September 19, 2010

Faith and reason

Randy David

Manila, Philippines - It is fascinating to read Pope Benedict XVI’s speech the other day before members of the British parliament. The Pope spoke on “the proper place of religious belief within the political process.” Having just visited Ephesus and Urfa, two of the most important religious sites in Turkey, I could not have been more primed to appreciate the significance of this message.

The Pope sounded the alarm about what he called the growing “marginalization” of religion in public life. There are those, he said, who want to “silence” the voice of religion altogether. Turkey’s Muslims could not have agreed with him more. Although the recent referendum on constitutional amendments in this strictly secular society dealt mainly with democracy and the concomitant restoration of civilian authority, the subtext of the debate within Turkish society is precisely what Benedict XVI articulated in his Westminster speech.

He goes straight into the heart of the issue: “What are the requirements that governments may reasonably impose upon citizens, and how far do they extend? By appeal to what authority can moral dilemmas be resolved?”