Jihad Enablers

by Jonah Goldberg - September 20th, 2006 - Townhall.com

Before you can discuss the manifest seriousness of the latest controversy involving the pope, you have to acknowledge its hilarity. Pope Benedict XVI, in an austere philosophical address, invoked Byzantine emperor Manuel II Paleologus, the 14th century ruler who offered a harsh assessment of Islam. While the Koran says, "There is no compulsion in religion," Manuel couldn't help but notice that Muslims were setting up more franchises in his neighborhood than Starbucks - and they weren't doing so by selling the best darn Mocha Frappuccinos on his side of the Bosphorus Straits.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new," Manuel complained sometime around the siege of Byzantium, "and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his [Mohammad's] command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." Why Pope Benedict quoted Manuel is hotly debated. But one explicit reason was to enunciate the Church's opposition to using faith to justify violence or intolerance.

And this is where the hilarity comes in. A Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokeswoman responded: "Anyone who describes Islam as a religion as intolerant encourages violence."

During Friday prayers in Iran, a senior cleric changed his usual script to denounce the pope, but the crowd of worshippers hadn't seen the memo, so they chanted back the usual refrain: "Death to America! Death to Israel!"

So the Pope is merely a front man for the jews of Israel and America? Benedict usually condemns Israel so it is hard to see where they get that opinion from. Certainly there is strong evidence that liberal Catholics like Benedict can be counted on to defend Muslims against Israel and castigate America for our failure to avoid annoying the islamofascists. It is equally hard to see how our actions seem to be so annoying islamofascists in Indonesia that they are killing thousands of Buddhists in that country. Buddhists are American supporters? I don't think so.

Democrats want us to start a dialog with these islamofascists. I don't understand how you start a dialog with people who say that you must stop taking any actions which offend us and convert to our religion or we will behead you. Where exactly do you start the dialog? On your knees praying to Allah?


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