Jihadists not mollified by the Pope's disavowal of any agreement with Manuel II Paleologos. "'Jihad' vowed over Pope's speech," from Reuters, with thanks to all who sent this in:
DUBAI (Reuters) - An Iraqi militant group led by al Qaeda vowed a war against the "worshippers of the cross" in response to a recent speech by Pope Benedict on Islam that sparked anger across the Muslim world."We tell the worshipper of the cross (the Pope) that you and the West will be defeated, as is the case in Iraq, Afghanistan, Chechnya," said an Internet statement by the Mujahideen Shura Council, an umbrella group led by Iraq's branch of al Qaeda.
"We shall break the cross and spill the wine. ... God will (help) Muslims to conquer Rome. ... God enable us to slit their throats, and make their money and descendants the bounty of the mujahideen," said the statement.
People are blasting the Pope over being a dhimmi. But remember that nuns and priests are being taken hostage in the Middle East. It's easy for us Americans to be brave.
Benedict is playing them like a fiddle. He elicited exactly the kind of response from the mahometans that one would expect, but he has also tricked the MSM into actually reporting muslim barbarities, things like churches torched in arab-occupied Judea, a murdered nun, other threats against clergy, and trying to twist his "surprise" and "regret" into some sort of apology. These things are normally self-censored, but not this time, since the whole mess is obviously the Pontiff's fault. The man is brilliant. He should now politely suggest that muslims apologize for these and other barbarities. (Of course, we all know that being a mahometan means 'never having to say you're sorry.')
I know I'm gonna get a tongue lashing, but I'm a little disappointed at the Pope. I wish he wouldn't try to apologize for what he said. He had every right to say what he did, but now that the heat is turned up, he's trying to back track. Instead, he should be steadfast and strong. This show of appeasement will only lead to more of "nuns and priests are being taken hostage in the Middle East". They see this as a sign of weakness and a lack of conviction which only increases their ability to rationalize what they are doing.
Benjamin, if concern abut nuns and priests in islamic countries is his top concern, then he shouldn't have opened his mouth in the first place.
If the Pope wants to address this threat for what it is, then he has to be willing to lead his flock into battle, not distance himself from his words as soon as muslims get angry. That is not leadership.
"and make their money and descendants the bounty of the mujahideen," said the statement."
Just the way it has been throughout the 1350 years of jihad history.
August, ICAM. Its like rattling a tiger cage and then saying "Oh, sorry tiger. I didn't mean to anger you". GWB would never apologize after a bold and truthful statement, and the Pope shouldn't eaither..
God enable us to slit their throats, and make their money and descendants the bounty of the mujahideen
Very moving. I can compare it only to the finest flowers of the Buddhist Canon and to the wonders of the Chinese poetry. Han Shan maybe.
They are already in hell, way before being dead.
"We shall break the cross and spill the wine. ... God will (help) Muslims to conquer Rome. ... God enable us to slit their throats, and make their money and descendants the bounty of the mujahideen," said the statement.
Never will anyone convince me that this is not the voice of Satan. They have reached out and embraced hell and they appear to get off on it. They probably all sit around and masturbate to their home movies. Sick.
yeah the pope played it well. very smart, he got what he wanted, and he proved his point.
however he should have a hard time defending the atrocitites done by the Catholic Church. The Catholics killed more people than the muslims have. the Africans, non catholic christians, Ana-baptists. etc.
on the other hand, i am praying for him that he does not get killed any time soon. i like him more than the other pope that died.....he has a bit more oooomf to him.
the funniest point of it is that they get incited of a reading from a text 700 years ago. the same stuff
is outlined within the koran.
lol
Note to some posters: The Pope did not "distance himself" from his comments, nor even apologize for what he said (or for whom he quoted). The Pope merely apologized for the muslim reaction--not for his words.
I'm a little disappointed at the Pope
I am disapointed in other religious leaders, such as Protestant, Orthodox, Jewish and leaders of other world religions who have not spoken up on this issue...
I am disappointed in the press overall. Especially of people such as E.D. Hill of FOX news, who blamed the Pope for the Church firebomings and death of that holy nun. Her reasoning being if he never said anything in the first place, he would not have "provoked" such a reponse.... Thus compeletly shifting the blame....
