Benedict Media Coverage Wrapup
Tune in tomorrow for commentary on the content of the controversy itself - the possibility of interfaith dialogue, the staggering degree to which Juan Cole is out of his theological depth, the structural Muslim violence against the Church, and the controversial idea that some people actually take their religion more seriously than hipsters take their fashion.
For now, just some commentary and irony challenged journalism to close out the day:
- BBC: One Anglican church and one Orthodox church were reportedly firebombed in the West Bank city of Nablus. A group which said it carried out the attacks, calling itself the Lions of Monotheism, said they were protesting against the Pope's remarks. Speaking at the Non-Aligned Movement's summit in Cuba, Gen Musharraf added his voice to those of a host of Muslim leaders who have criticised the Pope. "Our strategy must clearly oppose the sinister tendencies to associate terrorism with Islam and discrimination against Muslims, which are giving rise to an ominous alienation between the west and the world of Islam," he said.
- NewsBusters: NYT condemning the Pope for being religiously insensitive is weird given their silence on, well, that part of the world's beliefs.
- Biased BBC: We know that the BBC believes that the Pope doesn't understand Islam because he's been sheltered in the Vatican. Which brings up the critical question: what's their excuse for being so naive and ignorant that they still think that Muslims are rioting because they're poor, misled little souls. Other than myopia induced by a blame-Bush-and-Israel-for-everything political ideology? Or sheer mendacity?
- WaPo: "We ask him to offer a personal apology - not through his officials - to Muslims for this false reading" of Islam, said Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah, one of the world's leading Shiite Muslim clerics, who lives in Beirut. It's been a long day, and yet we've somehow missed the extended demonstration that the Pope holds a false reading of anything.
- Guardian In Turkey, however, where the Pope is due to visit in November, the deputy leader of the ruling party said Benedict had "a dark mentality that comes from the darkness of the middle ages". Salih Kapusuz added: "He is going down in history in the same category as leaders such as Hitler and Mussolini." Which is a weird way to put it, since it's not in the Vatican that Mien Kampf is a decade-long best seller. If we had founded Palestinian nationalism as an extension of the Third Reich, we'd be a little more circumspect.
For now, just some commentary and irony challenged journalism to close out the day:
- BBC: One Anglican church and one Orthodox church were reportedly firebombed in the West Bank city of Nablus. A group which said it carried out the attacks, calling itself the Lions of Monotheism, said they were protesting against the Pope's remarks. Speaking at the Non-Aligned Movement's summit in Cuba, Gen Musharraf added his voice to those of a host of Muslim leaders who have criticised the Pope. "Our strategy must clearly oppose the sinister tendencies to associate terrorism with Islam and discrimination against Muslims, which are giving rise to an ominous alienation between the west and the world of Islam," he said.
- NewsBusters: NYT condemning the Pope for being religiously insensitive is weird given their silence on, well, that part of the world's beliefs.
- Biased BBC: We know that the BBC believes that the Pope doesn't understand Islam because he's been sheltered in the Vatican. Which brings up the critical question: what's their excuse for being so naive and ignorant that they still think that Muslims are rioting because they're poor, misled little souls. Other than myopia induced by a blame-Bush-and-Israel-for-everything political ideology? Or sheer mendacity?
- WaPo: "We ask him to offer a personal apology - not through his officials - to Muslims for this false reading" of Islam, said Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah, one of the world's leading Shiite Muslim clerics, who lives in Beirut. It's been a long day, and yet we've somehow missed the extended demonstration that the Pope holds a false reading of anything.
- Guardian In Turkey, however, where the Pope is due to visit in November, the deputy leader of the ruling party said Benedict had "a dark mentality that comes from the darkness of the middle ages". Salih Kapusuz added: "He is going down in history in the same category as leaders such as Hitler and Mussolini." Which is a weird way to put it, since it's not in the Vatican that Mien Kampf is a decade-long best seller. If we had founded Palestinian nationalism as an extension of the Third Reich, we'd be a little more circumspect.
