Most critics of Pope Benedict XVI’s University of Regenburg speech draw attention to his misrepresentation of Islam; these criticisms overlook his more passionate dismissal of European secularism–an area ironically in which he and many Muslims may find common ground. Muslims in Europe have brought to the surface the anti-religious nature of European secularism. Both struggle…
Jan A.B. Jongeneel, the notable Utrecht theologian and missiologist, regards Muslims praying aloud in Protestant churches as a vexing and confusing arrangement, which deconstructs rather than reinforces the embodied practices of syncretism and toleration. {(continued below in Dutch)} De Utrechtse hoogleraar missiologie Jongeneel noemt het in het tijdschrift Kerk en Theologie kwetsend en verwarrend wanneer…
Bavaria’s conservative premier Stoiber recently proposed tightening Germany’s blasphemy laws. But the country’s churches and Muslim community remain skeptical.
Immigration has polarised the Netherlands as never before but, as Alex Duval Smith reports, its traditional values of tolerance have found some unlikely defenders . Martyn Loosman, impeccably turned out in a traditional costume of baggy trousers and a red and white striped shirt, buffs up the Dutch Queen Wilhemina coins on his belt buckle….
The Vatican will not allow Muslims to pray once more in the Mezquita, the former mosque that is now the cathedral of Cordoba, telling them they must “accept history” and not try to “take revenge” on the Catholic church. “We, too, want to live in peace with persons of other religions,” Archbishop Michael Fitzgerald, president…