I am disapointed in the secular/democratic governments around the world for not calling out the disproportion response of the jihadists, but more than happy to call out the Pope.....
We can find disappointment in many, many people, but hardly the Pope. The only one with the courage to speak out when everyone else is silent.
Not only is the world silent about islam, but quick to condemn that courageous and Holy Pope, some condemn him for saying comments in the first place, other for not saying enough...
Judging by the worldwide negative response, and even the overall negative responses on this website (people who should be supporting him for what he said, whether your Catholic or not and whether you agree with the theology of Catholicism) very few leaders will be willing to speak out about this in the future since they can count on getting such little support...
So, in response to a perceived offense for being called violent and evil, they vow to perform violent and evil acts? Do they even get the irony of their response? Oh wait, maybe that wasn't invented in the 7th century...
however he should have a hard time defending the atrocitites done by the Catholic Church. The Catholics killed more people than the muslims have. the Africans, non catholic christians, Ana-baptists. etc.
You really need to get you head checked....
I imagine you made this lame post because you have no interest in saying anything remotely intelligent or factual....
The Holy Father essentially apologized for eliciting the response, not for making the statement. The response was their responsibily, not his. His remark that the statement was not his personal opinion was also a clever offering from the Vicar. It wasn't MY personal opinion either, as my personal opinion would be even less complimentary to muslims. A previous poster had it right as the Pope has a resposibility for the safety of the flock worldwide and that flock is in mortal danger.
The key element in this war is to reach the point when most in the U,S. realize that we are at war with aggressive Islam and that dialog is pointless and counterproductive.
Qaradawi is not a happy bunny either:
- Sheikh Qaradawi considered the pope's assertion on Sunday that Muslims have misunderstood him as another "insult."
"Now he says that Muslims do not understand the true sense of his words. But he must bear in mind that when the speech is utterly clear then good intentions do not matter.
"He, in effect, stopped short of apologizing and the real apology is to retract his remarks, which should be omitted from the lecture," he gave in the Germany University of Regensburg on Tuesday.
Qaradawi said the pope's remarks came to entrench offensive statements made by US President George W. Bush last month that America was at war with "Islamist fascists."
The pope's remarks "gave an international cover for what Bush is doing," Qaradawi insisted.
Bush said in August that the foiled London terror plot confirmed that America was at war with "Islamic fascists," seizing the opportunity to defend his controversial anti-terror record and make political gains.
The pope's expression of regret on Sunday has been welcomed by some Muslim groups in Britain, Germany and India.
Malaysia, however, said Sunday that it is not satisfied with the statements, insisting on a full apology.
"Muslims have all this while felt oppressed and the statement by the pope saying he is sorry about the angry reaction is inadequate to calm the anger, more so because he is the highest leader of the Vatican," said Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar.
The pontiff must retract his statement as he only stated he was "deeply sorry" about the negative reaction, Syed Hamid said from Cuba, where he was attending a Non-Aligned Movement summit -
He's urging a 'peaceful anger day' for next Friday.
http://www.islamonline.net/English/News/2006-09/18/01.shtml
Arjun - yes, the all-important booty and slaves, so.... spiritual!
Infidel33 said something clever similar to what I've been thinking: that this will finally expose Islam to the world in the way that even the cartoons didn't (since after all they were 'rude'). Don't know if the Pope quite planned it this way...
By the way, this excellent site tends to be a bit too Christian conservative for a secular humanist like me. Please read what an intelligent and atheistic liberal has to say. It puts the other 'liberals' to shame:
http://tinyurl.com/nfk49
It continues to amaze me that these fanatics condemn the Pope for noting the violent forced conversions that have been conducted under the teachings of the Quran and hadiths for nearly 1,400 years and that this should not be the teachings of a just GOD and then they turn around and openly and clearly as possible make the case for his comments.
So the point here is that you are not allowed to critcise Islam whether you are telling the truth or not.
Essentally Islam is held above any criticism whether it is right or wrong.
