What do you guys think of the Popes remark to the Muslims?

Answer 1

If he isn't entitled to express his opinion freely on religious matters, who is?

Answer 2

Pope Benedict was quoting from a book while in a visit to Germany ,quoting a 14th Century Byzantine Emperor Manuel Paleologos 11 the Emperor,who was a educated Persian on truths of Christianity & Islam.The emperor came to speak about about the issue of jihad,holy war.
He said"Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new and there you will find things evil & inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith."

Does the truth hurt their sensibilities. Islam has become a violent religion, where are the Peaceful Islamic clerics when a suicide bomber kills innocent women & children in Israel! Where were they after 9/11? Where was the cleric out cry for innocent lives taken then?Where was the outcry when Hezbolah terriost,hid behind innocent women & children in Lebanon ? A cowards way of fighting. Where is the outcry from" Peaceful "Islamic clerics about the geonicide taking place in Darfur? Why is everything insulting the Muslims is greatly protested. But their astrocities againest the West is tolerated.
If the Pope quoted someone and He was speaking the truth, why should the truth be such an insult to them.? When do Muslim countries, or clerics speak out againest the terrorism and the Islamic facist or Jihadas? Where are the voices of honor & peace in Islam? Where is the condemnation? There is a silence from the 'peaceful" followers when astrocities are committed around the world in the name of Allah.

Peaceful Muslims where is your voice? Pope apoligize? What for? Because of diplomatic sensibilities to the Muslims he has.

When I hear the voices of Muslims condeming the violence through out the world, I will show respect for their religion,instead of intolerance which is of their own making!

Peace I pray, Peace in the middle east & around the world for all!

Answer 3

He was only quoting history. He didn't say that the remarks, he made originated from him. Why crucify the pope for telling it like it is. Just think about what is going on in the muslim world, at the present time.

Answer 4

I think they guy is a jerk. I was very disappointed when he got elected. Now I know why.

I believe the Muslims deserve a direct apology for the incendiary remarks, and the Palestinians need to vent their anger in an intelligent fashion.

Answer 5

Well, it's either the Pope or the Muslim is the anti-Christ.

Come to think of it. Is the Pope an unbecoming Pope or the Islam an unbecoming Christ( remember Islam faith do not deny prophet Jesus)?

Answer 6

I think that the concept of 'jihad' has been corrupted by terrorists and that this term is essentially understood as literal violence by listeners in the west. I think the Pope was trying to emphasize that violence in this sense is incompatible with religion. I think it is unfortunate that Muslim leaders, rather than underscoring the fact that violent jihad is against Islam ( as well as being a threat to their own governmental control ) have chosen to be 'offended'.

Answer 7

It was a very huge mistake, especially in the current state of the world. Don't we have enough troubles? Why would he quote a 14th century Christian writer like that except to stir up trouble? It is frightening.

This quote would be from shortly after the Christian Crusades against Muslim countries and already many think we are on a Crusade against them! So, why add fuel to the fire!

It is also a very untrue statement and the Pope should have known this as well. I am a Christian, but I did intensive research on Islam from 1988 to 2000 in the framework of my Ph.D. dissertation and have known quiet a few "real" Muslims. The current political "fundamentalist" Islam with which we are being "plagued" has little to do with historical Islam or what is in the Koran. It is a political ideology based on ignorance of Islam. Jihad or Holy War is waged against oneself to improve one's character and behavior or against pagans - it is about trying to "save" people as Christians would say and not to destroy them. Mohammed was trying to get rid of paganism not Christianity or Judaism which he (accurately) considered fellow Abrahamic and monotheistic religions. If Jesus is criticized your average Muslim will be much more upset than your average Christian. While they do not consider Jesus the "son of God" they consider him a great prophet. And, especially for his time and place Mohammed was progressive in his treatment of women. The current abuse of women and scarves have more in common with the Arabian paganism he was fighting than with Islam. It is actually the Bible which says women should cover their heads not the Koran. Veiling is a pagan attempt to protect against "the evil eye".

What's the most tragic about the Pope's recent statement and the supposed current "convert or die" Islamic fundamentalist perspective is that historically Islam was the most tolerant. They wanted people to be monotheist. They were harsh with pagans but pretty tolerant of Judaism and Christianity. They taxed these two more heavily but they didn't convert by the sword as much as Christianity did. In fact, some Protestant Anabaptists hoped the Muslim Turks would invade the Austrian (Catholic) Holy Roman Empire because they felt they would fare better under Muslim than Catholic rule. Not only did Christians chase and burn pagans and the Catholics went after the Protestants (e.g. Holy Roman Empire and elsewhere) and vice versa, the Protestants even had inquisitions against other Protestants (e.g. Switzerland and border areas of Germany such as Constance). And, obviously there were the inquisitions against and forced conversions of Jews, as well. Catholics historically as well as recently have persecuted other Catholics! This is why we have separation of Church and State in the US - many of our ancestors fled these persecutions. When you have a state religion anyone who thinks differently is in trouble!

