This and That

Thank You, US Airways

This fall I flew on 14 USAirways flights.

As I learn more about the imams incident, I am more grateful for how USAirways handled matters.

About Those Imams:

Contrary to press accounts that a single note from a passenger triggered the imams’ removal, Captain John Howard Wood was weighing multiple factors.

and

So the captain made his decision to delay the flight based on many complaints, not one. He also consulted a federal air marshal, a U.S. Airways ground-security coordinator and the airline’s security office in Phoenix. All thought the imams were acting suspiciously, Rader told me.

and

“I think it was either a foiled attempt to take over the plane or it was a publicity stunt to accuse us of being insensitive,” Pauline told me. “It had to be to intimidate U.S. Airways to ease up on security.”

So far, U.S. Airways refuses to be intimidated, even though the feds have launched an investigation. “We are absolutely backing this crew,” Rader said.

You Thought DC Was Bad

Brawl breaks out in Mexico congress:

Leftist lawmakers threw punches and chairs at their conservative colleagues and some tried to block the doors of the congressional chamber Friday just an hour before incoming President Felipe Calderon was to take the oath of office there.

Ruling party lawmakers, chanting “Mexico wants peace,” seized the speaker’s platform where Calderon was supposed to appear, while leftist opponents blocked most of the chamber’s doors.

The brawl was shown on live television across Mexico.



Apology Next?

Pope hailed for praying toward Mecca:

Istanbul Grand Mufti Mustafa Cagrici, who prayed with him there, said Benedict had faced Mecca and stood like Muslims do when they pray aright. “These were very nice gestures,” he told NTV television.

“The Pope’s dreaded visit was concluded with a wonderful surprise,” wrote daily Aksam on its front page. “In Sultan Ahmet Mosque, he turned toward Mecca and prayed like Muslims,” the popular daily Hurriyet said, using the building’s official name.

Just before leaving, Benedict said he hoped his visit was seen as “a sign of friendship between religions” that helps bring countries and cultures closer together.

His gestures, including support for Ankara’s bid to join the European Union and praise for Islam as a peaceful faith, seem to have persuaded the Turks to move beyond the tension following his speech quoting a Byzantine emperor as calling Islam violent.

But in Islam’s Middle Eastern heartland, Arab commentators still call for Benedict to issue a full apology for his speech. Shocked by the protests it triggered, the Pope has said he did not agree with the controversial quote but has not apologized.

A New Tool for Reconciliation?

Pope prays with Mufti:

Did they pray to the same Being?

But on to the title of this post:

Pope Benedict visited Istanbul’s Blue Mosque on Thursday, only the second Roman Catholic Pontiff to take such a step, and prayed silently in another gesture of reconciliation to the Muslim world.

So if the fellow and I that are at odds with each other stand side by side with our eyes closed in alleged prayer, is that a gesture of reconciliation?

And that’s what prayer is about?

Then it seems it wasn’t prayer to any Supreme Being.

Maybe I’m just being picky.

Asked if the Pope had prayed, Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said:

“This was a moment of reflection and meditation. Certainly, this was a moment of personal meditation in a relationship with God. You can even call this personal, intimate prayer but there were no external manifestations or characteristics of the Christian faith.”

I see.

Well, maybe I don’t.

What exactly is that supposed to mean?

But back to the “gesture of reconciliation” bit. Does all this mean the Pope is kow-towing to Islam, acknowledging his faults and recognizing that the fault is his alone for needing to be reconciled?

Ah, never mind the rhetoric.

😉

The Ties That Bind?

No kidding?

Celebrating mass at a shrine in southwestern Turkey where legend says the Virgin Mary lived out her last days, Benedict stressed that a common devotion to the mother of Jesus Christ is another link binding Christians and Muslims.

I missed mention of some of the other links.

But this one is just too much for me.

That’s OK.

Above all, love God!
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