Edit writers blame the Pope
You don`t say!
.Darius Nakhoonwala
The Pope affair has, predictably invited a large number of edits. But sadly all have been along predictable lines. Only the Business Standard had the sense to blame the media as well. "The manner in which a remark by some remote and insignificant ruler was presented by the media suggests that reporters and their editors should do some introspection. Responsible conduct is expected from everyone, and more than others from the media, whose capacity for creating trouble is immense. "
But the others all focused on the two other players in the fiasco, the Pope, of course, and the Muslims. All blamed the Pope and the Pioneer blamed the muslims. Not one thought, even for a moment, that the media might have been to blame for reporting a line completely out of context.
Thus, the Telegraph asked " If the pope holds Islam in esteem then what is the point of quoting from an obscure Byzantine emperor about Islam being "evil and inhuman" in his Regensburg address? Was he using the passage as mere ornament...The pope`s words deserve condemnation, but do they call for the killing of a nun and the burning of churches?" Well, there you have it, good old balance.
The Asian Age wrote in a similar vein. "Pope John Paul II was relentless in his efforts to build bridges with the Muslim community… It is surprising that (his successor) Pope Benedict XVI did not realise the implications of his words… Pope Benedict will do well to ensure that secularism and communal harmony are maintained and religion works to unite and not divide humanity."
The Deccan Herald said that "at a time when the world is so deeply polarised along religious lines, the Pope`s remarks were bound to inflame sentiments….his insensitive remarks have soured the atmosphere... no inter-faith dialogue will be possible so long as criticism and accusations dominate the discourse."
The Pioneer, as I said at the start, made the opposite point. "Pope Benedict XVI delivers a scholarly lecture on the importance of reason… Within hours, Muslim clerics across the world… incite and instigate violent protests, including firebombing of churches, even as the lib-left intelligentsia and `secular` politicians pour vitriol on the Pope, demanding an unconditional apology from him." Ah, well, you can`t straighten a dog`s tail can you? The paper then went to deliver a little homily about the ummah..
I am not going to bore you with the others said because they all said more-or-less the same things.
But an exception is necessary in the case of the Hindu which wrote quite the best editorial -- and in so doing, exposed the dangers of sophistry. It used a term from Greek philosophy to describe the Pope`s remarks. The term is akrasia and it means " doing what you know to be wrong."
This gave some learned edit writer the opportunity to show off. "Aristotle makes a distinction between `dispositional knowledge` and `actualised knowledge` and, in effect, akrasia occurs when something comes in the way of actualising knowledge."
Yes, quite, but also hohoho… what about the CPM and national economic policies then, not to mention its politbureau and the wrangle with West Bengal? If that is not akrasia, what is?