In the mind of the fundamental Muslim you simply cannot tell the truth,give an opinion, or allow for any open dialog or discussion when it comes to the teachings of the Quran. This is why the pope wrote a book back in 1998 where he spelled out that reform may be impossible in the Islamic religion.
"The Holy Father essentially apologized for eliciting the response, not for making the statement."
Come on. Do you really think he was surprised by the reaction?? Saying he apologized for the reaction is the same thing as apologizing for the statement in this instance. How else would Moslems react? With a peaceful protest and hunger strike? He knew what he was doing...
The Pope is playing chess with an over-rated opponent he has watched for decades. Next move; Call for dialog in Turkey. Anticipated response; violence.
It continues to amaze me...
I have many many times noted the similarity between the muslim mindset and what George Orwell described as 'doublethink' in 1984 - the ability to simultaneously hold two mutually contradictory viewpoints, whilst believing absolutely in the truth of both.
Thus, say islam is peaceful or we'll kill you.
On an entirely OT matter which also occurred to me whilst reading the rantings of these lunatics:
If they love death so much, why do they constantly whine they get it given to them?
If this is how mad the Muslims get when the Pope quotes a 14th Century Byzantium Emperor, think how mad they'll get when he starts quoting the Qur'an to elucidate his points about religiously motivated violence.
That's all the Pope needs to do. No comment necessary. Just read the quotes (and/or read factual news accounts of beheaded Buddhist monks, Thai Christian schoolgirls, etc.), and sit back and watch the Islamic pressure cooker start to rumble and shake.
Off topic, but I'd like some dialogue in this regard. This is posted under Muslim reformers in Israel.
1- Name one civilization that has over any, more that token period of time, been able to coexist peacefully where Islam is part of the plueralistic cultural mix.
2- To my knowledge the only historical model (outside of the Balkans and we all know how well that has gone.) we have is Spain. Why did Spain outlaw Islam?
I'd like to close with some dialogue many on here have some very harsh things to say about Muslims living in the west, and Spencer has taken a lot of flack in this regard. Most of us were not born with these opinions, in fact most of us have had our PC attitudes shattered by research, and observation. I say to the Muslim community change my mind not only with words, but with action, as your deeds will speak for you. In closing I'd like some of you to make fictitious persons on Muslim myspace (I did both as a supposed Muslim, and as a Christian). What I found only confirmed what I already knew. Most Muslims want to live in peace, but if you tally it up there are about say 15% that that do not want to live in a pluralistic society. They feel like we (the west) expect them to change, also there is a violent aspect to this notion. I had a long conversation about apostates, all agreed they should be killed, which is illegal in the west. The dichotomy is that if they do not believe this and kill apostates, they are apostates take that for what it is and implies.
Not really off topic;
The British IM5 need to get a backbone and Arrest-
Anjem Choudary for in sighting Riots and making Death Threats against the Pope.
Catholic's and Christians worldwide need to be vigilant, (and maybe armed). If attached, shot to kill. Confess, that you were protecting yourself from this raging hatred.
Time will not calm this!
An Important and Great point is being missed in the MSM. The Pontif went on to quote Socrates;
"It would be easily understandable if someone became so annoyed at all these false notions that for the rest of his life he despised and mocked all talk about being - but in this way he would be deprived of the truth of existence and would suffer a great loss".
Immediately, after this quote The Pope, stated "The West has long been endangered by this aversion to the questions which underlie its rationality, and can only suffer great harm thereby."
eNuf - KnightHawk
The future is NOW !!!
Iraqi jihadists burning pictures of the pope, burning US flags, and for the first time burning a German Flag... (pope is german, speech was made in Germany)
I suspect the key to the Pope's recent statements is semantics: so far, the closest thing I've seen to an apology is the phrase 'doesn't express in any way whatsoever my personal opinion.' This is not a retraction of his original statement. It does not clarify the personal opinion of the Pope on the topic at all. Semantics.
It's also somewhat naive to think this remark was random. Now there are 1 billion Catholics all over the world that realize there are those out there that are calling for the death of the Pope, which is not acceptable to Catholics regardless of their political beliefs. From the statements I've read, these calls for the execution of the Pope are also unacceptable to people of other faiths as well, which is a positive sign. The only people who seem to be silent on all of this are the political leaders of the world, which is very sad indeed.
