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Pope Benedict and Manuel Paleologus...

By The Armorer on September 17, 2006 | | Comments (11) | TrackBacks (3)

SWWBO, Chief Catholic here at Castle Argghhh! has been all over this.

So, the Pope has apologized.

CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy - Pope Benedict XVI said Sunday that he was "deeply sorry" about the angry reaction to his recent remarks about Islam, which he said came from a text that didn't reflect his personal opinion.

Over this:

In his speech on Tuesday, Benedict quoted from a book recounting a conversation between 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 Muhammad 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.'"

Works for me - he's sorry that a bunch of ignorant punks took remarks out of context and got their panties in a twist.

Guess what? I'm sorry they're a bunch of ignorant punks, too. And I'm not just talking about the Imams and their congregations deep in the Muslim world who can be expected to have a profound ignorance of Christian and Western history and, fed by a sound bite secularist western media, only heard the remarks out of context, and then behaved in the (to my eyes) childish ways they have become so famous for... torching churches, tossing firebombs, the usual reaction of certain practioners of the religion of peace to words, any words, that might be perceived as... oh, I don't know, critical. Yet they look at you uncomprehendingly when you ask them about their criticism of, oh, judaism or christianity.

No, rather, I'm saving my greater contempt for the MSM and their reporting of he issue.

But I also like the fact that Benedict didn't apologize for the remarks, just expressed regret people got their panties in a twist.

Muslim reaction was mixed...

Mahmoud Ashour, the former deputy of Cairo's Al-Azhar Mosque, the Sunni Arab world's most powerful institution, told Al-Arabiya TV immediately after the pope's speech that, "It is not enough. He should apologize because he insulted the beliefs of Islam. He must apologize in a frank way and say he made a mistake."

What, quoting old dead white men to illustrate a point in how things have morphed over time is a mistake? Hmmmm, better check to see if this guy is on faculty at a Major University... He didn't make a mistake, he quoted from history to support a point. And if you aren't adult enough to work with that... okay.

There's no pulling the wool over the eyes of this academic, Mohammed al-Nujeimi, a professor at the Institute of Judicial and Islamic Studies in Riyadh, he got the point...

The pope does not want to apologize. He is evading apology and what he said today is a repetition of his previous statement," he told Al-Arabiya TV.

But the leader of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, takes a more laid-back approach,

But the leader of Egypt's largest Islamic political group, the Muslim Brotherhood, said that "while anger over the Pope's remarks is necessary, it shouldn't last for long."

Of course, why does he take a laid-back view? He senses victory in the long-term...

While he is the head of the Catholic Church in the world, many Europeans are not following (the church) so what he said won't influence them. Our relations with Christians should remain good, civilized and cooperative," Mohammed Mahdi Akef told The Associated Press.

Methinks he sees Europe as ready to accept dhimmitude, following a template laid down by Vichy France.

I mined this article for the quotes.

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Pope apologizes for comments on Islam from Unpartisan.com Political News and Blog Aggregator on September 17, 2006 9:51 AM

Pope Benedict XVI said Sunday that he is very sorry about the reaction to his recent remarks about I Read More

Oh, The Outrage! from Flopping Aces on September 17, 2006 12:25 PM

So the Pope apologized once again, saying that the words spoken in the 15th Century that he quoted in his speech was not how HE felt: Pope Benedict XVI said Sunday that he was “deeply sorry” about the angry reaction to his recent remarks ab... Read More

Oh, The Outrage! from Flopping Aces on September 17, 2006 12:25 PM

So the Pope apologized once again, saying that the words spoken in the 15th Century that he quoted in his speech was not how HE felt: Pope Benedict XVI said Sunday that he was “deeply sorry” about the angry reaction to his recent remarks ab... Read More

