Should the Pope apologize??

[meloneyb21]

wow...

 

[DawnCt1]

I don't buy that for a second. The Pope's quote (quote of quote really) was a general one against Islam. So if an apology was required (I am on the fence on whether he should) it should be towards Muslims in general. So why would I think your comment narrowly focused on just the terrorists ?

You have history with bait and switch with your comments and this is yet another example.

I was quite clear in post #4. Now lets talk about your history of making inferences where none exists. My comments were focused on the savages screaming in the streets and burning churches. Do you consider them savages or just merely "offended"?

 

[simpilotswife]

No.

The Catholic Church has never felt the need to apologize for anything. Why start now.

 

[DawnCt1]

No.

The Catholic Church has never felt the need to apologize for anything. Why start now.

Will we hear an apology from the Islamic leadership about the death threats, burned churches and violence from their membership?

 

[NeverEnufWDW]

In case you haven't figured it out yet - we are in already in the midst of a religious war.

Its time for Christians and Jews to start standing up for themselves.

Oh dear -- that might offend those "peaceful" Muslims...

 

[simpilotswife]

I am dead serious. I think that the Dems have been more interested in defeating President Bush than defeating the enemy.

What you don't seem to get Dawn is that it is not the Dems Bush has to worry about or have you missed the GOP uprising?

I think that they are more beholding to the concept of political correctness than the concept of doing what it takes to protect the country.

That is where you are wrong Dawn. If that were true, we would not have invaded Afghanistan nor would we be in Iraq.

With regard to Al Gore? A lot of democrats at the time were very relieved that he wasn't in the White House. I heard an audible sigh across the country and there were polls that confirmed that sentiment. With the shrill rhetoric that he has engaged in since, I don't think I am wrong in my assessment.

I can't speak for other dems but I personally would have preferred to have Gore in the White House.

When terrorists rights consume such a large part of the liberal dialog, I think they are on the wrong page.

Um....please point me to where this is happening.

I haven't heard a single plan from Nancy Pelosi, et al. I hope the American people will recognize that when November rolls around.

How can we possibly plan when we still don't know the true extent to which Bush et. al. has screwed up the Presidency.

 

[simpilotswife]

Will we hear an apology from the Islamic leadership about the death threats, burned churches and violence from their membership?

No why should they? Has the Catholic Church ever apologized for the Crusades?

 

[Saxsoon]

No.

The Catholic Church has never felt the need to apologize for anything. Why start now.

Yes because Pope John Paul II never issued a formal apology to Galileo (while still not alive, he was the first to try since Galileo's death)

 

[Saxsoon]

No why should they? Has the Catholic Church ever apologized for the Crusades?

Found this on NPR

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1071456

It just a little blurb about who will be reporting on it, but I think it will be enough.


Edit to add the continuation of the article. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1071520

 

[simpilotswife]

Actually what the Pope did was apologize and seek forgiveness for Catholic sinners, he did not apologize for the actions of the church in allowing it to happen.

 

[louie694]

In case you haven't figured it out yet - we are in already in the midst of a religious war.

Its time for Christians and Jews to start standing up for themselves.

Oh dear -- that might offend those "peaceful" Muslims...

bravo!
you are completely correct.
the koran is analogous to "mein kampf". everything that you need to know about violence, about why the islamic world is doing what they do is in the koran.
nobody believed hitler could be so evil, and dismissed what he wrote in mein kampf. but it's all there, plain as day. people would not listen then, as they refuse to see now.
those who do not take the enemy at their word are apologists, deniers, dreamers, or worse.
the koran is very clear, the life of mohammed is very clear.
terrorism and violence and murder and mayhem are tools that are used for political purposes. this is a war that is just in the beginning stages.
bravo for your post. keep up the good work.

 

[Saxsoon]

Actually what the Pope did was apologize and seek forgiveness for Catholic sinners, he did not apologize for the actions of the church in allowing it to happen.

Sounds like apoligizing for past actions to me.

 

[JoyG]

Although I'm bristling about the "savages" comment and later the "barbarians" reference by someone else...

I will say I don't think the Pope needs to apologize. He's not a political figure. He's the leader of the Catholic church. As a religious leader I don't think he is obligated to maintain a good relationship with muslim people. I could see how one might want to, to perhaps win converts, but I don't think he's obligated to do so. I don't see this is a political issue at all. However, it seems like the muslim community does...which tells me we still don't understand where they are coming from...and they still don't get us westerners.

 

[Saxsoon]

Here also is what NPR had to say about the comment.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6089471

They are saying what others have said already, he was just quoting it to try and make interreligious bridges between Christians and Muslims.

 

[louie694]

He's not a political figure. He's the leader of the Catholic church.

he is both a political and religious leader. as pope he is head of vatican city which is considered a sovereign country. this makes him a political leader. as leader of the catholic church, he is a religious leader.

his pulpit is one of the most, if not THE most, important in the world.

he must NOT apologize.

 

[yeartolate]

Apologize,maybe not. But he shouldn't be surprised when he says things like this that his words will be used to recruit new jihadists - words to prove there is no possibility of peaceful coexistance so might as well settle in for war.

