Emperor Manuel II, Pope Benedict and the Religion of Peace

The Byzantine Emperor Manuel II (the historians among you will recognise him as the father of my patron saint, the blessed martyr Emperor Constantine XI) was recently quoted by Pope Benedict XVI in a speech at Regensburg University.

"The emperor comes to speak about the issue of jihad, holy war," the Pope said. "He said, I quote, '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.'"

You won't find him kissing the Koran any time soon. Anybody catch the subtle overture to us in the East?

The quote and the placing of it in context was certainly illuminating. Remember, Byzantium was subject to jihad for nearly eight centuries.

The Mohammedan reaction was as usual, predictable. Ali Bardakoğlu, president of Religious Affairs in Turkey opined that Pope Benedict had a "crusader mentality" and Mohammed Mahdi Akef of the Muslim Brotherhood called for Mohammedan states to discontinued relations with the Vatican.

Was the Pope offensive? Probably.

Taking a stand often hurts feelings. If the Pope truly desires to restore a Christian Europe, then he is going to have to address the Islamic threat - and this threat goes beyond demographics.

Was the Pope thoughtless and insensitive? I don't think so.

In effect, the Pope has asked Moslems to apply reason to the fundamental questions of theology, violence and ideology. Islam cannot, and never will, sustain critical intellectual engagement. It is a disturbed belief, born from the marriage of a tribal pirate's megalomania and the confusing madness of heresies spread out along the fringe of the Christian world.

The Pope, for having dared to merely hint that Islam is by nature violent and evil, Muslims are threatening violence and evil. If the situation weren't so precarious in so many countries, I would laugh.

I leave you with Professor Indrek Wichman's words:

I am offended... by more mundane things like beheadings of civilians, cowardly attacks on public buildings, suicide murders, murders of Catholic priests (the latest in Turkey!), burnings of Christian churches, the continued persecution of Coptic Christians in Egypt, the imposition of Sharia law on non-Muslims, the rapes of Scandinavian girls and women (called "whores" in your culture), the murder of film directors in Holland, and the rioting and looting in Paris France.

[...]

I counsel you dissatisfied, aggressive, brutal, and uncivilized slave-trading Moslems to be very aware of this as you proceeded with your infantile "protests".