Hasn't this gone far enough? And is this a Tolerant Response?

Question

Pope Benedict XVI “sincerely regrets” offending Muslims with his reference to an obscure medieval text that characterizes some of the teachings of Islam’s founder as “evil and inhuman,” the Vatican said Saturday.

**An Iraqi insurgent group threatened the Vatican with a suicide attack over the pope’s remarks on Islam, according to a statement posted Saturday on the Web.
**“We swear to God to send you people who adore death as much as you adore life,” said the message posted in the name of the Mujahedeen Army on a Web site frequently used by militant groups. The message’s authenticity could not be independently verified. The statement was addressed to “you dog of Rome” and threatens to “shake your thrones and break your crosses in your home.”
**In West Bank attacks on churches, Palestinians used guns, firebombs and lighter fluid, leaving church doors charred and walls scorched by flames and pocked with bullet holes. Nobody was reported injured. Two Catholic churches, an Anglican one and a Greek Orthodox one were hit. A Greek Orthodox church was also attacked in Gaza City.
A group calling itself “Lions of Monotheism” told The Associated Press by phone that the attacks were a protest against the pope’s remarks on Islam.**

In a broader talk rejecting any religious motivation for violence, Benedict cited the words of a Byzantine emperor who characterized some of the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad as “evil and inhuman,” particularly “his command to spread by the sword the faith.”
The pontiff did not endorse that description, but he did not question it, and his words set off a firestorm of protests across the Muslim world.

1. Morocco recalled its ambassador to the Vatican on Saturday to protest the pope’s “offensive” remarks, and Afghanistan demanded the pope apologize.
2. Turkey cast some doubt on whether Benedict could proceed with a planned visit in November in what would be the pontiff’s first trip to a Muslim nation.
3. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan insisted the pope apologize to the Muslim world, saying he had spoken “not like a man of religion but like a usual politician.”
Asked if Muslim anger would affect the pope’s trip to Istanbul, where he hopes to meet with Orthodox leaders headquartered there, Erdogan replied, “I wouldn’t know.”
4. The grand sheik of Cairo’s Al-Azhar Mosque, the Sunni Arab world’s most powerful institution, condemned the pope’s remarks as “reflecting ignorance.”
5. The Shiite Muslim militant group Hezbollah and Lebanon’s top Sunni Muslim religious authority also denounced the pope’s comments.

Benedict quoted from a book recounting a conversation between 14th century Byzantine Christian Emperor Manuel Paleologos II and an educated Persian on the truths of Christianity and Islam.
“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.”’

Answer 1

What follows below is my response to a friend’s email concerning the same issue as what is being discussed in this forum:

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Its one thing for the common street hoodlum, or radical foot soldier, in Muslim countries, to be enraged by the comments made by the Pope. I don’t expect many of them to take time to deliberate the issue, or subsume the Pope’s comments in the proper context. They are reactionary beings. However, you would think that Imams’ and other Muslim clerics would me more academic in their reception of comments made by other religious leaders, affording their colleagues on the other side of the religious spectrum a fair hearing. Instead these so called learned men of Muslim upbringing are just as reactionary as the ruffians on the streets of Palestine, or the insurgents attacking their own people in Iraq.

It’s bizarre that both Jews and Christians are called to make concessions and penance to placate Muslim sensitivities, and yet any offense to Christian ideals or people by Muslim authorities is met with deafening silence. When Christian churches are burned to the ground, when our iconography is desecrated because of Islamic militancy, and when death threats are levied on our most revered religious figures, no one in our ranks cries out for apologies or even reparations. No calls for the destruction of Mosques; no command for the assassination of Muslim leaders; and no vitriolic statements from our religious leaders are made concerning Muslim clerics. Even when the more radical fringe of Christendom – men like Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson – make inflammatory remarks concerning Muslims and Islam, there is a large outcry from both mainline Christianity and the western secular media denouncing their statements as inane and immoral.

It is the Muslim world that has failed dismally in their efforts to do the same. We always point the incriminating finger at those within our fold that act in a manner that is in discord with what we believe to be the noble thing to do. Muslim “moderates” standby quietly giving tacit approval to the aggression of their more “radical” brethren.

