This was posted on the Middle East Forum, an awesome website promoting American interests in the MENA region.
Christians are a Litmus Test of Libya's decline
I don't know how "persecuted" the Church and Christians in general were under the previous regime; it was my understanding that while Islam was the official state religion, there was tolerance of, and religious minorities were, at minimum, ignored and not persecuted. Even Old Fuzzhead's daughter in law, the abusive @#$%$^ Aline Skaf-Gaddafi, is Maronite Catholic (as is my husband, Charles, who, like Ms. Skaf, is Lebanese).
Everyone, in an ideal world, should tolerate other religious viewpoints. We don't always live in an ideal world. But for every ONE case of Muslim intolerance towards Christians, there are probably 50 cases of Christians being intolerant towards Muslims. What "extremist" Muslims fail to realize, as do many Christians, is that Muslims are taught by their faith to be tolerant of those "of the Book" (meaning Christians and Jews) as well as of other religious communities. And what many Catholics and other Christians fail to realize is that the Catechism of the Catholic Church says the same thing, "841, The Church's relationship with the Muslims. "The plan of salvation also includes those who acknowledge the Creator, in the first place amongst whom are the Muslims; these profess to hold the faith of Abraham, and together with us they adore the one, merciful God, mankind's judge on the last day."
That's about as official as it gets. The Triple C's are the "governing laws and teachings" of the Church as a whole. They're official guidelines, rules, and regulations about how Catholics are supposed to act. Many Catholics, including myself, fail to follow them to the letter. If you really want to get concerned with the minutiae, the Eastern rite Catholic churches (Maronite Catholics, the ritual church of my husband, are one of the 20 Eastern rite Catholic Churches in full communion with Rome) have their OWN guidelines, which barely differ from the main CCC's.
SOURCE CITED: Catechism of the Catholic Church, Part One, Section Two, Chapter Three (Section 841).
Christians are a Litmus Test of Libya's decline
I don't know how "persecuted" the Church and Christians in general were under the previous regime; it was my understanding that while Islam was the official state religion, there was tolerance of, and religious minorities were, at minimum, ignored and not persecuted. Even Old Fuzzhead's daughter in law, the abusive @#$%$^ Aline Skaf-Gaddafi, is Maronite Catholic (as is my husband, Charles, who, like Ms. Skaf, is Lebanese).
Everyone, in an ideal world, should tolerate other religious viewpoints. We don't always live in an ideal world. But for every ONE case of Muslim intolerance towards Christians, there are probably 50 cases of Christians being intolerant towards Muslims. What "extremist" Muslims fail to realize, as do many Christians, is that Muslims are taught by their faith to be tolerant of those "of the Book" (meaning Christians and Jews) as well as of other religious communities. And what many Catholics and other Christians fail to realize is that the Catechism of the Catholic Church says the same thing, "841, The Church's relationship with the Muslims. "The plan of salvation also includes those who acknowledge the Creator, in the first place amongst whom are the Muslims; these profess to hold the faith of Abraham, and together with us they adore the one, merciful God, mankind's judge on the last day."
That's about as official as it gets. The Triple C's are the "governing laws and teachings" of the Church as a whole. They're official guidelines, rules, and regulations about how Catholics are supposed to act. Many Catholics, including myself, fail to follow them to the letter. If you really want to get concerned with the minutiae, the Eastern rite Catholic churches (Maronite Catholics, the ritual church of my husband, are one of the 20 Eastern rite Catholic Churches in full communion with Rome) have their OWN guidelines, which barely differ from the main CCC's.
SOURCE CITED: Catechism of the Catholic Church, Part One, Section Two, Chapter Three (Section 841).
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