Opinion - Letters to the Editor   

Pope's apology

That Pope Benedict XVI expressed regret for quoting a conversation between Byzantine emperor Manuel II Paleologos and a Persian Muslim scholar — he never said he agreed with the opinion of the emperor — shows his sensitivity to the feelings of others. The argument that the Pope should not have quoted a controversial text is unacceptable. One might as well say controversial books should not be read. Dan Brown wrote in The Da Vinci Code that Jesus Christ married and had children. Nothing could be more blasphemous. There are acceptable and unacceptable ways of reacting to mistakes or perceived mistakes.

Kuriyan Joseph,
Bangalore

* * *

The violent reaction of Muslims worldwide was unfortunate. Religion is an aspect of human life. Hence it is not above criticism. All that is human is fallible, including religion and scriptures. They need to be studied critically. A reading of scriptures as literal revelation by god will only produce fundamentalists. No doubt terrorists justify their action by quoting religious texts.

S. Emmanuel,
Madurai, T.N.

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