11 Comments

By Matt on September 17, 2006 11:40 AM
I think the irony is nearly overwhelming. Honestly, words nearly fail me - are these Musliim [deleted] for real? Sorry, excuse my redundant question - to the nun they've killed and the congregations they've left homeless by burning those churches, they are all too real alright! Well, as a (formerly) non-extremist Catholic I can honestly tell you, the over-reaction to the Pope's WORDS, following on from the treatment of that Danish cartoonist, has left me feeling extremely hostile toward Muslims everywhere and hoping that my church rises up to use it's far superior firepower to wipe this ugly blemish of a religion from the face of the planet! Yes, that's right, I, a non-hostile Catholic, has become so angered by these animals that I now hope they DO bring their f***ing Jihad here and get wiped out once and for all by my God-fearing, peaceful church. It's at times like this I actually get behind the likes of George Bush as the lesser of two evils. Whilst he doesn't represent MY religion, at least he'll try and protect me and my family from these vile, unhinged barbarians. I really hope it has come to the point that Christians the world over draw a line and finally stop pandering to these [deleted] - we never wanted violence or hostility, but they brought it. What is wrong with these people that they aren't happy until they have someone (e.g. Salman Rushtie, cartoonists, the Pope, country's and Presidents) to sentence to DEATH - they really are [deleted] and my only regret is that the Pope even tried to open discourse with these [deleted]. See the rewards for trying to pander to these violent wretches? He's got them threatening to send SUICIDE bombers into his f***ing home!! Seriously like, what is this like???? I'm too angry to type. [deleted] Matt [I edited Matt's comments to bring them more in line with my Rulez for commenting - which is message, not messenger, and no pointless (other than catharsis) personal attacks, or verbiage which lumps whole groups together inaptly - if you want to use high-shock-value words like "swine" and "scum" well and good - but be more specfic than simply "muslim" which, to my ears, cuts simply too large a swath. My space, my rulez. I think you *still* get a sense of Matt's anguish, and it's not diminished by the edits. -the Armorer]
 
By John of Argghhh! on September 17, 2006 12:05 PM
While I appreciate Matt's frustration and anger, I would ask commenters to refrain from the "wipe the religion from the face of the earth" rhetoric and the whole lumping of the entire Muslim world into the word "scum". It is rather more complex than that - angry as you might feel about it at the moment.
 
By Matt on September 17, 2006 12:15 PM
Hi John, Cheers for the input, put what's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander - they lump us all in as 'infidels' and I think they're all scum. They want us all converted at the point of a sword, and I want them all impaled on that same sword. Bearing this in mind, I am not a good Christian, but a whole-heartedly angered human. What was done to that little old nun should be done to the animals that did it to her, and then to all that hold that this is the way to spread religion. Thanks anyway. Matt
 
By John of Argghhh! on September 17, 2006 12:53 PM
Matt - I don't necessarily disagree with you - but I've found over time if I turn down the heat, the debate stays focused. I left in your points (and made clear where I removed things), I just removed some of the oily rags you had in there...
 
By Matt on September 17, 2006 1:22 PM
Thanks John, I do appreciate you leaving my points intact, and understand (and appreciate the highlighting of) the edits. Matt
 
By Maggie on September 17, 2006 9:57 PM
I found this article by Andrew Bostom, M.D. very interesting. http://www.americanthinker.com/articles.php?article_id=5862
 
By ry on September 17, 2006 11:33 PM
Something I keep running into over at GX@40 is 'reconciliation'. I don't think they get that, like a divorce, if one side isn't into getting back together it isn't happening. JP2 kissed the Koran. He gave it the utmost of respect. And yet they insult us all the time by playing as if we're a lesser religion. Sigh. So they get mad. We chide hyperactive religionists here for the similar actions for being childish. I'm willing to accept Moslems as equals, but only so long as they extend the same. You insult my religion you'd best be prepared for someone to fire back. You claim yours is the will of God then you'd best be prepared for someone else to explain why you're wrong and their religion's right(and in this case the appeal to Reason being in Catholicism). Sheesh. Victimology. What is it good for?(Absolutely nothun'!)
 
By Cricket on September 18, 2006 12:09 AM
Define 'good, civilized and cooperative.' From their POV. We know from ours it means dhimmitude, but hey, these are Euroweenies. Denmark ain't buyin' it. They didn't like the Nazis and the Russians and the EU. Heh.
 
By ry on September 18, 2006 12:33 AM
BAsically, they have to go thru a counter-Reformation like thing. They have to re-inject humanism and reason into the religion. they have to stop playing the victim. The Hindu did. They get along great. They're actually a well respected religion that gets less crap than most despite a *very* bloody past. Co-respect is possible, but just not as long as one tries to play the victim all the dang time and goes appoplectic at every turn.
 
By cw4(ret)billt on September 18, 2006 1:09 AM
I believe we should adhere to the Modified Golden Rule: "Do unto others as they would do unto you. In spades."
 
By Trias on September 18, 2006 1:40 AM
You know it's interesting when people suggest Islam is a violent faith they react.. with violence. It's pretty sad I live in a world where people are too afraid to be honest publically. And the goes well beyond this papal Islam thing.