I'm Sorry for Calling You Violent, Please Don't Hurt Me

Meeting with the representatives of science at the University of Regensburg:

APOSTOLIC JOURNEY OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI TO MUNCHEN, ALTOTTING AND REGENSBURG (SEPTEMBER 9-14, 2006) MEETING WITH THE REPRESENTATIVES OF SCIENCE LECTURE OF THE HOLY FATHER Aula Magna of the University of Regensburg Tuesday, 12 September, 2006. Faith, Reason and the University Memories and Reflections.

Pope Benedict XVI speaks of the

“erudite” Byzantine Emperor Manuel II, Paleologu, who in 1391 in the winter barracks near Ankara wrote:

"Show me just what Mohammed 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". The emperor, after having expressed himself so forcefully, goes on to explain in detail the reasons why spreading the faith through violence is something unreasonable.

Violence is incompatible with the nature of God and the nature of the soul. "God", he says, "is not pleased by blood - and not acting reasonably (F×< 8`(T) is contrary to God's nature. Faith is born of the soul, not the body. Whoever would lead someone to faith needs the ability to speak well and to reason properly, without violence and threats... To convince a reasonable soul, one does not need a strong arm, or weapons of any kind, or any other means of threatening a person with death..."

He concludes by saying:

“’Not to act reasonably, not to act with logos, is contrary to the nature of God’, according to Manuel II,” and “we invite our partners in the dialogue of cultures.”

Can Muslims understand this? Dialogue? Heavens no. Some of them must react by violence, and the rest refuse to condemn them. Animals. That’s all they are.

Aljazeera.Net - Pope admits to shock and sorrow: Pope admits to shock and sorrow. Sunday 17 September 2006, 14:25 Makka Time, 11:25 GMT

Pope Benedict has said he is 'deeply sorry' for the angry reaction to his remarks on Islam and that the medieval text which he quoted from about jihad did not reflect his own opinion.

He told pilgrims, standing in heavy rain at his Castelgandolfo summer residence near Rome on Sunday, he was shocked by the reaction to his speech given at the University of Regensburg in Germany on Tuesday. “I am deeply sorry for the reactions in some countries to a few passages of my address at the University of Regensburg, which were considered offensive to the sensibility of Muslims,” he said. “These in fact were a quotation from a medieval text, which do not in any way express my personal thought. I hope this serves to appease hearts and to clarify the true meaning of my address, which in its totality was and is an invitation to frank was and is an invitation to frank and sincere dialogue, with mutual respect."

Can’t we have a leader who will stand up to evil?

Muslim Brotherhood: Pope's apology is 'sufficient' | Jerusalem Post: Sep. 17, 2006 11:18. Muslim Brotherhood: Pope's apology is “sufficient” By ASSOCIATED PRESS.

Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood announced Sunday afternoon that it accepted Pope Benedict XVI's apology, issued earlier in the day. “We see the Pope's latest statement as a retraction of his previous statements,' Mohammed Habib, the group's second in command, said. 'We see it as a sufficient apology, even though we would like the Pope to give a picture of his position on and vision of Islam.”

We, the free world, are so grateful that the Pope’s apology is “sufficient.” How about an apology for 9/11?

BBC NEWS | Africa | Italian nun shot dead in Somalia: "Italian nun shot dead in Somalia.”

Gunmen have shot dead an elderly Italian nun and her bodyguard in the Somali capital Mogadishu.

The attackers shot the nun three times in the back at a children's hospital in the south of the city, before fleeing the scene.

It is unclear if the shooting is connected with strong criticism by a radical Somali cleric about the Pope's recent comments on Islam.

The nun, who has not been named, is believed to be in her seventies.

The religion of peace.

I am an equal-opportunity offender. I will be offending all the world’s religions at one time or another. The worst religion in the world, at this time, though, is Islam. It is estimated that 20% of the world’s population, or 1.3 billion people, belong to this religion of peace. (Statistics on the World’s Religions)

Nobody can criticize Islam, not even the Pope. You can’t say they are violent, or they will kill you! That’s it, in a nutshell.

I’ve been looking into Pope Benedict XVI’s thoughts on Islam in the past, and I see that he is almost as critical of Islam as I am.

WorldNetDaily: Pope believes Islam incapable of reform?: "Pope believes Islam incapable of reform? Priest reports pontiff's thoughts from private gathering. Posted: January 24, 2006.

Again, Pope Benedict XVI believes that, unlike other religions, Islam cannot be reformed and, therefore, is incompatible with democracy, according to a Catholic leader who participated with the pontiff in a secretive meeting on the subject.

Now, he has come out and publicly stated some of his ideas, but he did it in such a way as to provide deniability. He encased it in such gobbledygook that you have to be a theological scholar to understand anything of what he said. If you study it carefully, though, you can see that what he meant is this—Islam is a violent religion, founded on violence, maintained on violence, and preaching violence for the future.

He won’t say it, but I will, and to all the 1.3 billion people out there who adhere to this barbaric religion, you are involved in evil. You may not be evil yourselves, but you enable it.

Why can’t even the Pope speak straight about issues of religion? Two reasons: fear of violence, and political correctness. Violent protests are occurring. A nun has already been killed. Salmon Rushdie and other artists and authors have had fatwahs on their heads, and some have paid with their lives for speaking out. Fear of violence is legitimate. It should not stop anyone, though, from speaking the truth. The Catholic religion was not founded on fear of reprisals. I expect courage from the world’s Catholics, and Christians.

Political correctness is the second reason for not speaking the truth. Blame our old buddies, the left. Why in God’s name, pun intended, can’t you liberals allow people to say reality? Who are the terrorists of the 21st century? Muslims. Who preaches hate? Muslims. Who wants to take over the world and impose their value system on others at this time? Muslims. This is an evil religion. Until it has a reformation, this religion is a scourge on the world.

Am I risking my life by being honest about this? Yes, I believe I am. I don’t care. I promise you, if I had the opportunity and it would advance truth in the world, I’d march into the center of Baghdad with this message, or Syria, or Mogadishu. Then again, there is safety in numbers. If enough people start speaking out, including the Pope, then the danger will lessen for any individual who speaks the truth on this.

The blogosphere is full of people speaking their version of the truth. Long live the blogosphere. Honorable mention for these (out of hundreds) of blogs and posts that condemn Islam as I do. To the courageous! To the people who have the courage to speak the truth!:

My Space commenter
Live Journal
Freedom and Justice
The Maverick Conservative
Freedom’s Zone

See my previous posts, The Pope and Islam, and Letter To A Terrorist Getting Ready For His Day of Blowing Up Babies

Rock

(*Wikipedia is always my source unless indicated.)

This Post’s Technorati Tags: Pope Benedict XVI, Islam, Emperor Manuel II, Muslims, Muslim Brotherhood, nun shot dead, Salmon Rushdie, fatwah, truth

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