Turkey and the Pope

The Pope has begun his visit in Turkey which is a predominantly Muslim country, his visit was foreshadowed by protests of the Muslim communities. These protests were sparked by the Popes speech in Germany which caused a great deal of anger within the Muslim communities.

Here is the link to the article that I wrote to that issue in September
One speech many issues (Paladin101)

This and the current tension around the joining of Turkey to the EU move this visit into the light of public attention. Pope will be seen as a indicator for the Western Christian attitude towards Turkey, in several issues one is the acceptance of Muslims the other very important issue is the debate to or not to let Turkey join into the EU.
The Pope himself stated that he intends to heal the relations between Christians and Muslim, that he does not personally believe what was said in that speech and that solidarity between the cultures would be a duty to be fulfilled.

Here are links to articles dealing with the visit.
Pope calls for religious exchange (BBC)
Pope calls for religious tolerance (Al Jazeera)

Nihilism

Nihilism seems to be the response inspired by the environment we life in today.
We life in an age, in which we hear over and over again that the world is slowly or maybe fast nearing its end. We learn that our environment is being abused by us and that is destroying the world as we know it. We create new threats we none are are and perceive the world as hostile. Why do we understand or perceive our environment in such a way that we see those things? In the 50's and 60's people already believed that the world would end in several decades. Interestingly enough we seem to want the world end around ourself, further we believe more and more in the end of our lives instead of an afterlife. Nihilism, the believe that we die and that then we turn into nothing else but compost, seems to have won over all the other believes. The question is, why did that happen? Are predisposed to nihilism?
Our media and similar are all seemingly supplying us with negative news, why? Because it sells better then good news, why is that the case one would wonder why do humans want to witness brutality or know that the world is going to end sooner then in several billion years when the sun expands. It seems odd, yet if we truly are predisposed to nihilism would not the most logical explanation be that we want to be reassured, that we need to proof to ourself over and over again that we and the world that we life in is going to end? And if that is going to be soon then we can grasp it more easily, and it is actually going to impact onto our lives.

P.S. I thought that something such as this post would be the most appropriate as the number 100 post.

Ban organised Religion?...

Sir Elton John spoke out against organized religion he mentioned some interesting points even though I think that did not mention many of the stronger points. He did mention the use of hatred as an important tool to the leadership but did not mention that that hatred is not exclusively directed at homosexual people. He underlined the importance if dialog and several other very important issues, but sadly focused one area of the issue. The article is still most interesting.

P.S. Yes I do think that the picture selected was a bit unlucky for Sir Elton John.

BBC and yes it is English...
Sir Elton: Ban organised religion

Right wing extremists and Germany...

Right wing extremism still remains in Germany, Neo-Nazi youths in Germany shouted "Sieg Heil" on Thursday which was the 68th anniversary of the 'Night of Broken Glass'.
Further the number of crimes committed with right wing motivations are raising in Germany, this is feeding the discussions if Germany is not tough enough on Right wing extremism. Further the NDP sided with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad after he questioned the Holocaust. This combined with the German history concerning right wing political parties cause great concern in German population. The number of right wing related crimes has risen by 20% in Germany, further the questioning of the Holocaust seems to have become more and more mainstream. These factors have let to the debate in Germany if the right wing should not be put under stricter regulations. To prevent the right wing from gaining any more power with the German youth.
What do you think Germany's policy concerning the right wing should be?
One thing has to be remembered, that if the right wing is regulated that would technically infringe upon certain rights, like the right for free expression, the right of political freedom etc.

Relates articles...
In English
Neo-Nazis Attack Synagogue Memorial Stone

In German
Zahl rechtsextremer Straftaten deutlich gestiegen
Zahl rechtsextremer Straftaten steuert auf Höchststand zu
Mit Courage gegen Rechtsextremismus

Islam the Religion of Reason

Recently the Koelner Stadtanzeiger (A newspaper located in Cologne, Germany), published two articles, these were titled "Drewerman lobt Islam" (Drewerman praised Islam) and "Mohammed wollte nichts Neues bringen" (Mohammed did not want to bring something new).
The first one illustrates how the Islam was originally considered the 'religion of Reason' (Vernunftreligion). In contrast to the Christian faith which was not considered as such. Drewerman is a controversial Theologist which, sides with the criticism of Philosoph Jürgen Habermas, which states that the Christian church displayed a bit too much 'Reason-pride' (Vernunftstolz) concerning it's confrontation with the Islamic faith.

In the second article the Philosoph Jürgen Habermas criticizes the christian church for 'Reason-Pride' (Vernunftstolz). He points out how the thinking froze (Erstarrung des Denkens) which eventually let to the point at which every Christian Dogma became a fighting-symbol for the homogenizing of the believers (Kampfinstrument zur Homogenisierung).

The two articles collectively point out how the Christian faith is the aggressive faith of the two. 'While Mohammed wanted to re-create an old religion the one human true religion, while Pope Benedict XVI wanted to change the world.' says Drewerman.
The Islamic faith is shown to be a religion of reason while the Christian faith is an aggressive faith that forcefully converts.

Here are the URLs to the articles (they are in German) if you have more questions...you know the rest.

Mohammed wollte nichts Neues bringen
Drewerman lobt Islam

Islam die Vernunft religion

Hier sind zwei URL's die zu Artikeln fuehren die sich mit diesem Thema beschaftigen, beide sind aeusserst interressant.


Mohammed wollte nichts Neues bringen
Drewerman lobt Islam

One Speech many issues...

The Pope Benedict the XVI recently made speech, in this speech he argued against violence, and especially against violence in the name of a religion. This speech was well written and moving, but there was one single sentence that caused the Islamic communities to stir. This sentence caused the general issue by singling out Islam and by the unlucky use of words. Here is a link to some excerpts for this speech and a link to the full speech is on this page as well.

Key excerpts: The Pope's speech (BBC)