And in secular Turkey:
---
State Minister Mehmet Aydin, who oversees the religious affairs in Turkey, said he expected Turkish authorities to cancel the visit if Benedict does not offer a full apology.
"We are expecting the authorities to unilaterally cancel this visit. The pope's coming to Turkey isn't going to foment the uniting of civilizations, but a clash of civilizations," he said.
The secretary-general of the Turkish HUKUK-DER law association submitted a request to the Justice Ministry asking that the pope be arrested upon entering Turkey.
The appeal by Fikret Karabekmez, a former legislator for the banned pro-Islamic Welfare Party, called for Benedict to be tried under several Turkish laws, among them obstruction of freedom of belief, encouraging discrimination based on religion, and inciting religious hatred.
A prosecutor in the ministry will evaluate the request and decide whether to open a case
---
This article also includes an important snippet from the Shura Council (quoted above)I have not seen elsewhere:
We will break up the cross, spill the liquor and impose head tax,--- then the only thing acceptable is a conversion (to Islam) or (killed by) the sword."---
Very blunt article from Fox. Well worth the read.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,214318,00.html
"Come on. Do you really think he was surprised by the reaction?? Saying he apologized for the reaction is the same thing as apologizing for the statement in this instance. How else would Moslems react? With a peaceful protest and hunger strike? He knew what he was doing..."
exactly. and your point is?
he knew what he was doing, that's why he's overly-brilliant. Too brilliant for the scum his speech was directed to.
cookiemonster
ok....and?
"1- Name one civilization that has over any, more that token period of time, been able to coexist peacefully where Islam is part of the plueralistic cultural mix.
2- To my knowledge the only historical model (outside of the Balkans and we all know how well that has gone.) we have is Spain. Why did Spain outlaw Islam? "
Not true. I took my old history books (the ones I used at school) that were written in not-heated times like these. My book was specifically "lefty" oriented therefore oriented in putting all "minorities" in good light.
In spite of this, about the Arab domination in spain, it said "jews and christians moved in the north of spain" without giving explanation.
If you move away from the jyza, forced conversion, harassment and all it's a self-explanatory thing itself.
I guess Sean Hannity and President Bush are wrong....Mohammad and Islam do have someting to do with this War....Sean try telling the Truth!
Was Turkey selected at random? Or does it have something to do with a pending application before the European Union?
A brilliant man...
This is all, once again, proof of the GLOBAL STRATEGY of Islam: they are weakening us all at every turn by means of intimidation and division. They know, for instance, that the West is its own worst enemy. We have so many elements that are self-effacing and the Muslims are expert at exploiting this weak link in the chain whenever possible.
Islam has become so brazen that it does not fear any reprisal, even when it calls for the death of the leader of the Catholic world.
Doesn't this say something? What does it say to YOU?
when they vow to shower us with love and understanding they will have my attention. Until then: same shit, different day.
The same threats over an over just bore us at first, then irritate us, then finally they'll piss us off enough that we start killing the ignorant bastards.
I watched Patton on the AMC channel this weekend and now I'm channeling him. He believed in reincarnation, you know.
@Bonedigger
Do it ! Igive you 1000% support, even streaming your video.
There's a pandemic disease loose on the entire world,that being "RADICAL ISLAM".And just as any dangerous disease is fought to eradication, so should this one. This disease is every bit as dangerous to civilization as cancer, the plaque, bird flu or any other deadly disease, and it's damn sure time that it should be recognized for what it is and get the cure started. If those bullying bastards are so in love with death, well let the cure begin. I for one believe the time has come to fight fire with fire. The time has come for we infidels to start calling for Muslims to be killed where ever they are found, no muslim safe anywhere on the planet. If they love death so much they should welcome the trip to Allah land.I'm damn sick and fed up with with their constant threats and demands and the way the west keeps pussy footing around kissing their asses and placating and embolding them.
krkrjak - yes, Islam is a plague on both houses. The muslims are its first and always its worst victim. this doesn't excuse them, however.
