Saturday, September 16, 2006

Vatican: Pope upset that Muslims were offended

Pope Benedict XVI's apology for his statements offending Muslims passed on by Vatican communique. Two Nablus churches damaged by firebombs thrown by Muslim Palestinians outraged at pope's words
Now why doesn't it surprise me that no one in the Muslim world has a problem with 3000 Americans being murdered, but they get extremely bend out of shape over cartoons and words quoted from a 700 year old text.
Leaders across the Muslim world in the last few days have demanded the pope apologize for his remarks on Islam and jihad, or holy war, despite earlier Vatican's assurances that he meant only to emphasize the incompatibility between faith and war.
How about WE demand apologies for all the innocents killed in their so called "jihad"? Is that ever going to happen?
Benedict cited in a recent speech an obscure Medieval text that characterizes some of the teachings of Islam's founder as "evil and inhuman" - comments some experts took as a signal that the Vatican was staking a more demanding stance for its dealings with the Muslim world. When giving the speech, the pope stressed that he was quoting words of a Byzantine emperor and did not comment directly on the "evil and inhuman" assessment.
I don't see than anything has changed since that Medieval text was written. True, there are many Muslims who do not participate in the violence, but then, I don't see a lot of 'em stepping forward to stop it either.
Two West Bank churches were hit by firebombs early Saturday, and a group claiming responsibility said it was protesting what many Muslims view as disparaging remarks about Islam by the Pope.
So is Kofi Annan going to say anything about the disproportionatee response" this time? Words of a long dead person as opposed to trying to physically destroy churches. Is ANYONE going to speak up?
Ayman Daraghmeh, a legislator from the ruling Islamic Hamas group, denounced the attacks, and urged Palestinian police to do more to protect Christian sites. The firebombs left black scorch marks on the walls and windows of the two Nablus churches. At least five firebombs hit the Anglican church.
Oh yeah, Hamas is so well known for it's humanitarian efforts.
On Friday, about 2,000 Palestinians protested against the pope, accusing him of leading a new Crusade against the Muslim world. Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas said the pope offended Muslims everywhere.
Remind me again...who is strapping on bomb belts, using car bombs, executing civilians in Iraq? If I'm not mistaken, it's not the Pope, or any other in the Christian world.