Free Republic

Pope Benedict XVI believes that unlike other religions, Islam cannot be reformed and, therefore, is incompatible with democracy, according to a Catholic leader who participated with the pontiff in a secretive meeting on the subject. Fr. Joseph Fessio, provost of Ave Maria University in Naples, Fla., and founder of the publishing house Ignatius Press, spoke with talk-radio host Hugh Hewitt Jan. 5 about the gathering with the pope's former theology students, which took place last September at Castelgondolfo in Italy, the papal summer residence.

The Islamic state that existed 1,400 years ago cannot be recreated, says a Muslim scholar Israr Ahmad. "The first Islamic state was created in a tribal setup; today the world has changed," said Ahmad. "So we can form a modern Islamic state based on the principles of our religion but cannot recreate what existed 1,400 years ago." Ahmed, who heads an orthodox Muslim religious party and campaigns tirelessly for establishing an Islamic government in Pakistan, made this observation during a debate on a private Pakistani television channel. The debate and Ahmed's admission both reflect the major change that the Islamic...

In Islam, lying or omissions for the 'greater good,' according to a strict or radical Islam/Islamist philosophy is not only acceptable, it is holy and blessed work. It is called al-Takeyya (or al-Taqiyya) and is a strategy outlined in the Hadiths and supported by various interpretations of some of the Suras in the Koran. We have just seen it in action and most people never even caught the whiff of mental ether the Islamists were pouring into the airways of the already comatose and choking non-Islamist world. Al-Takeyya is a policy whereby a Muslim may lie, deceive or omit critical...

Neoconservatives’ endeavors to create a market economy version of Islam – bereft of its basic tenets - got a boost recently when Reverend James Schall, Professor of government at Georgetown University and a Jesuit priest, vigorously defended their efforts. In an article entitled “When War Must Be the Answer” published in the December/January issue of Policy Review, Schall writes about “making Islam over into politically acceptable forms.” This is the main neoconservative project and Schall argues that this program can be defended because no one, including the churches, is willing to examine in a serious way the truth claims of...