Limes as I said yesterday Turkey couldn't have been a random selection, and the infamation caused by the Popes words were calculated. I believe the Pope means to martyr himself for the sake of our civilization. This will send a message if you will in regards to the level of threat the west faces. Why else would a sane man of his position say this then travel to an Islamic country. When he is assasinated in Turkey will we wake up?
AMEN ADOBE!!!!
Where are the Lutheran, Episcopalean (sic?), Methodist, Jewish, Shinto, Hindu, or any other possible religious leaders of the world? Reverend Jackson, Reverend Sharpton (they do call themselves reverends), Reverend Graham, Falwell, etc...
Where's Bush, Blair, Merkle, Ohlmert, and any other western leader defending the Pontiff, and denouncing the devil worshipers outrages behavior?
Are they all scared?
The muslims comments prove that they are rooted in a seventh century mindset and not capable of reform or progresssion. Though I owuld make the following corrections to the translations, since teh mohammedans allah is not the God of the Christians and the Jews:
"Allah will (help) Muslims to conquer Rome. ... Allah enable us to slit their throats, and make their money and descendants the bounty of the mujahideen."
Back to the 7th century when Mohammed was spreading his cult by the sword and war. Kill the nonbelievers, take their posessions, rape their women and force their descendants to be muslims whether they want to or not.
"God, what mischiefs work the wicked ones,
Heaping confusion on their own heads thereby!"
-King Henry VI -- Shakespeare
Some questions come to mind:
How can the Muslims even keep all their pretexts for Jihad straight? Why do some in the West keep falling for it over and over again? Why do so many in the West help them by repeating and amplifying their never-ending Arabian tales for the ever growing list of infinite Islamic failure? Why do so many self loathing Westerners relish in the idea that Muslim atrocities and Muslim stupidness and Muslim rage and Muslim corruption and Muslim backwardness and Muslim insanity and Muslim murder and Muslim inhumanity is somehow OUR fault?
The Crusades. European Colonialism. US Foreign Policy. Support for Israel. The Jews. The Zionists. Something the Pope said. Something the Pope then didn't say. Stealing their oil.
By the way, if we hadn't first developed their oil for them, and then paid them trillions of dollars for it, (exactly the kind of behavior you'd expect from the Crusader Christian Jew Zionists bent on evil exploitation, oppression, and theft of Muslim 'resourses', doncha know ) they'd have nothing but frankincense and myrrh (which is nothing more than dirty tree sap), dates and perhaps crappy hammered copper vessels and platters (made out of crappy quality copper to boot).
It's time we see them and talk about them in the proper light. They are nothing more than a one billion two hundred million strong seething mass of degenerate human filth behaving like a nightmarish psychopath.
Perhaps the best service we could have performed for the rest of humanity AND for the Muslims themselves would have been taking all the candy (the money, the oil, the cars, the cell phones, the computers, the medicine, the TV, the precious archeological artifacts lying under their uncaring unknowing Muslim feet, and letting them live in peace with their Islam under the stars clustered in so many dirty little tents strewn around muddy wadis and cooking with camel shit and wearing their teeth down on all the sand they eat which is stuck to those goat eyeballs.
ethoman; We're already waking up. And we all owe the Pope. I wish I'd added 'brave' to 'brilliant'. With newfound respect...
(Perhaps it's not too late?)
Here Here! well said Limes.
How long before they are fighting in the streets and burning places of worship in America, Canada, and England? How long before the world collapses into a living hell because a group of people and their ideology are immature, barbaric, and hides behind the veil of religious freedom? How long do we have now? Months maybe? The Imams are going to whip the ignorant masses into frenzy over this preceived insult that much is certain. They couldn't get WWIII started over a bunch of drawings but maybe they can use their problem with the Pope's speech to do so.
After it's all over will we ban the practice of Islam like we did National Socialism in Germany? Can it hide behind the Religious Freedom forever? If so, I'm ready to move to another planet. This one is a nuthouse.
