Posted on 01/11/2011 1:14:17 PM PST by Mrs. Don-o
An influential Islamic leader says Pope Benedict XVI should mind his own business after the pontiff called on Pakistan to repeal its anti-blasphemy laws.
"The pope has given a statement today that has not only offended the 180 million Muslims in Pakistan, it has also hurt the sentiments of the entire Islamic world," said Hafiz Hussain Ahmed, a senior leader of Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Islam.
"This is an interference in Pakistan's internal matters. ... We respect the pope, being head of Christians and their religion, but he should also refrain from interfering in Muslims' religious affairs," he said, according to Reuters.
Arif Ali, AFP / Getty Images Islamic party leader Hafiz Hussain Ahmed, shown here in June, said the pope is interfering in Pakistan's internal matters and has "hurt the sentiments of the entire Islamic world."During his annual address Monday to a group of international ambassadors from 170 countries, Benedict singled out the law in Pakistan that can result in a death sentence for anyone who speaks out against the Prophet Muhammad.
His message was part of a larger appeal to the world to protect Christians from attack and bias in countries where they are a minority.
Benedict's remarks came just a week after the assassination of a Pakistani governor, Salman Taseer, who opposed the law. Taseer, who was killed by his bodyguard, wanted the government to reopen the case of a Christian woman, Asia Bibi, who was sentenced to death last year under the legislation.
"The particular influence of a given religion in a nation ought never to mean that citizens of another religion can be subject to discrimination in social life or, even worse, that violence against them can be tolerated," the pope said.
He added that Pakistan's legislation was being used "as a pretext for acts of injustice and violence against religious minorities," The New York Times reported.
However, Hussain Ahmed's party has led several demonstrations in defense of the law in recent days.
"There would be an unprecedented reaction in Pakistan if any attempt was made to amend or repeal the law," Hussain Ahmed said, Reuters reported.
In his address, Benedict also urged Egypt and Iraq, where Christians have been subjected to bomb attacks in recent months, to adopt "more effective measures" to protect them.
A suicide bomber killed at least 23 people and wounded almost 100 at an attack after a New Year's Mass at a Coptic Christian church in Alexandria. In October, a siege at a Baghdad church killed 53 people.
Sponsored Links Christians coming under fire in the Middle East, as well as their increasingly frequent exodus from those countries, has been a growing concern for Benedict. Last fall, he met with bishops at the Vatican to discuss the issue.
Monday, he also singled out Saudi Arabia, which outlaws the public preaching and practice of non-Muslim religions although more than a million Christian immigrants live there, as well as China, where Catholics have to join an official church.
But the West did not escape the pope's criticism, either. He scolded Western nations for marginalizing religion by "the banning of religious feasts and symbols from civic life under the guise of respect for members of other religions or those who are not believers," The Guardian reported.
The reaction to his speech? Egypt recalled their Vatican envoy, calling the pope's remarks "an unacceptable interference in its internal affairs," while Islamic demonstrators in Pakistan protested even the suggestion that their blasphemy laws should be thrown out, calling it "insane."
Islam party leader Hafiz Hussein Ahmed says, basically, that "If we Muslims execute Christians for blasphemy, it's none of your business."
More information Here: Pope Spells It Out.
The Pope speaks, jihadis are “offended.”
Jihadis chop heads, the world is silent.
Hmmm...does he mean the same way Muslim’s leave Christians alone in predominately Muslin countries? Didn’t think so...
The religion of the perpetually offended.
Every time Islam demands my First Amendment Rights are subordinate to their unwillingness to be offended, I post an appropriate picture.
The First Amendment: Use it or lose it!
Yeah, “mind your own business” while we cut of the heads of your sheep.
And this is really the heart of the matter, isn’t it? As long as Muslims can bully the world into silence of any criticism, they will take-over or simply nuke the entire world. The Rancid Left certainly isn’t going to stop them.
