The American Spectator

br> Louisville, Kentucky br> P.S. They will do whatever they do this fall without my money! /p> p> FAITH AND REASON br> Re: Patrick O’Hannigan’s No Need for Grim Faces : /p> p>Like Mr. O’Hannigan, I too have been disappointed by the “friendly fire” attacking the Pope. It is clear that many in the West just don’t get it. The Pope’s point was very simple: western culture arose from the joinder of reason and faith. Faith without reason results in abuse and violence. Reason without faith results in immorality and chaos. It is the co-existence of reason and faith that makes it clear to Christians that conversion must be the result of rational argument, not of force. It is the co-existence of reason and faith that has allowed the West to progress scientifically, while also insisting on the protection of human rights and human dignity. It is the co-existence of reason and faith that has created democracy and all its benefits. People in the West should be standing-up for this system and for the cultures it has created — cultures that have produced the upward surge of humanity. Moreover, the Pope should not be condemned for pointing out that it is western Christianity, and western Christianity alone, that has managed to merge faith with reason. If people in the West allow themselves to be intimated by the hue and cry of those that do not value reason quite as much as we do, the West will surely perish. br> — Rob br> Petaluma, California /p>

Mr. O’ Hannigan point is obscurely made. Like Muslims, liberals have limits on what can be discussed without indignation. This attitude prevails in the press, in the TV networks, academia, and the movies. The Pope used a quotation from an obscure Catholic scholar from the Middle Ages in an academic setting. The Pavlovian Muslim response of threats, apocalyptic rantings and murder were to be expected and as the does the sun every morning, they showed themselves in every Muslim corner of the globe and in the newly conquered territories of England, France and Germany. The liberal response is just as predictable. The Pope is the Vicar of Christ and symbolizes faith, and virtue. All three, Christ, faith and virtue are an anathema to liberals. Thus any time they can vilify a religious leader they do.