The Pope’s Comments Called “Medieval”
The deputy leader of the Islamic-based party that rules Turkey called comments made Pope Benedict XVI "medieval". Meanwhile, demonstrations have begun and effigies are already being burned. The Vatican continued to try to speak reasonably about the issue and the uproar.
Father Miguel Ayuso Guixot, head of the Vatican's Pontifical Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies, told the Guardian he feared the Pope's words had been "misinterpreted". He added: "The Pope has worked tirelessly for inter-religious and inter-cultural dialogue and for tolerance."
In Turkey, however, where the Pope is due to visit in November, the deputy leader of the ruling party said Benedict had "a dark mentality that comes from the darkness of the middle ages". Salih Kapusuz added: "He is going down in history in the same category as leaders such as Hitler and Mussolini."
Representatives of the two million Turks in Germany, where the comments were made, also expressed deep annoyance. The head of the Turkish community, Kenan Kolat, said they were "very dangerous" and liable to misunderstanding.
In Beirut, Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah, one of the world's top Shia Muslim clerics, said: "We demand that [the Pope] apologises personally, and not through [Vatican] sources, to all Muslims for such a wrong interpretation." An influential Iranian cleric branded his remarks "absurd". Ahmad Khatami told worshippers at Tehran University: "The Pope has insulted Islam."
By last night the protests had not spilled over into the kind of violence seen in February in protest against the Danish cartoons depicting Muhammad. But Diaa Rashwan, a Cairo-based analyst of Islamic militancy, warned that the comments were "more dangerous than the cartoons because they come from the most important Christian authority in the world. The cartoons just came from an artist."
A veiled hint that "pontaneous"rioting is planned to break out as soon as the correct flammable materials are collected presumably. One can safely assume that the Pope's quotation of a 14th century Byzantine emperor is simply unacceptable to people operating with a 7th century mentality. Much too advanced.
World news | Gaius September 16, 2006
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Flopping Aces » Blog Archive » The Truth In The Pope’s Words — September 16, 2006 @ 11:54 am
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A Blog For All — September 16, 2006 @ 1:40 pm
By Robert Landbeck, September 18, 2006 @ 3:55 pm
The leader of a church that launched both the crusades and inquisition obviously obviously has some insight into religious violence. But poachers turned gamekeeper are always suspect. Especially at a time when the origins and claims of his own church is coming under question by a new interpretation of the moral teachings of Jesus the Christ recently posted on the web. Check these links: http://www.energon.uklinux.net
http://thefinalfreedoms.bulldoghome.com
By Gaius, September 18, 2006 @ 4:07 pm
A lot changes in all those centuries that have passed, you realize. Benedict is not responsible – or answerable – for either the Crusades or the Inquisition.
Remember, the medieval Popes also claimed temporal power as well as clerical. That one went by the board a long time ago.
By Mellifluous, September 18, 2006 @ 4:19 pm
Christianity is so … first century.
By Loyal Republican, September 23, 2006 @ 5:16 pm
Bush is right. Everyone is out to get us, so let’s get them first. Let’s bomb all foreigners back to the stone age so that they fear us. We need more fear. Unleash nuclear weapons in Iran. Radioactive fallout for Russia and China. And let’s not stop there. Let’s jail all Democrats and torture all Muslims. And then let’s make Bush king. Death to anyone who disagrees!
By Gaius, September 23, 2006 @ 5:30 pm
Gee, thanks for proving you have the IQ of a melon.