Small medium or large?
Posted on 09/16/2006 3:56:54 AM PDT by governsleastgovernsbest
by Mark Finkelstein
September 16, 2006 - 06:46
In a surreal clash of the sacred and the profane, the New York Times - that citadel of secularism - has declared in its editorial of this morning that Pope Benedict "needs to offer a deep and persuasive apology," for having quoted a 14th century Christian emperor who said:
“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.”
The Times is only being fair and balanced, I suppose. After all, hardly a week goes by that you can't pick up the paper and read an editorial condemning this or that mullah, imam or ayatollah for the latest fatwa ordering the death of such-and-such infidel or the destruction of entire countries found to be an annoyance. Or not.
But the Times suddenly gets religion, if they'll excuse the expresssion, when it comes to the Pope. Oh well. At least there's one hopeful sign in all this. It was of course Stalin who dismissively asked how many divisions the Pope had. By its editorial according great weight to the words of the Pontiff, the Times would appear to be breaking with Uncle Joe. Might this be the start of a hopeful trend?
It is amazing how Islam has cowed the West. The NYT was among the vast majority of American newspapers that failed to run some examples of the Danish cartoons and engaged in self-censorship. It had no problem running the "Christ in Piss" picture. Islam is being accorded a respect and deference shown no other religion. The reason: fear of reprisal and violence. We are losing this clash of civilizations.
Free speech for me, none for thee - insteresting out the NTY's attitude is similar to that of the Muslims and the Clintons. Now there's a list of acceptable sources for quotations? Double-good-speech anyone? This week's ration of chocolate has been expanded. It's now smaller.
I agree with mariabush, this has been a problem since the time of Abraham. While Islam came later, it served to galvanize the Arabs and reinforce their pre-Islamic culture. It eradicated some of the weaker factors (such as idolatry, polytheism) and brought law, unity and cohesion. It made steel out of the native iron.
As for the Holy Father apologizing---I'm only sorry he wasn't in Infallible Mode when he said it. Then nobody would ever take it back! :)
Small medium or large?
When I say "nice" turn of phrase, what I really mean to say is "elegant."
Now: more coffee.
No,no,no. I meant that the elites of the soon to be Protestant countries protected -- or at least refused to prosecute -- Calvin, Luther, and the rest.
I'll grant you that. The suburbs are more redish in color, at least some of them anyway, but the city? Fergetaboutit!
Amherst? Well not exactly a revolt but maybe a skirmish of sorts in that they elected an actual reformer in Satish Mohan. He has raised some kackles amoung the smug entrenched elites there for sure, and is trying to at the very least keep things in check. I wish him luck.
Are you rushing your way to the pearly gates? ;-)
At the beginning of this great documentary on Islam is one of my favorite quotes, if fact it is the first one I quote on my profile page:
"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."
-- Edmumd Burke
See post #1.
Since people go to church in the morning, almost everything happens after church.
"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."
--Manuel II Palaiologos (Μανουήλ Β' Παλαιολόγος) (1350 - 1425, ruled 1391 - 1425) – son of John V
I saw Peggy Noonan on Cavuto yesterday making that very point. The Pope was merely wanting to make a point and start a dialogue about muslim violence in the name of Allah.
I fear these fanatics have been drinking too much koolaide and are too far gone to ever be reasonable.
"Men are like steel. when they lose their temper, they lose their worth."
- Chuck Norris (1940-)
CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood said a Vatican statement on Saturday saying Pope Benedict was sorry for upsetting Muslims with his comments on Islam did not go far enough.
"We want a personal apology (from the Pope). We feel that he has committed a grave error against us and that this mistake will only be removed through a personal apology," Muslim Brotherhood Deputy Leader Mohammed Habib told Reuters.
"Has he presented a personal apology for statements by which he clearly is convinced? No," he said.
...are too far gone to ever be reasonable.
Yea , no kidding..The world needs to really get with the fact that these people are way ,way beyond reason . People still think the middle east mind is anything like ours. Theses people are barbarians.
The Arabs were probably the most dysfunctional residents of the ME, surviving as wandering herders and bandits when almost everybody else was settled in cities and engaging in trade. But the more advanced ME societies - many of which were majority Christian, with heavy sprinklings of Jews, btw. - were suffering from a power void left by the fall of Rome and the weakening of Church unity as a result of the Arian and subsequent heresies. In other words, they were vulnerable, and once Mad Mo dreamed up his insane, Arab-centric syncretist cult, it was very easy for his hopped-up bandidos to overrun the cities and kingdoms around him.
I think this has always been Islam's secret: it simply launches itself aggressively, like any barbarian attack that Mohammed's tribe would have launched back in the caravan-attacking days, and more established, civilized societies are so caught off guard that they don't respond until too late. If one thinks of OBL attacking the US, for example, it's almost laughable; the only good thing Maureen Dowd ever said was that it was like waking up and finding that the US had been attacked by Fred Flintstone. But he did it, and I think the sheer primitiveness of it took us by surprise and is also perhaps one of the things that is behind the weakness and confusion of the response of many of our leaders.
I guess Mad Mo found a winning strategy.
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