Sunday, September 17, 2006

Blackmailed Pope Apologises

The Pope issued an apology the other day which was read by a spokesman. (Well, public figures don't really apologise - they express regret for any misunderstanding...) But that wasn't enough for the Muslim Brotherhood who demanded an apology in person. They got it.

He's now said "I am deeply sorry for the reactions in some countries..." I love the evasiveness of these political apologies. Still he's right, it's the violent reactions that need apologising for!

Now in fairness to the Pope, I think he really was misunderstood. He is opposed to violence, but the quote from his offending speech highlighted Muslim violence. In the academic setting of his old German university, he might have thought the quote appropriate. He won't think that again.

Also, "These in fact were a quotation from a medieval text, which do not in any way express my personal thought." Fair enough. But a few others seem to think the words struck a chord. Especially the bit about "Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached."

But perhaps most telling, the Pope said, "I hope this serves to appease hearts..."

Fat chance, Your Holiness. When in history has it proven a good idea to appease your aggressors? If the Pope wants to get this crowd off his back he's going to have to convert to Islam, like the two Fox journalists who converted at gun-point.

The other alternative is that someone might just have to stand up to this crap.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

If he's got the balls to say it in the first place, why not have the balls to ride out the storm?

Call me a conspiracy theorist, but I don't think the pope is dumb. He had to know beforehand about the backlash this would whip up, or perhaps he doesn't get Danish newspapers and cartoons in the Vatican. So why not stay the course? Because religion, like politics is all about influencing, controling and manipulating people (for good or bad). Looks like he bit off more than he could chew and felt like his influence was threatened if he didn't back down. The only thing he's "deeply sorry" about is loosing his sway with other political leaders.

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