Posted on 09/18/2006 8:23:58 AM PDT by Borges
Al Qaeda militants in Iraq vowed war on "worshippers of the cross" and protesters burned a papal effigy on Monday over Pope Benedict's comments on Islam, while Western churchmen and statesmen tried to calm passions.
The statement by an umbrella group led by Iraq's branch of al Qaeda came after the Pontiff said on Sunday he was deeply sorry Muslims had been offended by his use of a medieval quotation on Islam and holy war.
"We tell the worshipper of the cross (the Pope) that you and the West will be defeated, as is the case in Iraq, Afghanistan, Chechnya," said a Web statement by the Mujahideen Shura Council.
"We shall break the cross and spill the wine ... God will (help) Muslims to conquer Rome ... (May) God enable us to slit their throats, and make their money and descendants the bounty of the mujahideen," said the statement, posted on Sunday on an Internet site often used by al Qaeda and other militant groups.
In Iraq's southern city of Basra, up to 150 demonstrators chanted slogans and burned a white effigy of the Pope.
"No to aggression!," "We gagged the Pope!," they chanted in front of the governor's office in the Shi'ite city. The protesters also burned German, U.S., and Israeli flags.
A speech by Pope Benedict last Tuesday was seen as portraying Islam as a religion tainted by violence, causing dismay among Muslim states where some religious leaders called it the start of a new Christian crusade against Islam.
The Vatican has instructed its envoys in Muslim countries to explain Pope Benedict's words on Islam.
Benedict's new Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, said the Holy See's nuncios (ambassadors) in Muslim countries would be visiting government and religious leaders.
French President Jacques Chirac refused on Monday to criticize the 79-year-old Pontiff, but called for a more diplomatic use of language.
"It is not my role or my intention to comment on the Pope's statements. I simply want to say, on a general level ... that we must avoid anything that excites tensions between peoples or between religions," Chirac said on Europe 1 radio.
"We must avoid making any link between Islam, which is a great, respected and respectable religion, and radical Islamism, which is a totally different activity and one of a political nature," Chirac added.
ARCHBISHOP DEFENDS POPE
The head of the world's Anglican church, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, defended Benedict.
"The Pope has already issued an apology and I think his views on this need to be judged against his entire record, where he has spoken very positively about dialogue," said Williams, the spiritual leader of 77 million Anglicans worldwide.
Williams told the BBC that all faiths could be distorted, and the Pope was simply giving an example of that.
"There are elements in Islam that can be used to justify violence, just as there are in Christianity and Judaism."
In Iran, a government spokesman said on Monday Pope Benedict's regret was a "good gesture" but not enough.
The Pope had referred to criticism of the Prophet Mohammad by 14th century Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Palaeologus, who said everything the Prophet brought was evil "such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached."
Questions had been raised on whether a papal visit to Turkey in November could go ahead, but the government, while calling his remarks "ugly," said there were no plans to call it off.
The Pope, head of the world's 1.1 billion Roman Catholics, said the quotation did not represent his personal views, but failed to satisfy some Islamic groups seeking a full apology.
In Somalia, an Italian nun was killed on Sunday in an attack one Islamist source said could be linked to the dispute. A Vatican spokesman hoped the killing was "an isolated event."
A senior Chinese Muslim expressed anger over the Pope's comments, Xinhua news agency said on Monday. This was in contrast to Chinese reticence over last year's publication of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad in a Danish paper that sparked violent Muslim protests elsewhere in the world.
"In his speech, Benedict insulted both Islam and the Prophet Mohammad. This has gravely hurt the feelings of the Muslims across the world, including those from China," Xinhua quoted Chen Guangyuan, president of the Islamic Association of China, as saying.
China insists its Catholics belong to a state-backed church that does not recognize the Pope's authority. Muslims are also under state control.
About 100 Indonesian Muslims protested peacefully over the Pope's remarks outside the Vatican embassy in Jakarta on Monday.
Many people think that atheists they know are better people than theists they know.
The problem with this is the definiton of 'good' they use is Biblical.
Shalom.
Bless your heart ... what a sense of humor!
Please notify me via FReepmail if you would like to be added to or taken off the Catholic Discussion Ping List.
That is what Mohammed did and Muslims have been doing for 1400 years. It is simply the heart of Islam.
If you're going to go to the trouble, compare that to the atrocities committed in the name of atheism. You'll never get close to the 100 million or more that have been eradicated just because the bad guys wanted to.
You're right, some people use religion as their excuse to do evil. Some don't. The appropriate conclusion is that people are inclinde to evil, not that the excuses they use force them to be.
Shalom.
Two words!
Bring it!
Shalom.
Kill 'em all.
Exactly. It's hard to believe that they don't see it, but I guess they really don't.
**We would all be so much better off without religion in the world. People do crazy stuff when they're all jacked up on religion.**
I disagree. We need a belief in God to give us hope!
LOL
Anarchy would reign.
Better to be all jacked up on secular humanism?
Whatever any of us think here on FR this morning about Islamic MEN and their dark deeds, at least we can grant that their womenfolk, Islamic WOMEN have a heart!!
Maybe they can be a moderating force on their men who seem to be so totally against helping others and having pity on the weak in our society....Whatya' say we give 'em a chance to moderate their men!!??
You are making terrible moral equivalence.
The Vatican is not being naive. They're being extremely effective in proving the point that Islam is not a religion that cares about reason and faith. You also have to remember that, politically, the Vatican has to deal with the jerks at the U.N. while protecting the lives of innocent Christians like the nun who was killed in Somalia. Truth will out. In the meantime, the Church has to shepherd its flock and smooth things over for their protection. It's a bit of a balancing act, but it's their first duty to protect the flock...
The point is, the debate is out there now - and in a very prominent way that the media can no longer ignore. The Pope has asked for a reasoned discussion. He's well aware his invitation will fall on deaf ears. But in the meantime, the Muslims have to show their hand and stand accounted for as a religion that wishes to bring the world into submission by the sword.
Uhh, those things happened centuries ago. We are talking about today, and almost all of the current atrocities are committed by Muslims.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.