Pope Benedict is visiting Turkey this week to speak to the largely Muslim nation and its leaders. He will be endeavoring to build bridges, reconcile, provide international recognition to Turkey as they endeavor to enter the European Union, and address key issues in the religious world.
Some of the major issues facing the religious world are the war on terror and reciprocity. Terrorism incited by religion and religious followers interpretations of their "holy" books has disrupted global peace for centuries. In the last decade turmoil has become increasingly intense throughout the world, with no nation being safe any longer. All nations are now caught up safeguarding their people and homeland from religious extremists who zealously kill in the name of God.
Jesus said 2,000 years ago, "The day will come that people will kill in the name of God, thinking they are doing Him a service. This they do because they do not know God" (John 16:1-3). Make no mistake about it. Those who profess to know and serve God by killing people with beliefs that differ from their own are not of God. On the contrary, killers are of their father the devil who came to "kill, steal, and destroy" (John 10:10) It is no surprise that these religious terrorists who kill in the name of God pervert and twist religion, which often falsely represents God anyhow, to serve their imperialistic agenda. The devil is very cunning and "religious." Satan twisted Scripture from the beginning and even quoted it to Jesus (Matthew 4; Luke 4). For this reason Jesus referred to Satan as "the father of lies" (John 8:44). Religion therefore is very alluring and deceiving as it often misrepresents God and distorts His true heart and nature.
As for reciprocity, one of the key issues the Pope will be addressing in Turkey, there needs to be much more freedom of religious expression in the world. Pope John Paul, Pope Benedict's predecessor, permitted the Muslims to build a mosque in Rome which was largely funded by Saudi Arabia. To this day however Saudi Arabia forbids any churches to be constructed or Bibles to be brought into their country. By no means is there religious freedom throughout the Muslim world. Muslim militants bomb and burn down churches in Pakistan and Indonesia, sometimes even on Christmas day. Filipino contract workers and other Christians from abroad working in Saudi Arabia are often arrested and imprisoned for indefinite time periods for expressing their faith in small private worship ceremonies within homes in Saudi Arabia.
It seems Islam is quite aware of the necessity for their religion to be spread by the sword and through force historically. Apparently they have reason to believe without compulsion and fear of repercussions their people would not willingly adhere to Muslim beliefs and religious practices. Hence Islamic nations are most intolerant and permissive of religious violence when taken against the minority religious groups by Muslim militants. The conclusion therefore can be made that because Islam is intolerant and violent, spiritually the religion must be quite impotent.
Religious freedom will verify the above assessment if those who call themselves God loving and God fearing would be so bold to stop fighting for God and let people decide for themselves who they want to worship and serve. Religious fanatics ironically are the biggest cowards of them all because they do not allow human beings created in God's image to freely seek, discover, and worship their Creator. Instead they try to play God and impose their religious interpretations and views on others, legalize religion at the national level, and then legally forbid anyone of another faith to freely worship as he or she chooses.
Undoubtedly the majority of such violence and intolerance throughout the world is coming from the Islamic faith and nations. It is very appropriate and timely that the Pope is in Turkey to confront the Islamic world about their countless human rights violations, intolerance of other faiths, inhumane treatment of of religious followers in their lands, and their fear of Christians and Jews.
Paul Davis is a life coach (relational & professional), popular worldwide keynote speaker, creative consultant, explorer, mediator, minister, liberator and dream-maker.
Paul is a minister and author of several books including God vs. Religion; Breakthrough for a Broken Heart; Stop Lusting & Start Living; and Adultery: 101 Reasons Not to Cheat.
Paul's compassion for people & passion to travel has taken him to over 50 countries of the world where he has had a tremendous impact. Paul has also brought revival to many in war-torn, impoverished and tsunami stricken regions of the earth. His nonprofit organization Dream-Maker Ministries is building dreams and breaking limitations.
Paul's Breakthrough Seminars inspire, revive, awaken, impregnate with purpose, impart the fire of desire, catapult people into a new level of self-awareness, facilitate destiny discovery and dream fulfillment.
