Right - No apology required

Submitted by Gunther Steinberg (United States), Sep 19, 2006 at 17:05

The Pope should not have apologized because he was quoting someone else, and also inferring the history of Islam's expansion through conquest between 622 and 750 AD. In that time Islam spread from Arabia, conquered the north coast of Africa, including what is now Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Egypt. 80% of Spain and even a piece of France was conquered. The entire middle east, including Persia (Iraq and Iran) was taken over to the Indus in Pakistan. Eventually, Turkey was conquered and incursions into Macedonia followed. This conquest was no more peaceful than that of the Romans some centuries before. Today, the radical Islamists urge European Muslims to breed and take over Europe.

Of course, Muslims will not stand for criticism of their basis of belief and their own interpretation of it any more than the Catholic Church will stand for criticism and demand for change of their faith. After all, there were the Popes going to war in Italy, the Crusades, the Inquisition, and other events. Then there are "non-Muslim targets: Protestantism, which seeks a "primordial" form of faith; liberal theology, which reduces Jesus to "the father of a humanitarian moral message"; scientific rationalism, the ethics of which are "simply inadequate" to answer the "specifically human questions about our origin and destiny"; and what might be called Catholic pluralism, a culturally adaptive notion of the faith that Benedict denounces as "false" and "coarse." [Brett Stevens, Wall Street Journal, Sept 19, 2006, p. A21]. "

Neither side is exactly given to accept open dialogue or change. It is just that the Muslim street is easier to incite and organize for the TV cameras in todays atmosphere. One must also include consideration of the educational level of the masses in both camps

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".