Roman Catholic leader stokes already heated debate on religion
A Roman Catholic Bishop in the Netherlands proposed people of all faiths refer to God as Allah to foster understanding, stoking an already heated debate on religious tolerance in a country with one million Muslims.Bishop Tiny Muskens, from the southern diocese of Breda, told Dutch television that God did not mind what he was named and that in Indonesia, where Muskens spent eight years, priests used the word "Allah" while celebrating Mass.
"Allah is a very beautiful word for God. Shouldn't we all say that from now on we will name God Allah? ... What does God care what we call him? It is our problem."
What do you think?
1 comments:
Easing relations with (any) foreign country is worth the effort. The concept of Spirituality can be an extremely complicated subject, but when we know the accepted names for God, I really do not feel God would mind if we referred to him as Allah. In fact, if we are to be proper ambassadors in the name of peace, then the change should be a "no-brainer."
However, the change, at least in my opinion, should be progressively instituted but only after the Pope, from His Chair, sanctions it. We must be mindful of the many other Christian communities whose name designations are additionally different than the proposal at hand. Moreover, one paramount reason for a (gradual) change is that many Americans have left the Church because they maintain we change our doctrines at will. The Catholic Church has never changed Apostolic doctrines; the only measures of change are found in discipline rules. So yes, I do agree on any reference to Allah as long as the Holy Father is behind it from His heart.
Great misconceptions run rampant in these turbulent times, and possibly this name reference could quell a few flames. But before we open the gates, let not forget that there are other matters within American-Muslim relations that are equally important. Before we can attempt to cure the ills of the latter, lets understand that a message should be sent to that region which enlightens our Muslim brothers and sisters about America as a whole: Not all Americans are bad people; the Oklahoma Bomber is not reason enough to refer to Americans as terrorists just as we should not think all Muslims are against our way of life. They too are devout in Christianity and accept Jesus as we do.
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