Posted on 09/15/2006 1:30:28 PM PDT by Nachum
NEW DELHI (AFP) - Pope Benedict XVI's attack on Islam has stirred anger in India with the head of the National Commission for Minorities saying he sounded like a medieval crusader.
Pope Benedict provoked worldwide outcry with comments Tuesday during a visit to his native Germany in which he talked about the "issue of jihad, holy war", a term used by Islamic extremists to justify acts of terror.
"The language used by the pope sounds like that of his 12th-century counterpart who ordered the crusades," said Hamid Ansari, chairman of the influential National Commission for Minorities.
The commission's role includes maintaining harmony between officially secular India's majority Hindu population and Muslims who number 130 million in the country of 1.1 billion.
In Muslim-majority Indian Kashmir where an Islamic separatist revolt against New Delhi's rule has raged since 1989, dozens of lawyers wearing black court robes marched Friday through the streets of the summer capital Srinagar, shouting, "Those who dare to target Islam and the Prophet will be finished."
Police were also deployed around churches and dozens of Christian missionary schools in Kashmir to prevent any violence against Christians, but no trouble was reported.
"What he said was nothing but blasphemy," said Kamal Farooqi, a member of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, but he also called on Muslims to "exercise restraint and not lose their cool."
The national daily, The Hindu, said the pope sounded "downright sinister" in his theological address in which he cited a 14th-century Christian emperor who said the Prophet Mohammed had brought the world "evil and inhuman" things "such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached."
"Coming as it does from an entity that once waged its own 'holy war' and turned the term 'Inquisition' into a terror-word, this is rather rich," The Hindu said in an editorial.
Pope Benedict's speech explored the historical and philosophical differences between Islam and Christianity and the relationship between violence and faith.
In Mumbai, the Roman Catholic's official spokesman Father Anthony Charanghat insisted the pontiff was only seeking to explain how Islamic terrorists use the concept of jihad or holy war as a theological justification for violence.
But Father Julian Saldhana, a theology professor at Saint Pius Seminary in Mumbai, said the pope had "reproduced a quotation which is derogatory of the Prophet Mohammed ... without showing he disagrees with it."
"It would be good if he now told us what he appreciated about the Prophet."
Christians make up 2.3 percent of India's population.
Well, for one thing, the prophet was a real ladies man (that's if rape and child molestation can be included as a normal part of dating).
Prophet? LOL! He's a false prophet. Let's hope the Pope delivers the same message that the followers of St. Francis of Assisi did:"We have come to preach faith in Jesus Christ to you, that you will renounce Mohammad, that wicked slave of the devil, and obtain everlasting life like us"
It would not surprise me if some whack-job imam calls a fatwah on the pope. Then the super whack-jobs of the world will make a mad scramble for their moment in history........
Well, let me see if I can list some things I appreciate about the Prophet (piss be apon him). First, there's........aaaa, well, and second, we have....aaaa.....aaaa, oh, I got one, HE'S DEAD. See, there's something to appreciate.
I appreciate the fact that HE'S DEAD!........
Eagle Rights for Muzzies.
"Pope branded a medieval crusader in India"
I would take that as a compliment.
In the original crusades, both sides were equally well armed, with swords, spear, knives and the like. Today, our side has more firepower than China has rice and their side still has woefully inadequate weapons for modern warefare. That is the main reason Iran must not get nuclear power..............
piss be apon him
I live that ..Can I use it when I speak of the mighty Allah next time?
Imams can preach all sorts of death and hate but God forbid a Christian calls it for what it is . No doubt some Islamic freak will try to put a hit on the Pope.Seems to me that sides are lining up , Islam/ACLU/Liberal types VS The Christians
That is one sick sikh
I fail to see the insult here...
modern warefare in some ways wont help us. Read VDH latest , brikkiant article.A few nuts with AK47s and firebombs hiding amongst the public could tie us up for months.Add to that the barbaric practice of hiding weapons in with civilians
Deserves to be repeated.
live=love sorry , rough day today.
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