Wednesday May 18, 2016

I've Been Thinking:

The Pope has taken Western countries to task about, as he calls it, their cultural colonialism. He is speaking especially about the United States.

The Pope has been very critical of the desire of Western countries to impose democracy on others, without relating to or concerning itself with local cultures.

In an interview with the French Catholic paper La Croix, the Pope said: "Faced with current Islamist terrorism, we should question the way a model of democracy that was too Western was exported to countries where there was a strong power, as in Iraq, or Libya, where there was a tribal structure."

"We cannot advance without taking these cultures into account. As a Libyan said some time ago: 'We used to have one Gaddafi, now we have 50 of them!'"

The Pope is not anti-democracy. He is simply suggesting that respect for local culture will more effectively achieve the end results of democracy without creating a buildup of resentment.

On Islam, the Pope said that he does not think that Europe or the West is anti-Islam. Rather, they are anti-ISIS. There is a huge difference.

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