Friday, September 15, 2006
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Fightin' Words: Pope Speaks Out on Islam and Violence
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Posted by:
Mary Katharine Ham at
8:26 AM
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Muslim students burn an effigy of Pope Benedict XVI at a protest rally in Allahabad, India, Friday, Sept. 15, 2006. A growing chorus of Muslim leaders has called on the Pope to apologize for the alleged derogatory comments made by him about Islam.
Aren' t they always fightin' words when it comes to speaking out about violence and Islam?
Pope Benedict gave a speech in Germany this week that included this:
The German Roman Catholic Pope quoted from a book recounting a conversation between a 14th century Byzantine Christian Emperor Manuel Paleologos II and an educated Persian on the truths of Christianity and Islam.
"The emperor comes to speak about the issue of jihad, holy war," the Pope said.
"He said, I quote, 'Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached,' " he quoted the emperor as saying.
Clearly aware of the delicacy of the issue, Benedict added, "I quote," twice before pronouncing the phrases on Islam and described them as "brusque," while neither explicitly agreeing with nor repudiating them.
"The emperor goes on to explain in detail the reasons why spreading the faith through violence is something unreasonable," Benedict said. He did not relate the Persian scholar's response to the emperor.
"Violence is incompatible with the nature of God and the nature of the soul," the pontiff said.
Vatican spokesman Rev. Federico Lombardi said the Pope was not giving an interpretation of Islam as "something violent" although the spokesman said the religion contains both violent and non-violent strains.
Benedict: Conversion at gunpoint-- maybe not the best move.
Pretty reasonable, right? Ahh, but it also runs the greatest risk of all. The risk of offense:
Several experts on the Catholic Church and Islam agreed that the speech - in which Benedict made clear he was quoting other sources on Islam - did not appear to be a major statement on, or condemnation of, Islam. The chief concern, they said, was the West's exclusion of religion from the realm of reason.
Still, they said that the strong words he used in describing Islam, even that of the 14th century, ran the risk of offense.
Unfortunately, as we have seen before, offense in the Muslim world can manifest itself in some very violent ways.
Let's check the headlines, just three days after his statement, which consisted, mind you, of three paragraphs of a much longer speech:
The Pope Must Apologize, Demand Indian Muslims
Muslims Link Pope to 'Racists and Bigots' Over Islam speech
Pope's Critique of Jihad Angers Muslims
Pakistan's Parliament Condemns Pope Benedict
Muslim Anger Grows Over Pope's Remarks
Pope's Comment on Islam Sparks Outrage
Uh-oh:
"The remark is more derogatory than the Danish cartoonist's blasphemous sketches on the Prophet. This was the last thing we could have expected from the Pope," said Rasheed, who is a member of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board.
Uh-oh:
A wave of Muslim outrage swept the globe after Pope Benedict XVI linked Islam with violence, with the Pakistani parliament demanding that he retract the statement.
And, the Pope is making his first visit to a Muslim country in November. He's traveling to Turkey, where this week, "Turkish Officials Compare Pope to Hitler."
Given that radical Danish imams ginned up outrage by distributing faked photos of a pig-snouted Mohammed, I wonder what the imams are telling Muslims about Benedict's speech right now. You know, aside from that fact that he's a "medieval crusader" and a new "Hitler."
Will the map look like this again? Is this the inevitable consequence of speaking out against gunpoint conversions?
Update: Speaking of fightin' words, Michelle Malkin pays tribute to Oriana Fallaci, a writer put on trial for her unflinching critiques of Islam and violence. She has died of cancer, but her writings live on as a testament that she wasn't backing down.
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If they don't like what the Pope said, it would behoove them to stop validating it by their words and actions. |
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The most frightening part of this whole incident is the fact that many Moslems still have no objection to conversion at the point of a sword. Their benighted world never had a Renaissance, Reformation, Counter-Reformation, Enlightenment, Constitution, or Bill of Rights, and IT SHOWS! Every time something like this happens, I become more convinced that Islamofascism must be utterly destroyed. |
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Pakistan:
ASIF MASIH and AMJAD MASIH
Asif Masih along with Amjad Masih (not related) were accused of setting a copy of the Qur'an, wrapped in a towel, on fire while in jail. The police report stated that the towel was burned but the Qur'an was unharmed. The only witnesses are the police who supposedly saw the incident. A High Court in eastern Pakistan has upheld a decision sentencing these two Christian men to life in prison during an August 7, 2003 ruling. These men claim police set them up after they refused to pay a bribe. They were originally arrested February 5, 1999.
RHANJA MASIH
On May 8, 1998, at the funeral procession of a Christian, Muslim witnesses claim that Rhanja threw a rock at an Islamic sign. Now 55 he has been jailed since his arrest more than five years ago. Rhanja was tried under Section 295-c of the blasphemy law which normally carries a mandatory death sentence but on April 26, 2003 he was sentenced to life in prison and fined 50,000 rupees ($830).
SHABAZ KAKA
He was arrested September 25, 2004 when mosque leaders saw the cross he was wearing and questioned him as he visited the restroom during a break on a bus ride. They fabricated an accusation that he had desecrated the Koran. He has been sentenced to life in prison.
