How's The Pope's Most Recent Non-Apology Apology Working Out?
Papal rage death count in Iraq is up to two.
The Pope met with Muslim leaders to try to calm the rage. Here's the information you're looking for:
He did not dwell on the contested remarks, in which he quoted a 14th-century Byzantine emperor as saying: "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." Benedict has already expressed regret for offending Muslims and said his remarks did not reflect his personal views, but he has not offered a complete apology as some have sought.
And you know what that means:
Fahmi Howeidi, a liberal Islamic writer in Egypt, said that since the pope did not apologize, protests may continue. "(Benedict) addressed the ambassadors but didn't deal with the Muslim street, the anger in the street will continue," Howeidi said in a telephone interview. Tariq Ramadan, a professor of Islamic studies at Oxford University, called the meeting "mainly political" intended to improve relations with Muslim states. "The people that were convinced he was against Islam are not going to change their minds," said Ramadan, who recently wrote that Muslims must respond to Benedict's view of the Christian character of Europe and what it means for identity. Al-Jazeera, the Arab-language broadcaster, carried the pope's speech live.
Good old Al-Jazeera. So no apology, and "protests may continue" (and of course we know what "protests" mean. Still, their "protesting" sure doesn't have the flourish that their early non-violent church bombings and nun murderings did. Some Gaza preacher said that the flag of Allah will be raised over the Vatican. Sure, it sounds threatening - but maybe this guy should focus on getting out of the Gaza Strip before he makes threats to people in countries that he can't find on a map. Although actually, now that we think about it, he's more than welcome to leave Gaza. And then there are the Pakistanis:
Hundreds of Pakistani Islamists held street protests to condemn Pope Benedict XVI for remarks they regard as anti-Islamic, with one leader saying the pontiff should be crucified. Demonstrators Friday poured out of mosques after the main weekly Muslim prayers in Pakistan's largest city Karachi, the eastern city of Lahore, the capital Islamabad and other urban centres. "If the pope comes here we will hang him on the Cross," Hafiz Hussain Ahmed, a senior leader of Pakistan's main alliance of radical parties, told around 200 noisy demonstrators in Islamabab. The alliance, called the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal or United Action Front, forms part of the parliamentary opposition and is often heavily involved in street protests in mostly Muslim Pakistan.
This is the parliamentary opposition? Shouldn't they be busy making sure that rape victims get executed for adultry? If the Palestinians had half of their energy, they'd have a state by now. Instead, the Palestinians spent the last few days drawing imbelic cartoons implying that the Pope is an American and Danish Nazi. Don't try to figure out the logic - your brain will start bleeding.
The Pope met with Muslim leaders to try to calm the rage. Here's the information you're looking for:
He did not dwell on the contested remarks, in which he quoted a 14th-century Byzantine emperor as saying: "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." Benedict has already expressed regret for offending Muslims and said his remarks did not reflect his personal views, but he has not offered a complete apology as some have sought.
And you know what that means:
Fahmi Howeidi, a liberal Islamic writer in Egypt, said that since the pope did not apologize, protests may continue. "(Benedict) addressed the ambassadors but didn't deal with the Muslim street, the anger in the street will continue," Howeidi said in a telephone interview. Tariq Ramadan, a professor of Islamic studies at Oxford University, called the meeting "mainly political" intended to improve relations with Muslim states. "The people that were convinced he was against Islam are not going to change their minds," said Ramadan, who recently wrote that Muslims must respond to Benedict's view of the Christian character of Europe and what it means for identity. Al-Jazeera, the Arab-language broadcaster, carried the pope's speech live.
Good old Al-Jazeera. So no apology, and "protests may continue" (and of course we know what "protests" mean. Still, their "protesting" sure doesn't have the flourish that their early non-violent church bombings and nun murderings did. Some Gaza preacher said that the flag of Allah will be raised over the Vatican. Sure, it sounds threatening - but maybe this guy should focus on getting out of the Gaza Strip before he makes threats to people in countries that he can't find on a map. Although actually, now that we think about it, he's more than welcome to leave Gaza. And then there are the Pakistanis:
Hundreds of Pakistani Islamists held street protests to condemn Pope Benedict XVI for remarks they regard as anti-Islamic, with one leader saying the pontiff should be crucified. Demonstrators Friday poured out of mosques after the main weekly Muslim prayers in Pakistan's largest city Karachi, the eastern city of Lahore, the capital Islamabad and other urban centres. "If the pope comes here we will hang him on the Cross," Hafiz Hussain Ahmed, a senior leader of Pakistan's main alliance of radical parties, told around 200 noisy demonstrators in Islamabab. The alliance, called the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal or United Action Front, forms part of the parliamentary opposition and is often heavily involved in street protests in mostly Muslim Pakistan.
This is the parliamentary opposition? Shouldn't they be busy making sure that rape victims get executed for adultry? If the Palestinians had half of their energy, they'd have a state by now. Instead, the Palestinians spent the last few days drawing imbelic cartoons implying that the Pope is an American and Danish Nazi. Don't try to figure out the logic - your brain will start bleeding.
