The pope is clever

Submitted by Henrik Ræder Clausen (Denmark), Sep 20, 2006 at 08:47

"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."

I'll let this stand for a second :)

> But did he have other purposes? The head of the Benedictine order, Abbot Notker Wolf, understood the pope's quote as "a blatant allusion to [Iran's President Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad."

Given the obvious intelligence of pope Benedict XVI, that just might be true. There's a million other quotes he could have chosen.

> First reflection: Benedict has offered elusive comments, brief statements, and now this delphic quotation,
> but he has not provided a much-needed major statement on this vital topic of Islam. One hopes it is in the offing.

Seeing his carefully crafted steps in this direction, and the fact that he knows the Quran inside and out, I expect more clear indication about the fundamental differences between Christianity and Islam. This is what we need, and at a pace where it's obvious that the public in the west can stand behind him.

> Second reflection: this new round of Muslim outrage, violence, and murder has a by-now routine quality.

In Denmark, we rate the Muslim performance "Routine job, below average". Of course we're hardened by our cartoons :) Most newspapers are full of support for the pope, probably the first time since 1536 where we went Protestant. Jyllands-Posten has another editorial ridiculing the Muslims, and all readers letters today do the same. They're getting predictable.

> Vatican leaders tried to defuse the pope's quote, as well as his condemnation of jihad (holy war).

Strange of course that Muslims get upset about condemning holy war. I have one letter printed today where I challenge the Muslims to argue against the pope and for religious violence. They seem to choose violence...

> Third reflection: the Muslim uproar has a goal: to prohibit criticism of Islam by Christians and thereby to impose Shariah norms on the West.

Of course. And this time they're blatantly obvious.

I think the pope just did a master move by tempting them out on this one, and am looking forward to what's next.

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