Pope Survives Meeting with Muslims. Big Whiskey Loses Bet.

"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." -Manuell II Paleologus, Emporer Rome pars Orientis

I see today that Pope Benedict XVI survived his meeting with numerous delegates and ambassadors of Islam from practically everwhere. I was thinking of going down to St. Joe's, and seeing if I could get a pool going with the local clergy as too whether or not they would assasinate the supreme pontiff. If you really think about it, it's a made-for-Vegas scenario. Who will do it? What country will he be from? Will it be a Shiite, a Sunni, a Palestinian or a Wahabbi? Will he use a knife, gun, or just detonate himself? The possibilities are endless.

Actually, any attempt on the Pope's life would likely be just that - a failed attempt. Those Swiss Guards may wear some stupid looking uniforms, but they are genuine badasses culled from the army of Switzerland, and are not to be screwed with.

But either way, as it stands the Pope survived the meeting. No one made any attempt on his life whatsoever. The wake-up call if they had may very well have better served the Holy Catholic Church.

OK, for those of you who spent last week in a cave, Pope Benedict XVI gave a speech in Germany, during which he quoted a few bits by Emporer Manuel II, of the Byzantine (East-Roman) empire, including the line that began this essay. With all the shockingness of a western sunset, Musilms all over the world became indignant at the idea that someone might think of them as violent, and began calling for the death of the Pope for saying it. Equally predictable was the Vatican's pitiful and limp-wristed response, which basically amounted to oh-please-don't-get-angry-isms and a bit of shameless ass-kissing. The Pope couldn't stress enough that Manuell II's words did not "express [his] personal convictions," and stated his "total and profound respect for all Musilms."

What a load of shit.

First off, as a lifelong Catholic of the Irish persuasion, it is my belief that a Pope should never be afraid to piss people off. If I can do it, then so can the captain of Christianity's flagship. So long as what he says is truthful and accurate, then screw it. If the truth hurts, tough shit. The Pope is a servant of God, arguably the one with the most responsibility leveled on him in that capacity. He cannot shy away from the truth, or from angering those who don't like it. He cannot be all things to all people. I expect better of my pontiff than I do of my politicians.

Of course, an apology would indeed be in order had he said anything that was inaccurate. But did he? Nope, methinks not. For one, he was quoting someone as part of a lecture, only part of which dealt with Islam. The quote was accurate, so far as I know. Furthermore, Islam's love of the sword has been well documented throughout its roughly 1400 year history. The Moores in Spain, the Ottoman Empire across northern Africa and as far into Europe as Austria, not to mention the domination of nearly the entire middle east. Even Mecca, the holiest city of Islam, only became that way after Mohammed and the followers he had amassed in Medina forcibly conquered it (the process took close to a decade). To this day, we see endless examples of Muslim violence and bloodshed aimed at infidels of all stripes and, quite often, each other. Hindus in Kashmir, Christians in Indonesia, Jews in Isreal, riots and violent demonstrations in Paris, London, Denmark, and Amsterdam.

Thus far, I'm having trouble seeing where indignant Muslims have a leg to stand on.

"But Whiskey!" you might say, "none of this is unique to Islam! All sorts of people have been conquering other people for centuries! Even your own beloved Catholic Church has a pretty bloody, sordid history!"

All true. I am well aware of this. As a Catholic boy growing up surrounded by fundementalist Mennonite freaks, I was hardly afforded an opportunity to forget it. Many of the church's medieval exploits are every bit as aggregious as those of Muslims. However, allow me to point out a couple of differences:

1) When the Catholics (or the Anglicans, or the Puritans, etc.) did their horrid deeds, they knowingly did so in direct violation of any Christian scripture that ever existed. They defied their Lord with their deeds, and blasphemed Him by doing them in His name. Muslims, on the other hand, honor their god in this way. The Quaran repeatedly states that unbelievers should be fought and killed (9:5 and 9:29 are my favorites), as do various Hadith passages.

2) All those awful things the Catholics et. al. did happened several hundred years ago! It's over, folks. The entire notion of Christian "holy" war is long since dead. The notion of Muslim jihad however, is very much alive and well. For examples of this, go back a couple of paragraphs.

But despite all of this, Pope Benedict both apologizes and insists these aren't his "personal convictions." So what? Let's say they were his own convictions. If so they would be merely words, spoken by a man who has no military (those 100 Swiss guys may be badasses, but they won't be mounting any invasions anytime soon), no real political power anywhere, and poses no plausible threat to anyone. I'd like to think Muslims could leave it at "Jeez, what an asshole!", maybe argue about it with friends over coffee or beer, and forget about it. But no, they do what unruly children always do: throw a temper tantrum. You could mistake them for American college students. Personally, I'd be embarrassed.

What his eminence should do is offer one brief public statement, roughly to the effect of "Grow up and deal with it." Of course, that would probably result in even worse behavior. So instead, he talks about his "total and profound respect for all Muslims." I don't know the Pope personally and I can't read his mind, but something about this line sets off my bullshitometer.

However, the best line from this whole mess comes not from the pontiff, but from one of the rabble rousers. Indonesian Muslim Heri Budianto, who organized and anti-pope rally outside the Palestinian embassy in Jakarta, opines:

"Of course as we know the meaning of jihad can only be understood by Muslims...Only Muslims can understand what jihad is. It is impossible that jihad can be linked with violence, we Muslims have no violent character."

I'm willing to bet parishoners of two Catholic churches in the West Bank which were firebombed by angry Muslims after the Pope's speech might disagree. So might Sister Leonella Sgorbati, a missionary nun from Italy who was murdered in Mogadishu, also by Muslims demonstrating against the Pope. It is rumored that she audibly forgave her killers before she died. This prompted what may be the only worth while words spoken By Pope Benedict XVI during this whole sorry affair:

"This nun, who for many years served the poor and the children in Somalia, died pronouncing the word 'pardon'...This is the most authentic Christian testimony, a peaceful sign of contradiction which shows the victory of love over hate and evil."

Original story, CNN.com
Vatican's statement
Meeting with Muslim delegates, CNN.com
Pope Praises Sister Leonella