Egypt
SHAIBOUB ARSAL
Shaiboub Arsal was given a 38 year hard labor prison sentence in June 2000. He has been falsely charged over a murder that took place during the 1999-2000 New Year’s weekend violence, which targeted El-Kosheh’s Coptic Christian population.
Indonesia
Dr. Rebekka, Mrs. Eti, Mrs. Ratna
These three women, Dr. Rebekka , Mrs. Eti and Mrs. Ratna were arrested May 16, 2005, and charged under the Children Protection Act of 2002. Their trial began June 30th and ended September 1, 2005, when Indonesian judges sentenced the women to three years in prison plus a fine for allowing Muslim children to attend a Christian Sunday school program.
Iran
Hamid Pourmand
A former Iranian army colonel is serving a three-year sentence because he was a Christian and became an officer in the army. It is illegal for a non-Muslim to serve as a m ilitary officer. He was sentenced in a Tehran military court on February 17, 2005. His sentence automatically discharges him from the army, cuts off his regular income, and eliminates his military pension.
Eritrea
Dr Kiflu Gebremeskel
Dr Gebremeskel was arrested May 23, 2004. A full time pastor and leading figure with the Full Gospel Church of Eritrea.
HAILE NAYZGI
During the early morning hours of May 23, 2004, Haile Nayzgi was arrested and taken to Police Station #1 in Asmara. He was the leader of Eritrea’s Full Gospel Church, which is comprised of 120 to 150 house meeting groups. The church groups were closed by government decree at a meeting with a government official on May 15, 2003. At that time the church groups were given an application form for government registration. The Full Gospel Church filled out the form and returned it to the appropriate offices, but no reply was ever received.
Haile is married and has four children. He was previously an accountant with World Evangelical Alliance. He is a former mathematics professor at the University of Asmara. During his incarceration Haile has been refused any personal contact with his family. When family and friends went to take food and clothing to the prison for Haile on August 24, 2004, they were told that he was no longer there. Mr. Nayzgi has been moved to various locations since his arrest, but the actual charges against him have not been released.
KIDANE WELDOU
Pastor Kidane Weldou of the Full Gospel Church in Asmara was arrested March 18, 2005. He has been a leader in Eritrea for many years. An estimated 900 Christians are in custody in Eritrea.
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I think that the subtlety of the Pope's remarks will eventually be evident.
It will not be overlooked for long that the source of the quote is part of the message: making it possible to understand the statement as an implicit repudiation of the Fourth Catholic Crusade.
This is the right approach to the followers of Muhammad: it removes first "the log in my eye", making it possible to see how to remove "the speck in my neighbor's eye". And it is done in such a way as to first of all preserve Catholic unity, and to strengthen ties with the Eastern Orthodox. It also issues a warning, first to Christians, then to secularists, not to be soft-headed about issues of faith.
Only after it is all those things, the statement is also the most direct moral challenge that has yet been issued to followers of Muhammad by a world ruler, in the present conflict.
Its first layer gives the appearance of a miscalculation, a badly timed provocation, and fodder for more violence for and against Islam. Maybe it is all those things, after all. But my opinion now is that the subtlety of what he has said will appear after time has passed, as he makes increasingly clear why he said it. We'll see.
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Yeah Vic,
You got that right! I SOOOOOOO totally agree.
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Islam is no more a religion of peace than pigs can fly. The goal of the religion as a whole is to spread Islam by the sword, if necessary, and to live peacfully with other MUSLIMS. Unless, of course, those muslims fail to follow the Sharia law. In which case they can lose a limb to public amputations, or beheadings (still going on in Saudi Arabia), they can be drowned, stoned to death or, my personal favorite, the offender's daughter can be gang raped as payback for a slight inflicted by said offender!
The time is coming where we're going to see real violence between Muslims and non-Muslims (not just Christians) because that's what their being told to do. So far we just haven't seen much in the way of attacks on Buddhists or Hindu's.
If Muslims really want to be considered a peaceful religion, then we should see riots opposing terrorist attacks. But we don't do we? No, they riot against everything BUT the attacks, and in most cases they celebrate them.
Peaceful religion my pigs foot. |
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Look at them... the Muslims rioting again in the streets...so surprised! NO. That's their favorite pastime, next to Jihadist murdering of innocents in the name of "alah". Oh yeah Christians are just like that???!!! NOT.
Religion of peace and tolerance..SURE, in MSM's dreams!
The Pope's comment was a quote from a 14th century emperor and it's only the truth as everyone knows, but afraid to say. Now the Muslims are demanding he apologize for telling the truth. Hey, if the shoe fits. It's past time to start standing up to these Muslim extortinists and demand something from them for a change.
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I loved the foxnews.com article that included this 'money quote' from Pakistan's foreign ministry spokesman:
"Anyone who describes Islam as a religion as intolerant encourages violence," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam said.
In other words, "call me intolerant and I'll kill you."
The religion of peace. |
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The google maps thing shown is mis-leading. It shows peaceful protests made on a map with the pre text....
"Unfortunately, as we have seen before, offense in the Muslim world can manifest itself in some very violent ways."
The title of the map itself is "Cartoon Riots after the publication of caricatures of Muhammad (updated on Monday Feb. 20th 2006)".
The three marks in the USA reflect two non-violent protests and one un-confirmed event, hardly riots. I only looked at those three markers, and all three were wrong. |
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