Muslims constantly lament the disproportionate military response to 9/11 that Bush has made. Many in the Christian wing and in the rest of the western world have called him on it, and criticize him constantly for it. Yet when Muslim people attack Christian churches for something as trivial as a cartoon or an insensitive statement made by another Christian, no one talks about the Muslim disproportionate reaction. At least our attack of Afghanistan and Iraq, though focusing on the wrong people, returned violence for violence. Muslims, in reaction to mere rhetoric, returns temporarily hurtful words with violence. Words are eventually forgotten; a loss of life has repercussions that never really go away. You tell me who is responding in a more disproportionate fashion? Who in this scenario is responding more unjustly?

I wonder if Muslims realize how utterly feeble minded they look every time they respond like this? I am curious if “moderate” Muslims are cognizant of the fact that the more they remain mute concerning the wrong doings of their radical counterparts, the more the rest of the world will see them as one in the same? For my part, I a little doubtful as to how divergent “moderate” Muslims are ideologically from their “radical” colleagues. Both of them believe that Muhammad is the supreme prophet, one who supersedes even Jesus in divine significance. Muslims of both “radical” and “moderate” stripe believe that Muhammad is also the ultimate paradigm of human behavior; a model that should be emulated as close as possible. Both, if truly candid, must acknowledge that Muhammad, UNLIKE Jesus, who is the Christian’s primary example for living, was a military commander that took part in violence, order assassinations, and engaged in all the brutality associated with a military enterprise. He ordered the execution of those whose only sin was to ridicule him. These are historical facts attested to in their Qu’ran, Hadith, and secular Arabian history. Maybe the so called “moderate” Muslims don’t vocalize dissent against the “radicals” in their midst because they know, in their heart of hearts, that those the world likes to marginalize as “radicals” really represent the manner of behavior Muhammad would have condoned. The “moderates” remain silent, so as not to underscore their secret agreement with “radical” tactics and their own cowardice at not acting on principles they agree with.

I am disappointed at my Pope for apologizing for statements that are truthful. The truth is always offensive. Jesus made statements to the Pharisees that were infused with controversy. He never apologized for them, despite how inflammatory they might have been. There is no need for Pope Benedict XVI to qualify his statement with an appeal to proper context. Even as an isolated statement, the statements by the Byzantine emperor, that the Pope was quoting, are a truthful assessment of Islam’s prophet. The Catholic Church needs stop being politically correct. The Catholic Church needs to cease abiding by a culture of appeasement. Why should the Pope apologize for the narrow minds of those who cannot read a statement in its context, or who cannot admit to the dark side of their faith? Contrition and forgiveness are foundations to the Christian faith, but to be contrite, when one is not at fault, makes a mockery of reconciliation. If the church continues to be spineless like this, even I will want to leave it.

Answer 2

I do want to live in a tolerant society. We are all different and people should be allowed to be different. But tolerance is not just one way. It doesn't just mean that people can all do what they like and no one can say anything. Silencing opinions or at least can in itself be intolerant. Everyone should have the freedom to put their own point across. However, although everyone has the right to complain (or commend) this does not automatically mean that their comments must to be acted upon. Tolerance is like patience. You can have an enormous amount (and be called a patient person) but it does not have to be an infinite amount. Patience, and tolerance, can run out.

Answer 3

It seems that now it is even offensive to study history and read what people in the past have said. Quoting historical sources to help get a perspective on the development of world events is just horrible. Personally, I thought the pope's speech was too deeply intellectual even to interest the majority of people, at least in the form in which it was given. For instance, very few questions on Yahoo Answers relate to the interplay between religious faith and Greek philosophy. I'm kind of amazed that the Islamists were even listening. Maybe some of them were just looking for something, anything, to make a fuss about.

Answer 4

I believe that in such a sensitive religious time in the world The Pope made a huge error in judgement. How could he possibly believe he could say something of that caliber, in his position and that is would not affect the muslim community. He made a grave error by bringing up a 600 year old conversation. I think when you hold such a position you need to be more careful in your speech regarding other religions. I am not on any side but I think careless errors like this are very unfortunate for everyone!

Answer 5

Just the threat of a violent response to all this by the Muslim community is pretty much making the Pope's case for him. They are savages and the sooner the world realizes this, the better.

Answer 6

As much as I dislike and disagree with Christianity, even I admit that Islam as a whole is showing itself to be the most violent religion around today. It's getting ridiculous.

Answer 7

To answer your question - Yes it has. But I fear this is just the beginning.

Answer 8

The pope asked me to quietly slip under his robe amidst a crowd the last time I saw him. He knows how to get his freak on.

Answer 9

You can tell a tiger is a tiger when it shows it's stripes. You can tell Islam is an intolerant religion when they open their mouths.

Answer 10

And? I don't get what you are trying to say.