But you have to consider who the current Pope is. He's a well known right wing extremist and I was extremely worried when he became Pope. We had hoped that once he became Pope he would be more tolerant. Of course, he could actually believe the comments he read if Catholic schools teach this. But, I seriously doubt it. Most of those guys are pretty well educated. Unfortunately, he has just become a really good example of the problem with the (very historically recent idea of) papal infallibility. The Pope is supposed to be infallible but he just proved that wrong! Too bad Popes can't be impeached.

The more I think of it the more I think that this is one place where perhaps the media should have thought about what they were doing and passed over or censored the story! Not that many people speak German and I doubt that media was there from the Muslim world. Yes, the Pope made an big error but the media is also guilty for the worsening of international relations coming out of this! After all the Pope isn't Christianity but people in the streets of the Muslim world aren't necessarily going to know these technical details.
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edit: Apparently the person below has a very SHORT view of history! I'm talking about over 1,000 years of history. 1981 barely would count as an "antique" car! The "problems" with Islam since the 1970s come from our supporting Islamic fundamentalists as a counterweight to National Liberation Movements which we called "Communist" even when they were not! We never wanted these countries liberated because then we couldn't control their resources. Prior to that there was a long period of secular national liberation movements! Around 1920s/30s you had some of the first fundamentalists in the Muslim Brotherhood of Egypt - a British Colony. These were suppressed later by Nasser who was a National Liberationist. Also, as it has been predominantly "Christian" countries such as Britain, France and later the US over the last 160 years who have so wantonly exploited predominately Muslim countries for their natural resources it is natural that this could be seen in religious terms!

Answer 8

Shall we re-live the past:

Mehmet Ali Agca

Supposedly trained in Syria.

The Turk who shot Pope John Paul II in 1981...

A Turkish court decided...to free Mehmet Ali Agca, 47, on parole, saying he had completed his prison term for crimes committed in Turkey. Agca was extradited to Turkey in 2000 after serving almost 20 years in an Italian prison for shooting and wounding John Paul in St. Peter's Square in Rome on May 13, 1981.

Mehmet Ali Ağca (born January 9, 1958) is a Turkish assassin who shot and wounded Pope John Paul II on May 13, 1981. After serving 19 years of incarceration in Italy, and another five years in Turkey for the 1979 murder of Abdi İpekçi, a left-wing journalist, Ağca was released on parole on January 12, 2006, only to have this revoked soon afterwards. Ağca has described himself as a mercenary with no political orientation, although he is known to have been a member of the Turkish ultra-nationalist Grey Wolves organization.

Ağca was born in İsmailli village, Hekimhan district, Malatya Province in Turkey. As a youth, he became a petty criminal and a member of street gangs in his home town. He became a smuggler between Turkey and Bulgaria.

He is believed to have then gone to Syria where he received two months of training in weaponry and terrorist tactics. He claims this was undertaken as a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and paid for by the Bulgarian government, although this has been questioned.



Maybe it's time to start compling a list of what Islam has been doing in the world over the last 50 years are so.

Train bombings in Spain, France, London

Blowing up hotels and Restaruants in resorts

There also 9-11 World Trade center and the attempt a few years earliers.

That's just off the top of my head.

Answer 9

The entire Muslim community is once again up in arms, with their fists raised and their incessant, neverending chanting of "Allāhu Akbar" God is Great.
They are spewing hatred around the world not seen since the time of Adolph Hitler whose hatred of the Jews led to the deaths of 6 million.

The Muslims we see today harbor the same hatred for you and me and all of Western society.
They have taken the Quran and have twisted the words to justify and suit their abominable behavior.
Their voices shout "Death to America", their fists are raised with one voice shouting hatred to "The Great Satan".

We are on the verge of a holy war because of these radical Islamic fundamentalists who are blinded by their Islamic faith and they will be the cause of millions of more innocent deaths as they call on their god Allah and they continue to do these acts of hatred in his name.

Occasionally you might hear from one or two Muslims who say that the radicals do not speak for them...
if that is so, then who is speaking for the moderates...NO ONE.
There are no voices speaking out against the radical fundamentalists because they all are of one mind as they shout and pray....
"Death to America"..."Death to Israel"..."Death to the Infidel" (that's you and me)

America and all non-Islamic societies around the world need to wake up and be on their guard, for they are now under attack by the fanatical Muslims of the world who will not rest until we are all dead.

Answer 10

I don't think he was remarking to the Muslims. He was remarking and should have kept his big trap shut and talked about the weather or some other innane subject matter. Rule no. one of being a world leader is don't talk about things you know nothing about.

Answer 11

Here is a link to the English translation of the Pope's controversial speech: http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/speeches/2006/september/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20060912_university-regensburg_en.html

With love in Christ.