An op-ed in the Muslim paper al-Sharq al-Awsat says the Pope's remarks may lead to war:
The recent remarks made by Pope Benedict XVI on Islam are threatening to ignite the entire Muslim world.
Op-Eds published in the Arab newspapers slammed the pope even after the Vatican’s apology.
The most extreme opinion was voiced by Hani Pahas in the London-based Arabic-language daily newspaper Al-Hayat, who wrote “the pope’s comments may lead to war; we fear that the pope’s statements may lead to a war that we, Muslims and Christians alike, are trying to prevent through dialogue between East and West.
Hussein Shabakshy wrote in an article published by the London-based Arabic-language newspaper al-Sharq al-Awsat “It is clear that such remarks only contribute to the fueling of the fire raging between Islam and the West. There is no difference between Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri speaking from their caves in Tora Bora and the stage of an important Christian saint. Both parties contribute to the world verbal weapons for mass destruction.”
“The pope’s latest statement cannot be considered a slip of the tongue or a comic bit from a TV show; the situatio0n here is different, and his remarks are indicative of an important and highly symbolic stance toward the religion (Islam) and the prophet of about a billion and-a-half Muslims,” he said.
“These are ignorant comments previously made by Adolf Hitler, who spoke of a supreme white race against all the other races, especially the African race.
Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood said a Vatican statement on Saturday saying Pope Benedict was sorry for upsetting Muslims with his comments on Islam did not go far enough.
"We want a personal apology (from the Pope). We feel that he has committed a grave error against us and that this mistake will only be removed through a personal apology," Muslim Brotherhood Deputy Leader Mohammed Habib told Reuters.
The Grand Imam of the Al – Azhar University in Cairo, Sheikh Muhammad Sayyid Tantawi said the pope’s statements stem from complete ignorance regarding all that is related to Islam.
Other religious leaders throughout the Muslim world, including Iran, also slammed the pope.
The spiritual leader of Lebanon's Sunnis, the Grand Mufti Sheik Mohammed Rashid Kabbani, said the pope's remarks emanated either from "Ignorance and lack of knowledge or were deliberately intended to distort Islam."
"Reason is the substance of Islam and its teachings ... Islam prohibited violence in human life. Anyone who wants the truth (about Islam) must take it from Islam's holy book, the Koran, rather than from a dialogue or excerpts," he said.
6 comments:
I blogged this morning on this one...if there's any "war," it has supposedly been going on for a few years now.
UHH, Hitler never had a bad word to say about Islam! He wished that Germany was Muslim, as he saw Christianity as a feeble offshoot of that Jewish religion.
FreeMan,
Do you have something i can read to back that up? I've never heard that before.
I am very familiar with Hitler's favorite philosopher, Nietzsche, and I know he detested both Christianity and Judaism, but I didn't know Hitler had ever said anything similar.
I don't mean to sound callous but this "Cartoon 2.0" may be the best thing that could happened. It will wake up the west significantly more to the dangers of Islam.
It certainly is not something I would have done (too high risk) but it will still be better than another 911 to wake the west up.
70 year old nun gets shot in the back after an imam's call to kill and behead the Pope. Outrageous!! But why am I not surprised.
I almost wonder if the Pope (and I am certainly not a fan of his) did not do this on purpose. He is too aware and too intelligent to not have known the possible repercussions. And I am sure he would have discussed this with his advisors.
Even if it was "presented" in an academic environment.
Maybe he almost felt a duty to make Islam show their hand before it was too late for the west (and Catholicism).
And if it be "war" (on a larger, more all encompassing scale than the current war we are in), I say let it happen. The longer we wait (while so much of the west refuses to open its eyes), the higher our chances that we will lose thing.
And right now the current trending is NOT in the west's favor.
I have said for a while now that the cartoons actually had a bigger affect than 911 in making people see the real threat of Islam.
Religion of Pieces said:
"The jihadists are on a roll, and there'll be no stopping them now."
I completely disagree. This will awaken the west even more. The only reason radical islam has been winning is because of western denial. This will not awaken everyone but a great many will be. And this awakening is what is needed!! More than any military or political strategy!!
We (Bush) have only just named the enemy (Islamofascists) in the last month or so. This is another step in furthering that effort. We won't get anywhere near a tipping point until the west awakens in sufficient numbers. Which will still take some time, even with this latest "cartoon" incident.
Because there will be and needs to be a Cartoon 3.0 and 4.0 and 5.0. These are much better than a 911 2.0 or 3.0 or 4.0!!
Demosthenes,
You are correct, it is unfair of me to call Nietzsche, "Hitler's favorite philosopher." that was hyperbole on my part. Truth is, according to William Shirer, Hitler's favorite philosopher was a guy named H.S. Chamberlain. Truth is, Nietzsche, Chamberlain, and Mohammed all have a lot in common. But, that's for another post.
I am not sure you are completely accurate in saying that Nietzsche was against anti-Semites and nationalism. I think the truth is that in his early years he was under the sway of Wagner, and I believe that where many of his statements came from which were later used by his sister, and the anti-Semites who followed him.
At one point Nietzsche formally renounced Wagner and made a point of writing about things he admired about the Jews. And it is true that he spoke against nationalism, but his books were filled with the language of nationalism.
Nietzsche is a tricky philosopher. One can find justification for many ideas in the works of Nietzsche. He many times seems to contradict himself. This is because he was adverse to composing a philosophical system. To Nietzsche, all ideas only went so far, and only served in certain situations or realms of thought. The opposite idea could be true for another situation.
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