 

[LuvDuke]

Another one of those "what the hell was he thinking" Kodak moments.

One would think people that high up on the food chain would know what's not worth saying and when to shut up. But, nooooo ............... open mouth, insert foot.

 

[lyeag]

Silly confused Pope, to suggest that using violence in the name of religion is wrong. He is the leader of a major religion in the world. If he doesn't speak out about it, who should or will?



Edited to add that I just found the following:

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2006/09/16/1158334739295.html?from=top5
Somali cleric calls for pope's death


A HARDLINE cleric linked to Somalia's powerful Islamist movement has called for Muslims to "hunt down" and kill Pope Benedict XVI for his controversial comments about Islam.

Sheikh Abubukar Hassan Malin urged Muslims to find the pontiff and punish him for insulting the Prophet Mohammed and Allah in a speech that he said was as offensive as author Salman Rushdie's novel The Satanic Verses.

"We urge you Muslims wherever you are to hunt down the Pope for his barbaric statements as you have pursued Salman Rushdie, the enemy of Allah who offended our religion," he said in Friday evening prayers.

"Whoever offends our Prophet Mohammed should be killed on the spot by the nearest Muslim," Malin, a prominent cleric in the Somali capital, told worshippers at a mosque in southern Mogadishu.

"We call on all Islamic Communities across the world to take revenge on the baseless critic called the pope," he said.

Reached by telephone on Saturday, Malin confirmed making the remarks that were echoed in less strident form by other senior clerics in the Supreme Islamic Council of Somalia (SICS).

Another SICS executive member, Sheikh Ahmed Abdullahi, vented similar anger at the pope's "barbarous criticism" but stopped short of calling for his murder.

"He must apologise because he has offended the most honorable person who ever lived in the world," Abdullahi said.

The German-born leader of the Roman Catholic Church has been condemned in the Muslim world for comments he made at a Tuesday lecture, in which he implicitly denounced links between Islam and violence, particularly with reference to jihad, or "holy war."

The pope also quoted a 14th-century Byzantine emperor who said innovations introduced by the Prophet Mohammed were "evil and inhuman."

Somalia, a Horn of Africa nation of some 10 million mainly moderate Muslims, has been wracked by instability for the past 16 years but has recently seen the rise of fundamentalist Islamists who seized the capital in June.

AFP

 

[DawnCt1]

bravo!
you are completely correct.
the koran is analogous to "mein kampf". everything that you need to know about violence, about why the islamic world is doing what they do is in the koran.
nobody believed hitler could be so evil, and dismissed what he wrote in mein kampf. but it's all there, plain as day. people would not listen then, as they refuse to see now.
those who do not take the enemy at their word are apologists, deniers, dreamers, or worse.
the koran is very clear, the life of mohammed is very clear.
terrorism and violence and murder and mayhem are tools that are used for political purposes. this is a war that is just in the beginning stages.
bravo for your post. keep up the good work.

ITA. There are none so blind as those who will not see.

 

[DawnCt1]

Silly confused Pope, to suggest that using violence in the name of religion is wrong. He is the leader of a major religion in the world. If he doesn't speak out about it, who should or will?



Edited to add that I just found the following:

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2006/09/16/1158334739295.html?from=top5
Somali cleric calls for pope's death


A HARDLINE cleric linked to Somalia's powerful Islamist movement has called for Muslims to "hunt down" and kill Pope Benedict XVI for his controversial comments about Islam.

Sheikh Abubukar Hassan Malin urged Muslims to find the pontiff and punish him for insulting the Prophet Mohammed and Allah in a speech that he said was as offensive as author Salman Rushdie's novel The Satanic Verses.

"We urge you Muslims wherever you are to hunt down the Pope for his barbaric statements as you have pursued Salman Rushdie, the enemy of Allah who offended our religion," he said in Friday evening prayers.

"Whoever offends our Prophet Mohammed should be killed on the spot by the nearest Muslim," Malin, a prominent cleric in the Somali capital, told worshippers at a mosque in southern Mogadishu.

"We call on all Islamic Communities across the world to take revenge on the baseless critic called the pope," he said.

Reached by telephone on Saturday, Malin confirmed making the remarks that were echoed in less strident form by other senior clerics in the Supreme Islamic Council of Somalia (SICS).

Another SICS executive member, Sheikh Ahmed Abdullahi, vented similar anger at the pope's "barbarous criticism" but stopped short of calling for his murder.

"He must apologise because he has offended the most honorable person who ever lived in the world," Abdullahi said.

The German-born leader of the Roman Catholic Church has been condemned in the Muslim world for comments he made at a Tuesday lecture, in which he implicitly denounced links between Islam and violence, particularly with reference to jihad, or "holy war."

The pope also quoted a 14th-century Byzantine emperor who said innovations introduced by the Prophet Mohammed were "evil and inhuman."

Somalia, a Horn of Africa nation of some 10 million mainly moderate Muslims, has been wracked by instability for the past 16 years but has recently seen the rise of fundamentalist Islamists who seized the capital in June.

AFP

A Catholic nun was murdered today, shot in the back by a cowardly savage. Hardly peace and love.