Gotham: "Where's Bush, Blair, Merkle, Ohlmert, and any other western leader defending the Pontiff, ,,,"
I second that sentiment from Adobe and Gotham. The pope is headed for Christian martyrdom at the hands of the Death Cult, and the "leaders" of civilization are apparently going to just sit back and watch. Maybe they'll join in throwing rotten fruit at him on his march to the scaffold.
"exactly. and your point is?"
My point is as I said in this thread and the other, I am concerned that the Islamists will see the Pope saying : This is not my opinion, it was just a quote as a step back after the nun was shot. I am in no way condeming the pope or justifying the muslim response. I am only saying that the terrorists view any sign of weakness, whether real or imagined, as a justification to their violent outrages. Yes, I think the Pope knew how the Muslims would respond to his speech and I think many on the board would at least give me that much...
however he should have a hard time defending the atrocitites done by the Catholic Church. The Catholics killed more people than the muslims have. the Africans, non catholic christians, Ana-baptists. etc.
I'm not sure where you get your information about which religion has killed more and I don't have the statistics to argue with it. But you're completely missing the point. Nearly every religion has a bloody past - Islam has a bloody present. The inquisition ended more than a thousand years ago. Present-day Catholics no longer burn people at the stake, but present-day muslims are still beheading and stoning people for apostasy or for insulting Islam. While the Catholic Church, at least in the arena of violence, has moved into the present, Islam is still firmly rooted in the past. Whenever they are accused of being violent, they react with violence. Violence is the language of the "Religion of peace". The sole area where Islam has moved into the present day is to adopt new weapons of violence, like the homicide bomber.
Benjamin said: "People are blasting the Pope over being a dhimmi. But remember that nuns and priests are being taken hostage in the Middle East. It's easy for us Americans to be brave."
I do not agree. We non-Muslims have a majority in Europe and America, for now. We can either start fightng now, and take some hits but still have a good chance of winning, or we can refrain from fighting, and slowly sink into dhimmitude.
For the sake of the costs of a relatively small fight now, the Catholic Pope is choosing a path that will cost us thousands of lives, plus our culture. Maybe he figures we'll have a better chance at fighting *after* we've been decimated and vastly overpowered by the Muslims, like the Copts have beem?
It'll only get harder from here. The pope should not have apologized, and Bush should not have allowed thousands of Saudi students to enter the country, Israel should not have wussed out in Lebanon, and conservative journalists and "intellectuals" shouldn't be ignoring the fact that Islam, being the religion based on the Koran, does have a limited number of ways it can be interpreted, given that human language - lo and behold! - has meaning that is not infinetly flexible.
The rioting brats are getting their way by means of being rioting brats (which encourages their behavior). We keep paying the taxes that keep their core Western apologists (academics) fed and housed, and we keep paying the taxes that become "aid" to support Muslim dictatorships, and we keep paying the taxes that go to fund our deeply pro-leftist-biased public schools.
And our major religious leaders won't even point out the technical theological consequence of a view of God as purely transcendental, without apologizing for hurting feelings afterwards.
Are we living under Sharia law?? Please, when did this occur??
Are we, now to walk on egg shells?? Hang our heads??
I'm sorry, I didn't surrender! I will fight to the end, b/c I would rather be dead than live as a mindless muslin slave or under its insane sharia system.
When is the world going to wake up??
These people are crazy loons!a ! Mo was a murdering racist, demon possed man. He wrote the satanic book called the koran under possesion.
The Bible talks about people who call evil good and good evil. It talks about the time it will occurr.
Are we all going to go silently, hanging our heads into the night? Isn't anyone going to stand up and fight!!
We in America have the ability to totally destroy these people, wipe them off the face of the earth.
THIS IS MADDNESS PEOPLE!
One doesn't get to be Pope by being dumb or naive. Benedict knew exactly what he was doing and thought long and hard before he uttered a word of that speech. He knew it would set off a frenzy in the Muslim world, and in the Muslim communities of the dhimmi world (e.g., Britain).
Millions of people in formerly Catholic countries in Europe are coming to the defense of the Pope, as are non-Catholics elsewhere in Europe and America. Benedict's speech may, just may, halt the dhimmification of Europe, or slow it down as the sophisticaed nihilists of the European welfare states reflect upon what they've become.
