Pope’s remarks on violence hypocritical
Re “Pope, Citing Islam, Criticizes Holy Wars and Fanaticism,” Sept. 13
Talk about the pot calling the kettle black: Pope Benedict XVI’s not-so-veiled indictment of the violent nature of the god of Islam is breathtaking. “Violence is incompatible with the nature of God,” but this certainly is not the case with his god or the god of Islam.
The pope seems to have forgotten not only the God-sanctioned violence permeating the Old Testament but the greatest God-sanctioned violence of all -- the eternal punishment of nonbelievers.
Until each of the world’s three great religions acknowledges and renounces the God-sanctioned violence against “infidels” found in their sacred texts, the process of global healing can’t begin.
In the meantime, the pious hypocrisy of one-sided criticism such as the pope’s only makes matters worse.
DALE O’NEAL
Laguna Beach
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