TAMER NASHEF: I’m a Muslim But Here’s Why I Admire the Catholic Church

The Virgin Mary surrounded by saints of Carmel, in an icon written by the Carmelite nuns of Ravenna, in York Carmelite Friary (Source: Carmelite.org)

by Tamer Nashef 

Source: Strange Notion

First, allow me to start this short article with what might be deemed a startling confession: I am not a Catholic, nor am I even a Christian. In fact, I am a secular Muslim and an avid reader of philosophy and history with an unswerving commitment to the unmitigated truth no matter where it is even, nay especially, if it runs counter to commonly held beliefs.

I have spent the last few years researching the history of Christianity, especially the Catholic Church in the Middle Ages, and was shocked to discover that almost everything we had been taught about Catholicism was erroneous and apparently affected by anti-Catholic bias. In contradistinction to what most people both in the West and Middle East think, the Catholic Church and Church Fathers did not suppress science, reason, and knowledge. Quite the opposite, in many cases they even encouraged the acquisition of secular learning and the pursuit of science, and placed a high premium on man’s rational faculties. I was also astonished to discover that the “dark" Middle Ages were not intellectually barren after all. This period was not one of utter stagnation, superstition, or the persistent persecution of natural philosophers. In fact, the universities—where unhindered scholarly and intellectual debates were held—were founded in Europe during the High Middle Ages. In addition, 12th- and 13th-century Catholic scientists, who were committed both to their Christian faith and the scientific method, laid the groundwork for the Scientific Revolution. It is becoming more and more evident that this revolution, which began with the publication of Nicholas Copernicus' On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres and Andreas Vesalius' On the Fabric of the Human Body, was not an abrupt outburst of creativity but a continuation of intellectual headway reached in previous centuries, namely the High Middle Ages. What is equally stunning is the importance medieval Catholic theologians and philosophers attached to human intellectual capacities, and their relentless pursuit to create a synthesis of reason and faith. In a nutshell, years of intensive research have made me respect and even admire the Catholic Church even though, as I have said earlier, I hail from a secular Arab family that has taught to investigate all issues without any pre-conceived dogma and to accept the truth even if it turns out to be incongruent with generally accepted views.

I feel utmost respect for the work of Catholic monks and monasteries in the Middle Ages. Their intellectual activities are one of the brightest chapters in the history of the Catholic Church. The monasteries played a positive role as centers of teaching, learning, and scholarship, and they can be aptly described as "proto-universities" (Trombley 58). These monasteries taught grammar, logic, rhetoric, and later mathematics, music, and astronomy, and they were "among the most important libraries in the history of Western thought” because they copied, transcribed, and stored valuable texts (58). While the Catholic Church is persistently accused of destroying classical or Greco-Roman culture, the fact is that the monasteries should be credited for "the careful preservation of the works of the classical world and of the Church Fathers, both of which are central to Western civilization" (Woods 42).

Christianity in general and the Catholic Church in particular could not have stifled or destroyed Classical learning because it emerged in a Greco-Roman environment and as a result it had to have assimilated Greek philosophical notions, such as Logos, synderesis, the idea of a rationally ordered and mechanical universe operating according to fixed and consistent laws, etc. This enabled Christianity to live in peace with Greek/pagan philosophy and rationalism—a crucial accomplishment that Orthodox Sunni Islam has unfortunately failed to make following the suppression of Mu’tazalite thinking (this topic in itself requires a long and thorough study).

Susan Fox: An Open Letter to Catholic Educators

Source: The Cardinal Newman Society
April 6, 2016 | By Susan Fox, JD

I consider my family a modern day “Pilgrim” story. My husband and I are both Catholic, and raised our four children in a church-going, close-knit family. We did the modern day “soccer parent” stuff: attending all the ball games, all the activities, all the sacraments — all the things that would help our children grow in mind, body and soul.

What we didn’t count on was the culture.

We lived in a very “liberal” part of the country, and when our kids hit teen years and turned to their peers, their peers were following the modern day “culture.” It is a culture that comes across as “loving” and “caring” and “tolerant.” Yet it is a culture that kills.

In Catholic high schools, our children were taught that all lifestyles were the same, and that sin did not matter. Sin was redefined as “tolerance,” and the door that prior generations kept shut to protect young from evil was flung wide open.

Sex was no longer something that was a sacred blessing to be shared in a marital bed between husband and wife. Oddly, the people in authority seemed embarrassed to be insisting that this truth was the Truth. Yet every social study, every experience, every life has borne out the reality of that Truth about sex — that it is a blessing only when used the way it was designed. It is like nuclear power: kept safely where it is supposed to be, nuclear power brings great life, warmth and goodness. When that same nuclear power is taken out of that supportive and protective structure, it scorches and destroys all it touches. The same with sex.

Afraid of the Cross: Muslims say crosses at Catholic University Violate 'Human Rights'

Muslims in our lands are becoming too demanding now that they literally wanted our faith to be out of their ways. If they can use our Democratic laws to press for their "human rights" they would do so. I may not be living a hundred years but I am afraid they are testing the waters now. They are up for the Islamization of our lands "Thanks to your democratic laws, we will invade you. Thanks to our religious laws, we will dominate you" says one Muslim leader to a Catholic Bishop.  They start to demand for something and soon once they are a majority, they will demand Sharia (Islamic Law) within our system. These demands are NEVER enjoyed by non-Muslims in Islamic states!  They DO NOT know how to reciprocate their own demands.

This is a "CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY".  They should KNOW that before they enroll.  They are free to enroll somewhere but not in our universities.

Who is afraid of the Cross? Only those anti-Catholics. Islam and many protestant churches particularly the INC of Manalo who says the cross is the "mark of the beast" will hate the Cross of Christ. -CD2002

Under fire: Catholic University where Muslim students claim they are being discriminated against (Read more: DailyMail)

By Daily Mail Reporter

Muslim students at the renowned Catholic University have complained their human rights have been violated by the college.

They have accused education chiefs of banning them from forming a Muslim student group and failing to provide prayer rooms without Christian symbols.

The Office of Human Rights is investigating 60 pages of allegations against the private university in Washington DC.

Offensive to Muslims

The students claim they are surrounded by 'a wooden crucifix, paintings of Jesus, pictures of priests and theologians which many Muslim students find inappropriate.'

The complaint, launched by John Banzhaf, an attorney and professor at George Washington University Law School, also claimed female students were being discriminated against.

Banzhaf has been involved in a previous case against the school involving same-sex residence halls. The latest investigation could take six months to complete.

He claimed some Muslim students were particularly offended because they had to meditate overlooked by the cathedral that looms over the entire campus – the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.

He told Fox News: “It shouldn’t be too difficult to set aside a small room where Muslims can pray without having to stare up and be looked down upon by a cross of Jesus.