Ratzinger the theologian well knows that the absolutely transcendent god of Islam is a different entity than the revealed God whom Jews and Christians worship. As Father Richard John Neuhaus wrote in a May 2 note on the First Things website, “The Christian understanding of God is not that of an omnipotent deity handing down commands from on high, but that of God’s emptying himself of glory (kenosis) in order to become one with his human creatures, inviting and enabling us to be lifted up by participation in his eternal life. In other words, incarnation; in other words, ‘the human face of God’.” I addressed this issue through the theology of Franz Rosenzweig in a recent article. spengler
Islamists will occasionally argue that Islam is Monotheism - One God Supreme - whereas Christianity is a bit confused on the subject what with the Trinity and all that. (What they make of the Jews - when not calling for their extermination - is not obvious. If ever there was a monotheistic religion it is Judaism. )
The critical point of difference between Christianity and Islam is that, as Spengler points out, God speaks through men in Christianity but directly to Mohammad in Islam. Thus the Koran is the pure word of God and the New Testament is God’s words remembers, reconsidered and reconstructed.
It is quite possible to be a Christian and dispute some or all of the Bible. It is difficult to see how that option is open to any but the most latitudinarian of Muslims. And there are precious few of those.
Written by jay on May 6th, 2008 with no comments.
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Dawg has swallowed the Indian mass grave story whole and taken a few shots at Kate and Kathy for daring to doubt it. I have to admit this is not the sort of story I pay much attention to. Horrible things happened, they still do but not because of residential schools, move on….Until I read that an old acquaintance of mine, Kevin Annett was the paranoid lunatic behind the stories. I posted this comment in response to a commentor, Larry Gambone, who wrote of Annett “I have known Kevin Annett since he was 18 years old. He is one of the most honest and decent individuals I have ever encountered.”
Larry Gambone, I may have know Kevin just slightly longer than you have - since back in the Vancouver Students’ Association (a highschool student’s union Annett was instrumental in destroying) days. I have found him an entirely untrustworthy, self aggrandizing person willing to roll over virtually anyone or anything to make whatever lunatic point has captured his attention.
As Terry Glavin points out in the Tyee to believe Annett you have to swallow an awful lot of wildly implausible stuff.
At the moment, true to form, Annett is of on a self-promotion tour occupying churches.
But watch out if you are thinking of suggesting that Annett is a paranoid lunatic, he fights nasty as Glavin points out:
“Annett and his followers have alleged there are skeletons “between the walls” and under the foundations of buildings at Alert Bay, on Cormorant Island. Namgis tribal administrator George Speck says “no one has a clue” what would make Annett say these things. At Meares Island, Annett says corpses of schoolchildren were stored in the basement of a residential school building, and the bodies of other children are buried in an unmarked grave nearby. Ahousat Coun. Angus Campbell says it’s nonsense: “People would know if it was there.”
It goes on and on like this, but if you persist in pointing out the spectacular unlikelihood that any of Annett’s stories are true, you will almost certainly find yourself accused of “smearing” him. That’s what happens if you’re white, anyway. If you’re aboriginal, you may find yourself called a “police informant” or a “provocateur,” or you’ll be accused of having been a “collaborator and abuser” during your time in residential school. Annett has leveled just these accusations against his detractors.” the tyee
I thought Annett was a dangerous loon when I was in Grade 11. Nothing that I have seen about the man since suggests that my youthful impression was incorrect.
Written by jay on May 6th, 2008 with 23 comments.
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