This TragiComedy brought to you by the Pope and Al Qaeda
Posted: Mon Sep 18, 2006 4:24 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060918/ap_ ... slims_pope
"An al-Qaida-linked extremist group warned Pope Benedict XVI on Monday that he and the West were "doomed," as protesters raged across the Muslim world to demand more of an apology from the pontiff for his remarks about Islam and violence."
"The pope on Sunday said he was "deeply sorry" about the angry reaction to his speech last week in which he cited the words of a Byzantine emperor who characterized some of the teachings of Islam's Prophet Muhammad as "evil and inhuman" and referred to spreading Islam "BY THE SWORD.""
"The group said Muslims would be victorious and addressed the pope as "the worshipper of the cross" saying "you and the West are doomed as you can see from the defeat in Iraq, Afghanistan, Chechnya and elsewhere. ... We will break up the cross, spill the liquor and impose head tax, then the only thing acceptable is a conversion (to Islam) [OR KILLED BY THE SWORD.""
"...more than 100 people rallied in front of the heavily guarded Vatican Embassy in Jakarta, waving banners that said the "Pope is building religion on hatred.""
The appeal by Fikret Karabekmez, a former legislator for the banned pro-Islamic Welfare Party, called for Benedict to be tried under several Turkish laws, among them obstruction of freedom of belief, encouraging discrimination based on religion, and inciting religious hatred."
"In the Middle East, where MUSLIMS THREW FIREBOMBS AT SEVEN CHURCHES in the West Bank and Gaza Strip over the weekend, Christian leaders posted guards outside some churches."
Emphases mine.
First, one obviously can't blame the Pope. It's not as if those reactions to Bush's "crusade" line, the murder of a filmmaker (Netherlands?) critical of Islam, and those northern European cartoons made the news. But at least this is making life a whole lot easier for late night comics.
Some of these Muslim organizations, underdeveloped and in need of resources to provide basic services to their own, might well start exporting irony.
"An al-Qaida-linked extremist group warned Pope Benedict XVI on Monday that he and the West were "doomed," as protesters raged across the Muslim world to demand more of an apology from the pontiff for his remarks about Islam and violence."
"The pope on Sunday said he was "deeply sorry" about the angry reaction to his speech last week in which he cited the words of a Byzantine emperor who characterized some of the teachings of Islam's Prophet Muhammad as "evil and inhuman" and referred to spreading Islam "BY THE SWORD.""
"The group said Muslims would be victorious and addressed the pope as "the worshipper of the cross" saying "you and the West are doomed as you can see from the defeat in Iraq, Afghanistan, Chechnya and elsewhere. ... We will break up the cross, spill the liquor and impose head tax, then the only thing acceptable is a conversion (to Islam) [OR KILLED BY THE SWORD.""
"...more than 100 people rallied in front of the heavily guarded Vatican Embassy in Jakarta, waving banners that said the "Pope is building religion on hatred.""
The appeal by Fikret Karabekmez, a former legislator for the banned pro-Islamic Welfare Party, called for Benedict to be tried under several Turkish laws, among them obstruction of freedom of belief, encouraging discrimination based on religion, and inciting religious hatred."
"In the Middle East, where MUSLIMS THREW FIREBOMBS AT SEVEN CHURCHES in the West Bank and Gaza Strip over the weekend, Christian leaders posted guards outside some churches."
Emphases mine.
First, one obviously can't blame the Pope. It's not as if those reactions to Bush's "crusade" line, the murder of a filmmaker (Netherlands?) critical of Islam, and those northern European cartoons made the news. But at least this is making life a whole lot easier for late night comics.
Some of these Muslim organizations, underdeveloped and in need of resources to provide basic services to their own, might well start exporting irony.