Opinion | The dangers of certitude
Philip Bowring says that whatever our faith, secular or religious, there is a need to continually question received opinion, in the spirit of inquiry on which civilisation is based
The arrogance of the leaders - and followers - of some religions continues to astonish. In addition to his little homilies about poverty, Pope Francis, during his Elvis-style reception in the Philippines, saw fit to criticise those who do not show sufficient respect for religion. He appeared to be referring to the Charlie Hebdo comments on Islam's prophet.
But it seemed an odd remark from the leader of a sect with a long history not just of criticising other religions, and other Christian sects in particular, but also of oppressing them as violently as secular "gods" such as Lenin and Mao.
The church has brought many benefits to the world but tolerance does not rate high on the list. Indeed, the pope deserves lampooning for his remarks in the Philippines. He decried the extent of poverty and urged the people not to "breed like rabbits", yet continued to condemn "artificial" birth control. Given the celibate state required of Catholic priests, such attitudes raise the question: are they mules, true self-sacrificers, or just envious?
In a liberal democracy with an American-style constitution and large minorities of Muslims and non-Catholic Christians, the church has gone out of its way to campaign against state-provided access to contraception for poor people. Is that respect?
Lampooning the pope, an Iranian ayatollah or another live religious figure may seem different from making fun of Mohammed or Christ. In the case of Christ, there is a problem, perhaps, because we know of him only through secondary sources, not his own writings, and these show him as a man above reproach. But it is a big leap from there to believing he was also God himself.
As for Mohammed, his historical record is clear enough and he can be judged from his writing - the Koran. But his claims to have been the Prophet of God have to be taken on faith. They, like Christ's status and the pope's infallibility claim, cannot be confirmed through reason and inquiry.
Indeed, some of the requirements deemed necessary by the Koran would have been loathsome at the time to most people not living in a backward Arabia, as they are today. To lampoon Mohammed in Pakistan, for example, would be foolhardy, but honesty demands he be judged by his writings, and his followers by their actions.