"The Pope's Comments I suppose that most readers have already heard, one way or another, about the "callous remarks" (rather, shrewd observations) about Islam made by the Pope. In this post, I attempt to summarize the most important phases of the story, which is rapidly unfolding before our eyes, and throw in a few thoughts of my own.
1) The Pope delivers a lecture in which, in not so many words, he criticizes the Islamic concept of Jihad, a holy war. In the speech, he quotes a 14th century Byzantine emperor, "Show me just what Mohammed 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".
2) Muslims start protesting vigorously against the said remarks, demanding an immediate apology to the Muslim World. The Pope's speech is characterized as "hateful", "biased" and "prejudiced"; however, no meaningful effort is made to disprove the thrust of the argument he has put forth. If the accusation is so patently false, it won't be difficult to rip it apart and show that the Pope (or, to be exact, the Byzantine emperor) is an abject liar and a narrow-minded bigot.
3) The Catholic Church is then instantly attacked with the "you-too" argument, which, of course, is a logical fallacy, "After the bloodstained conversions in South America, the crusades in the Muslim world, the coercion of the Church by Hitler's regime, and even the coining of the phrase 'holy war' by Pope Urban II, I do not think the Church should point a finger at extremist activities in other religions". Few people, even from among church officials and the faithful, deny the fact that the Church used to be a violent and hateful organization in many respects (though Islam has always been an infinitely more violent and intolerant ideology), but the truth is that she has undergone a marked change and is now committed to peace. Even if it were a savage organization today, it still wouldn't imply that we are not permitted to criticize Islam, and the fact that other religions used to be cruel and inhuman does not make Islam any better. Furthermore, the Crusades, often cited by Muslims as proof of the evil nature of the Church, were a mere response to the aggression of the Muslim hordes assailing the West.
4) Some Muslims resort to violence to protest their portrayal as violent followers of a violent religion and attempt to destroy a church in the Gaza Strip.
5) Then it emerges unexpectedly that the whole affair is practically "Much Ado About Nothing", for the speech the Pope has delivered is related to an entirely different subject and Islam doesn't enter the picture at all, except for this tiny quote. This revelation is, however, of little interest to the world at large.
6) In the end, the Pope caves in and apologizes for the "insensitive" remarks in his speech. On the one hand, I understand that the Pope does not want Christians to suffer because of his desire to state the unvarnished truth. On the other hand, the West has to demonstrate to the Muslim World that it cannot be manipulated and bullied and that it is willing and prepared to stand up for its way of life, its liberties, its freedom and its spirit. I sincerely hoped that the Pope would open the door for a new era (pardon the high-flown words) in the West, but, sadly, I was gravely mistaken."