Peace Out of Reach: Middle Eastern Travels and the Search for Reconciliation

10. Of Reason and Faith: On the Former Cardinal Josef Ratzinger

135 OF฀REASON฀AND฀FAITH Of฀Reason฀and฀Faith 10 On฀the฀Former฀Cardinal฀Josef฀Ratzinger I฀ felt฀a฀strange฀twinge฀of฀delight฀when฀Cardinal฀Josef฀Ratz-฀ ฀inger฀was฀elected฀pope฀on฀April฀24,฀2005.฀That฀was฀because฀ I฀had฀had฀the฀privilege฀of฀meeting฀him฀at฀a฀party฀in฀1973฀while฀ I฀was฀studying฀at฀the฀University฀of฀Tübingen฀on฀a฀Fulbright฀ scholarship.฀The฀future฀Pope฀Benedict฀XVI฀had฀taught฀theology ฀there฀before฀moving฀to฀the฀University฀of฀Regensburg฀in฀ 1972.฀Of฀course,฀there฀is฀no฀reason฀why฀he฀should฀remember฀ me,฀but฀I฀certainly฀remember฀him.฀Professor฀Ratzinger฀made฀ a฀distinct฀impression฀on฀me฀with฀his฀penetrating฀eyes฀and฀sober ฀demeanor.฀He฀was฀already฀known฀as฀a฀brilliant฀theologian฀ whose฀conservatism฀had฀originally฀been฀fueled฀by฀political฀and฀ cultural฀disillusionment฀with฀the฀student฀movement฀of฀1968.฀ The฀pope฀remains฀adamant฀about฀the฀need฀to฀counteract฀the฀ empowering฀of฀reason฀at฀the฀expense฀of฀faith,฀secularism฀at฀ the฀expense฀of฀spirituality,฀and฀the฀Enlightenment฀heritage฀at฀ the฀expense฀of฀religious฀ritual. This฀is฀the฀legacy฀of฀modernity฀and฀what฀might฀be฀termed฀ “Enlightenment฀fundamentalism”—that฀is,฀a฀basic฀reliance฀ on฀the฀secular,฀liberal,฀and฀critical฀heritage฀of฀the฀eighteenth฀ century—which฀some฀consider฀the฀principal฀danger฀to฀Western ฀societies.฀But฀the฀current฀pontiff฀never฀lacked฀a฀sense฀of฀ nuance.฀He฀has฀called฀Roman฀Catholicism฀the฀finest฀blend฀of฀ reason฀and฀faith,฀even฀though฀he฀has฀also฀tended฀to฀highlight฀ 136 PEACE฀OUT฀OF฀REACH the฀“prepolitical,”฀or฀religious,฀roots฀of฀Europe฀and฀the฀need฀to฀ build฀a฀more฀doctrinally฀unified฀Catholic฀Church.฀His฀speech฀ of฀September฀13,฀2006,฀which฀included฀comments฀about฀the฀ Prophet฀Muhammad฀and฀jihad฀(culled฀from฀an฀obscure฀Byzantine ฀emperor)1 ฀that฀insulted฀the฀Islamic฀community,฀may฀ have฀been฀intended฀only฀to฀challenge฀irrational฀terrorists฀hiding ฀under฀the฀cloak฀of฀religion,฀but฀it฀also฀served฀the฀practical฀ purpose฀of฀inspiring฀provincial฀forces฀within฀his฀own฀religious฀ community.฀“In฀Pursuit฀of฀Peace,”฀an฀article฀that฀appeared฀in฀ 2004฀when฀the฀pope฀was฀still฀a฀cardinal,฀provides฀an฀exceptional฀ insight฀into฀his฀general฀outlook.2 My฀own฀views฀on฀the฀Enlightenment฀and฀its฀impact฀are฀very฀ different.3 ฀That฀the฀Enlightenment฀legacy฀has฀been฀unable฀to฀ eradicate฀provincialism,฀imperialism,฀capitalist฀exploitation,฀ and฀religious฀intolerance฀speaks฀to฀the฀way฀its฀radical฀project— along฀with฀its฀socialist฀implications—has฀been฀truncated.฀The฀ Enlightenment฀ethos,฀in฀my฀view,฀has฀inspired฀virtually฀every฀ major฀political฀struggle฀for฀social฀justice฀and฀human฀rights.฀ Its฀major฀philosophers฀were฀all฀opponents฀of฀dogmatism฀and,฀ whatever฀their฀own฀prejudices,฀the฀arbitrary฀exercise฀of฀power.฀ I฀also฀think฀that฀the฀most฀radically฀democratic฀societies฀are฀ those฀that฀have฀most฀radically฀divorced฀church฀from฀state฀and฀ that฀the฀real฀danger฀to฀humanity฀has฀never฀been฀science,฀let฀ alone฀reason,฀but฀the฀political฀choices฀concerning฀its฀employment .฀The฀genuine฀threat฀has฀always฀appeared฀when฀myth฀and฀ intuition฀were฀invoked฀as฀criteria฀of฀judgment,฀when฀reason฀ was฀denied,฀when฀tradition฀was฀embraced฀for฀its฀own฀sake,฀and฀ when฀religious฀dogma฀dominated฀the฀public฀sphere—that฀is,฀ when฀intolerance฀was฀strongest฀and฀when฀the฀possibilities฀for฀ ideological฀manipulation฀from฀above,฀coupled฀with฀the฀unleashing ฀of฀the฀passions฀from฀below,฀were฀greatest.฀Uncritical฀ faith฀rather฀than฀reasoned฀reflection,฀myth฀rather฀than฀science,฀ 137 OF฀REASON฀AND฀FAITH obedience฀rather฀than฀critical฀speculation,฀and฀prejudice฀rather฀ than฀knowledge฀remain฀the฀enemies฀of฀freedom.฀ “In฀Pursuit฀of฀Peace”฀opens฀with฀the฀future฀pontiff’s฀reflections฀ on฀D-day฀and฀the฀subsequent฀liberation฀of฀Europe฀from฀the฀ Nazis.฀What฀resulted฀was฀an฀unparalleled฀period฀of฀peace฀and฀ prosperity฀whose฀framers฀(somewhat฀arbitrarily฀chosen),฀according ฀to฀Ratzinger,฀derived฀their฀political฀motivations฀from฀ their฀Christian฀beliefs.฀With฀the฀help฀of฀the฀Marshall฀Plan฀and฀ the฀military฀backing฀of฀the฀United฀States,฀Western฀Europe฀ squared฀off฀against฀the฀communist฀bloc.฀Ratzinger฀is฀right฀when฀ he฀notes฀that฀the฀lie฀born฀of฀“ideological฀tyranny”฀predominated฀ under฀the฀communists฀as฀surely฀as฀it฀had฀predominated฀under฀ the฀Nazis.฀Nevertheless,฀the฀world฀looks฀different฀depending฀ on฀which฀side฀of฀the฀North-South฀divide฀one฀is฀standing. Leaders฀of฀all฀the฀“great฀powers”฀that฀built฀the฀postwar฀ compact฀were฀complicit—some฀perhaps฀more฀and฀others฀perhaps ฀less฀than฀their฀predecessors฀and฀successors—in฀shaping฀ the฀nightmare฀of฀poverty฀and฀instability฀that฀still฀hovers฀over฀ the฀once฀colonized฀world.฀Even฀the฀greatest฀figures฀of฀the฀ struggle฀against฀totalitarianism—Winston฀Churchill,฀Franklin฀ Roosevelt,฀and฀Harry฀Truman—supported฀crass...