Moreover, the mullahs who have deliberately incited the mindless mob have another audience in mind besides the Pope and his defenders: the Muslims who don't join mobs and wave signs and set fires. The message to them is: keep quiet or you'll get it too. The mob-inciting mullahs know what they're doing: their violence has paid handsomely in the past, and they believe it will continue to pay. So they will continue to bully the non-Muslims who wishfully believe in "dialogue." And they will continue to bully the Muslims-in-name-only who might otherwise voice some objection to the drive toward the new worldwide Caliphate.
The Pope has called their bluff, but he's called our bluff too. He's told us all, in effect, that if we continue down the dhimmi path, our civilization has had it. And by "our" I mean not just the Catholic church's; I'm Jewish.
"We shall break the cross and spill the wine. ... God will (help) Muslims to conquer Rome. ... God enable us to slit their throats, and make their money and descendants the bounty of the mujahideen."
It is within the context of historic Arab Bedouin traditions concerning shame and honor that such Islamic jihadist threats can best be understood. The Pope, in his noble effort open up a dialogue between religions in the modern era, has shamed the Arab ideologues of Islam by merely suggesting, that for the good of humanity, they might question the realities of their faith. Now, as the result of this perceived humiliation, and to reaffirm their Arab manhood, the al Qaeda Mujahideen Shura Council believes it must reclaim lost honor by conquering Rome, executing the Pope, killing Westerners, and stealing our wealth.
If ever their was a time for moderate Muslims, if indeed there are any, to speak out, it is now. The world is seeing more clearly everyday what Islam is, and has become - a homicidal/suicidal ideology bent on global domination. If the so-called peaceful Muslims do not speak out against the insanity, they will risk being annihilated right along with the zealots who are now in charge of their faith.
There is clearly an unrepresented popular revulsion in the wesr at the violent and intemperate brow -beating that Muslims are inflicting on the pope. This is shown by the votes in support of the pope, at least in the UK, to be found on the BBC and Sky news websites. It's a pity that the Jihadwatch people dont provide a series of ready to print anti-jihadi fliers, posters and pamphlets which visitors to this site could download and distribute, leave lying around or paste up in their home towns. Now is the time if any that the message will find a ready audience.
al-Qaeda vows Jihad over the Pope's speech.
Now wait a minute. in '96 al-Qaeda vowed Jihad over the presence of U.S. military in Arabia. Now it's the Pope?
The headline shoulda read "al-Qaeda vows Jihad for whatever the latest excuse is that they could cook up."
That way we wouldn't have re-set the type every day; we could get the threats out quicker to the public and it'd be a win-win situation: lower costs for the papers and less PR work for the murderers.
Benjamin wrote:
By the way, this excellent site tends to be a bit too Christian conservative for a secular humanist like me. Please read what an intelligent and atheistic liberal has to say. It puts the other 'liberals' to shame:
http://tinyurl.com/nfk49
.................
Excellent article by Sam Harris, well worth reading. I'm a pretty liberal person in many respects, and I cannot understand why more Liberals do not see radical Islam for the threat that it is to the Enlightenment, Liberal traditions, and indeed all of Western civilization.
Right after 9/11 there was a great deal of Red State/Blue State nonsense in the US as regarded the attacks.
Many Liberals pointed out that most New Yorkers had not voted for George Bush (does that mean that an attack on, say, downtown Houston would have been OK?).
There was a lot of idiocy on the other side of the political aisle, too, as many conservatives made points about having a lot in common with "conservative" Muslims, such as disliking the widespread use of pornography. Pat Robertson, infamously, considered 9/11 God's punishment for abortion and homosexuality in the US.
I do think that by now, though, that more Conservatives than Liberals have woken up (at least a bit) as to the threat of violent Islam.
The truth is that radical Muslims don't care who you voted for or who you freely marry. They don't care whether you are a devout Fundamentalist Christian or a Secular Humanist.
I stand with the Pope and his words as regard violent Islam, even though I am not Catholic myself. The threats to the Pope, the Catholic clergy and churchs are threats to all of us.