So much for tolerance in the “religion of peace”.
>> We respect the pope, being head of Christians and their religion, but he should also refrain from interfering in Muslims’ religious affairs,”
The Pope isn’t the “head of Christians and their religion”, so I’m offended now! Am I supposed to go cut off Ahmed’s head or burn his tongue out with a hot poker or something? I’m not sure what the rules are for a muslim offending a Christian these days.
Now I know why they can’t eat Pork....
Pot...Kettle?
It is certainly getting harder for the doormats of the West to keep referring to Islam as the “religion of peace”.
I am sure that businesses throughtout the world are begining to take note of the Islamic world’s descent into barbarism. No doubt from here on many businesses will begin considering avoiding doing business in the Islamic world. My daughter and son-in-law sometimes have to do international travel for their work, I am relieved that their employers do not do business in Islamic countries. When these Moslem madmen keep up their blood thirsty ways, it won’t be too long before the extremists will start attacking business travelers and tourists in their countries. The Islamic nations will start loosing the benefits of modern technology and trade and will start sinking back into the dark ages. Now let’s start keeping them out of our Western countries.
Cairo recalls ambassador to the Vatican after what it deems 'unacceptable interference' in foreign affairs
Pope Benedict was tonight at the centre of a new diplomatic storm after Egypt recalled its ambassador to the Vatican in protest at the pontiff's call for Middle Eastern governments to do more to protect their Christian minorities.
Cairo's dramatic reaction came amid reports of a further attack in Egypt in which a Christian died. The interior ministry said an off-duty policeman boarded a train in southern Egypt and opened fire, killing a 71-year-old man and wounding five other Christians, including the dead man's wife. The attack raises fears of a new wave of rioting by Christians still mourning the deaths of at least 21 worshippers as they were leaving mass at a Coptic church in Alexandria on New Year's Eve.
In a statement, a spokesman for the foreign ministry said Cairo's ambassador had been called back for consultations "after the Vatican's new statements that touch on Egyptian affairs and which Egypt considers an unacceptable interference in its internal affairs".
In a speech to diplomats accredited to the Holy See on Monday, the pope said the Alexandria bombing, coming after a string of attacks in Iraq, showed "the urgent need for the governments of the region to adopt, in spite of difficulties and dangers, effective measures for the protection of religious minorities".
Quoting from a message agreed by a synod of bishops last year that discussed the situation of Christians in the Middle East, the pope said they were loyal citizens who were entitled to "enjoy all the rights of citizenship, freedom of conscience, freedom of worship and freedom in education, teaching and the use of the mass media". He also praised European countries who had asked for action by the European Union to protect Middle Eastern Christians.
The foreign ministry's protest was echoed by Sheikh Ahmed el-Tayyib, the imam of the Al-Azhar, the leading institute of Islamic learning in the Sunni Muslim world. He said: "Protection of Christians is an internal affair and should be carried out by the governments as [Christians] are their citizens like other citizens." He added: "We reiterate our rejection of foreign interference in the internal affairs of Arab and Islamic countries under whatever pretexts."
In Rome, a senior Vatican official, said Egypt's reaction was "the proof that the things said by the pope have hit the mark". Monsignor Jean-Louis Bruguès, stressed he was speaking in a personal capacity.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jan/11/pope-middle-east-christians-egypt
And the Pope will be blamed for any new attacks.
The narrative is simple, really.
Thanks for the ping. What a seething cult of hatred Islam is. I wish we had the kind of POTUS and/or Sec. of State who would call these maniacs on this. Egypt gets the second biggest cut of our foreign aid pie. Why shouldn’t we lay it on the line, and tell them it’s gone if they don’t shape up and fly right?
Hey, you’re the ones who wanted “holy war.”
I’m sorry, but this all sounds like so much sour grapes from the Pope: “If we don’t get to force people into Catholicism, you don’t get to force people into Islam either.”
Bttt!
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