Washington Week: Student Voices (O)

Pope's remarks widened religious gap, U. Florida students say
By Alejandra Cancino
Independent Florida Alligator (U. Florida)
10/11/2006

(U-WIRE) GAINESVILLE, Fla. — A crowd of about 40 people gathered and grew Tuesday evening at the Reitz Union Amphitheater to discuss the pope's recent quotation about Islam, which angered Muslims at University of Florida and around the world.

Last month, during a speech delivered at the University of Regensburg in Germany, Pope Benedict XVI quoted a 14th-century Byzantine emperor who said "Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached."

Catholic Student Fellowship Co-president Bobby Angel and Islam on Campus President Abdulrahman Hamad began the event with short speeches on the issue.

Angel said that although Catholics believe the pope to be the successor of Saint Peter, one of Jesus' apostles, "The pope is not God, he is just a man like you and me."

He also said that he felt that the quotation was taken out of context by the media, and the media-spun version is what angered Muslims.

Hamad said that whether the pope meant it or not, his comment widened the gap between Muslims and Christians.

A student asked if Muslims saw the pope and the West as two different entities. Hamad responded that they did because in their eyes, the pope's comments, the war in Iraq and editorial cartoons of the prophet Muhammad last year were all part of a crusade against Islam.

"From their perspective, it seems like the whole Western world is acting as a front together," he said.

On the other hand, biology sophomore Fisnik Berisha said that although Islam is peaceful, at times it has been "spread by the sword," just as Catholic conquistadors used the sword in Latin America. He said that Albanians were oppressed by Turkish Muslims and forced to change their names to Muslim ones.

Hamad countered that the Turks never forced anyone to convert, although they did expand their borders by invasion.

Mechanical engineering sophomore Steven Zehnder, who was raised Catholic, learned the details and repercussions of the pope's comments at Tuesday's event.

He said discussions like this help students break out of their "Gainesville (Florida) bubble."

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