Lack of theology as the root of evil

After 9/11 President Bush reminded Americans that the attack was the work of a few terrorists and not the Muslim people. "The face of terror is not the true faith of Islam," Bush said a few days after 9/11. President Obama reached out to Muslims worldwide in his 2009 Cairo speech, where he insisted that "America is not -- and never will be -- at war with Islam." Yet partly because of the furor over the "mosque" near Ground Zero, a new wave of anti-Muslim feeling has arisen. Gen. Petraeus recently spoke out against a planned burning of the Qur'an by a church in Florida, an act which Petraeus says threatens American operations in Afghanistan and harms America's image in Muslim countries.

Did we (Muslim and non-Muslims) do enough after 9/11 to heal the nation? If not, what should we have done? What more can we do now?

The burning of the Qur'an is motivated by pseudo-religious posturing. While it is tempting to engage in an ad hominem attack on this pastor of a tiny congregation, the issue is rooted in something larger than his search for the limelight. His theology is faulty.

The 19th century Catholic theologian, Jaime Balmes pointed out the theological flaw that produces such display of hatred in the name of Christianity. In his famous El Protesantismo, Balmes predicted that "individual interpretation of the scriptures" as proclaimed during the Reformation would eventually led Protestantism astray. In so many words, Balmes said that Protestant denominations would likely be reduced to a single individual picking and choosing according to individual whim. The alternative was to become a denomination where the almighty will of a pastor imposed his individual interpretation upon the congregation.

Of course, these two extreme cases do not sum up all Protestant Christian denominations today, but the inevitable dangers flagged by Balmes long ago are real. In this case, the pastor has come up with his own meaning of what the faith requires, unfiltered by bishops, denominational heads or right-minded church elders. He has, in my opinion, made a heresy out of Reformation theology about the scriptures.

Giving equal weight to such figures alongside of the immense majority of Christian believers in the US will prevent the healing from 9/11 we require. As a Catholic, I feel that my church's hierarchy is part of Christ's teaching. While I have complaints about how it functions on this or that issue, its existence as a source of Truth is a blessing. I trust that Protestant spokespersons better skilled than in their theology will not only point out the folly of this Qur'an burning, but take the moment to clarify that there is more to Christianity than individuals making it up as they go along.

By Anthony M. Stevens-Arroyo  |  September 8, 2010; 12:05 PM ET  | Category:  Catholicism Save & Share:                 
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