So Islam is a religion of peace?

However, the Vatican does have a disproportionate influence on Catholic theology, but only because the Catholic church is structured in a way that it should - Islam doesn't have a structure in the same way at all, doesn't have a head, doesn't have one recognised body to interpret the scriptures, and so on. Most Catholics agree that the Pope knows what he's doing most of the time; there's nobody that can really occupy that position for Muslims.
The actual influence the papacy has on the way everyday Catholics actually think about their religion is not that large. For instance, arguably, most Catholics are actually heretical (well, not in the sense of 'in heresy from the Orthodox Church', which they obviously are, but in the sense of 'in heresy from their own Church') as far as things like basic salvation go. This has a lot to do with the way Catholicism is taught and popularized by local parish priests and things like doctrinal instruction in confirmation.

You're also going about the argument the wrong way. If somebody thinks that the presence of Makkah and Madinah in Saudi Arabia means that Saudi interpretations of Islam have disproportionate influence on non-Saudi Muslims, that person obviously would think that the Papacy has a disproportionate influence on Catholics worldwide. Saying that "the comparison's invalid because the Papacy actually has a hierarchy" just strengthens my case and proves you haven't been reading.
 
Saying that "the comparison's invalid because the Papacy actually has a hierarchy" just strengthens my case and proves you haven't been reading.

It would, but I said that Catholicism has a heirarchy, in that all Catholics acknowledge the Pope as the head of their church and start from a basic assumption that he's right unless they have some reason to believe otherwise - for most Muslims, the opinions of the clerics in Mecca has no more importance than the opinions of the Archbishop of Canterbury do for most Catholics. That is an important difference, although I fully recognise your first point - however I stand by the fact that the Pope's own views have far more influence than those of any other individual in the Church, and therefore have disproportionate influence.
 
It would, but I said that Catholicism has a heirarchy, in that all Catholics acknowledge the Pope as the head of their church and start from a basic assumption that he's right unless they have some reason to believe otherwise.
No they don't.
 
If somebody thinks that the presence of Makkah and Madinah in Saudi Arabia means that Saudi interpretations of Islam have disproportionate influence on non-Saudi Muslims, that person obviously would think that the Papacy has a disproportionate influence on Catholics worldwide. Saying that "the comparison's invalid because the Papacy actually has a hierarchy" just strengthens my case and proves you haven't been reading.

In politics what seems to be, is. If people believe that the pope has influence, he has. Likewise for the Saudis and islam's holy sites. They even changed the title of the king for guardian of the holy sites or somesuch, so at least the saudis think that's worth something. Other muslims might not recognize it, but if non-muslims believe in that influence, then that influence still has political importance, still creates bad press.

Same as with the pope, actually. Judging just from the speeches one might think that the english were more obsessed with popes than the rulers of catholic countries! :lol:
 
There are clearly a large number of Catholics who still believe in the infallibility of the Pope:

A 1989-1992 survey of young people of the 15 to 25 age group (81% of whom were Catholics, 84% were younger than 19, and 62% were male) chiefly from the United States, but also from Austria, Canada, Ecuador, France, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Peru, Spain and Switzerland, found that 36.9% affirmed that "the Pope has the authority to speak with infallibility", 36.9% (exactly the same proportion) denied it, and 26.2% said they didn't know.[82]
But at least it seems to be continually decreasing.
 
In politics what seems to be, is. If people believe that the pope has influence, he has. Likewise for the Saudis and islam's holy sites. They even changed the title of the king for guardian of the holy sites or somesuch, so at least the saudis think that's worth something. Other muslims might not recognize it, but if non-muslims believe in that influence, then that influence still has political importance, still creates bad press.

Same as with the pope, actually. Judging just from the speeches one might think that the english were more obsessed with popes than the rulers of catholic countries! :lol:
Obviously. "Rome Rule" was an actual slogan from the 1880s and 1890s. That's, uh, why I used it.
 
Top Bottom