Army Post Road

     Recently, Pope Benedict XVI quoted Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Palealogus in remarks he made at the University of Regensburg in his homeland of Germany. The quote the pontiff used, from a debate the emperor was having with a 14th Century Persian scholar, was as follows: “Show me just what Mohammad 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.” The pope makes this one quotation of words spoken some 615 years ago and what is the response of the followers of Mohammad? A nun is killed in Somalia, death threats against the pope rain in from around the world, churches were attacked and burned in Palestine, and Al-Qaeda in Iraq declared that it’s war against Christianity won’t end until Islam rules the world.
     Where in all this was Manuel II proven wrong? Where in all this moral indignation on the part of all the Islamic spokesmen is the condemnation? Nadia Igram, the vice president of the [University of Iowa] Muslim Student Association was quoted in the Daily Iowan as having said the pope needs to do a better job representing Islam accurately. Why is it the job of the Pope to represent Islam at all?? Why does the Pope’s discussion of Islam matter more than the actions of millions of Muslims around the world? This time last year Muslims around the world were rioting across Europe and Asia in reaction to cartoons in a newspaper. People were killed and terrorized, millions of dollars in property were damaged and destroyed and yet the criminals and terrorists who did it demanded apologies for the cartoons. When Christian missionaries are murdered, maimed, and out and out slaughtered in Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and all across Islamic civilization, where are the riots in America and Europe burning Arab embassies and fireboming mosques? When Osama Bin Laden makes another video calling the United States the Great Satan, promising more 9/11’s, and calling us all infidels, where are the imams and mullahs being gunned down as they leave hospitals caring for the indigent sick?