The Pope’s recent speech has started the hornets flying, stingers out. I’ve been wondering if this was going to die down. Current indications are that it will not.
Like all offended minority groups, a signficant portion of Muslim leaders have decided to be offended by this speech. I say decided because that surely must be the case, for it is childish to become outraged without consideration and foolish to do so without using one’s judgment. But is it more of the same “victimization” syndrome that “excluded” minorities issue here in the U.S. or something else?
I’m no fan of the Catholic Church, for many reasons, but I don’t think this speech warrants violent attacks on churches or nuns, as has already occurred. Those actions, while undoubtedly taken by ignorant fools at the lowest level of Muslim society, only serve to bolster the heretofore justified fears of the West.
It’s disengenuous of Muslim leaders to claim offense at a reading of a 600+ year old document and even more so to claim that Islam was not spread by conquest.
But is that so unusual? Christianity came to the New World by the musket just as much as by the Bible. Did the Cherokee feel comforted by our good book on the Trail of Tears? I doubt it.
But somehow I doubt that there would be riots in the streets of New York if a Muslim cleric pointed this out. Therein lies the difference, I think – the Muslims are looking for something to be offended at so they can create the drama needed to invigorate and sustain their people’s hatred of the West.
That’s unfortunate. If they’d put the effort they’ve wasted on burning cardboard cutouts of the Pope into modernizing their infrastructure, eliminating corruption, educating themselves, or creating businesses, they’d be better off, IMHO. But if they’d done those things, they would find they didn’t need the mullahs any longer, I suspect. For some people, that’s a problem.
One article I read contained Heri Budianto’s statement: “Of course as we know the meaning of jihad can only be understood by Muslims. Only Muslims can understand what jihad is.” Like the other lies of the day, this is clearly not the case. I think we all understand its meaning perfectly and justifiably fear it.