Saturday, December 02, 2006
Pope Turns Toward Mecca in Mosque
Showing a sign of respect to a false god is not good. The pope will probably argue that it is the same God. Why don't we ask a Muslim if they feel the Muslim god is the Triune God of the Bible?
AFTER offending the Muslim world by linking their religion with violence, Pope Benedict XVI, in an exceptional gesture, turned towards Mecca in an attitude of Muslim prayer at the Blue Mosque in Istanbul today, Turkish state television showed.
Benedict XVI, who became the second Pope in history - after John Paul II in Damascus in 2001 - to set foot in a Muslim house of worship, made the gesture at the suggestion of Istanbul Mufti Mustafa Cagrici, his guide for the occasion.
The Pope's spokesman, Federico Lombardi, was quick to point out to journalists afterwards that the Pope had not actually prayed but was "in meditation".
After explaining the basics of Muslim prayer to the pontiff during the early part of the tour, Cagrici said: "Let us turn toward the Kiblah" - the direction of Mecca, which all Muslims must face when they perform their five-time-a-day prayers.
The Pope complied.
Showing a sign of respect to a false god is not good. The pope will probably argue that it is the same God. Why don't we ask a Muslim if they feel the Muslim god is the Triune God of the Bible?
