Catholic community.

The Pope appears to hint that one of Islam8217;s flaws is that it is removed from reason, but he cannot perceive it in the context of the Christian church. He argues eloquently for faith and reason coming together in new ways, without realising that this separation has in fact proved to be the great strength of western society today, and the very reason why many

Islamic communities remain weighed down by religious dogma and practice.