As confusion continues to surround the whereabouts of two kidnapped Orthodox bishops in Syria, a Jesuit expert says it's time to "decriminalize" the word jihadist in thinking about the conflict. "It means a believing Muslim person who's obedient to the divine order to commit oneself to the struggle for justice, including militarily," Jesuit Fr. Paolo Dall'Oglio told a crowded assembly Tuesday afternoon in Rome.
He compared the armed uprising in Syria to the Italian resistance against fascism. "There is no contradiction between jihad and democracy," Dall'Oglio insisted. Dall'Oglio was speaking at a conference on Syria organized by FOCSIV, a federation of organizations of Christian volunteers. He was joined by Franco Frattini, an Italian politician and the country's former foreign minister under the center-right government of Silvio Berlusconi. Frattini began by confessing he wasn't sure what to do about the Syrian conflict, in part because he's not clear "on the force of jihadist movements within the opposition."
Link (here) to the Fishwrap
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5 comments:
Father Dall'Oglio is mistaken. Jihad is inconsistent with Democracy. A properly functioning Democracy has no need for jihad, no need for protest, and no need for citizen "actions" to force the Democracy to represent the citizens.
It is possible to structure a Democracy to represent all stakeholders. Decisions would involve the members of the public by involving them in the decision making process. It is possible to allow the public to "self-identify" themselves as interested in particular types of decisions, and then actively involve them.
There are those who argue that the current US Democracy was inspired by God - and that is correct. But that does not mean that it was intended to be unchanging. And that does not mean that it has not become corrupted. There are modifications to Democracy which could be described as inspired by God. We need to become a people capable of receiving such inspiration.
TonyD - no disrespect, but how can you possibly state that the current US Democracy...or ANY form of government outside the Vatican is "inspired by God"? There were only 2 Catholics among the "founding fathers" and the rest were Protestant or Deist (in both cases heretics). If you are going by St Paul's "all authority comes from God" argument, then the same could be said of any government (including Communism). So, I'm just curious as to how you arrive at the US Democracy being inspired by God.
Qualis Rex - I would say that what I'm saying is closer to the "all authority comes from God" quote. Though that statement is rather more constrained.
Tony, thanks for the explanation. However, I believe St Paul was saying that whereas all authority (and one can argue "legitimate" authority) comes from God, this does not mean such authority is inspired by God, but rather an INSTRUMENT of God. Keep in mind, this is a VERY Jewish concept; enemies of Israel (i.e. Egypt, Assyria, Babylon etc) were seen as instruments of God's wrath on the sinning Israelites. St Paul saw the same in the Romans. In the same vein, Satan to Jews is not "evil", but rather an instrument of God as well. Personally, I wouldn't say any Democratic government (including the so-called "Christian Democrats" of europe) is inspired by God, since they weakly bend to the will of the populace over the truth (that is the nature of Democracy). God does not factor into it, except in presidential speeches.
Qualis Rex - I guess that I don't see strict dichotomies. Inspiration coexists with use as an instrument, good and evil coexist with use as an instrument, and Democratic governments are similarly complex. God uses things as instruments, and provides inspiration, even if the things he uses or inspires are not what He would consider "good".
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