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Entry: Pope Benedict XVI and Islam: Allah the Irrational Link: http://www.takimag.com/site/article/pope_benedict_xvi_and_islam_allah_the_irrational#1881 Post contents: Ali – First of all, thank for acknowledging that your statement was incorrect: Islam did not abolish slavery, though it did codify it and place limitations upon the institution. But you must consider both theory and practice. Islamic slavery in practice did not lead the phasing out of slavery but rather to its expansion, with endless raiding and wars to capture ‘pagans’ and infidels (many of whom, in Africa, were indeed nominally Muslim). The fact that slavery persisted in Muslim lands into the twentieth century (and persists even to this day) speaks for itself. You speak of “the Pope” as if there is only one. You ask, “What has the Pope said recently about the over 2 million Iraqis slaughtered, starved to death and poisoned by the neocon President of the US? The 4 million refugees?” Well, the former Pope, John Paul II, spoke vigorously and repeatedly against the Iraq war, calling it “a defeat for humanity.” He called upon Catholics to fast in opposition to the impending war, and he sent a diplomatic mission to Baghdad. The present Pope, Benedict XVI, also strongly criticized the US invasion of Iraq, both before and in the aftermath. His words: "There were not sufficient reasons to unleash a war against Iraq. To say nothing of the fact that, given the new weapons that make possible destructions that go beyond the combatant groups, today we should be asking ourselves if it is still licit to admit the very existence of a 'just war'.” My comment is a diversion? Well, I had to start somewhere, and there were so many falsehoods in your initial two posts. Your third post contains further inaccuracies, making it difficult to proceed with this discussion. Sent at: 2008 11 23