Churches in the Middle East attacked over Pope's comments. (Ramadan, tradition)

[Buttercup]

Originally Posted by Djamila

Hehehe. Did you just call me a radical Muslim for defending a Nun?

Ha! No...it wasn't for defending a nun..it was for the first part of this sentence:

Originally Posted by Ms. Fiery Bosniak :D

It should be a death sentence crime just to disrespect one, much less murder one.

Do you see the irony?

[ayani]

Originally Posted by kai

yes its a puzzle why someone would call for the death of the pope because he percieved the pope said his religion was violent!

i know! it reminds me of a kind of funny editorial cartoon that came out after the Mohammed cartoon fiasco.

two men are sitting at an outdoor cafe, reading the paper. one says "it says here that many westerners detect a streak of intollerance and violence in islamic culture!" the other very calmly replies while sipping his coffee "tsk! how ridiculous! death to the west!"

[Buttercup]

Originally Posted by Buttercup

Of course those attacks are very unfortunate but, I am happy to read this:

"Ayman Daraghmeh, a legislator from the ruling Islamic militant Hamas group, denounced the attacks."

"In Nablus, merchant Khaled Ramadan, who was dressed in traditional Islamic garb, said the pope's comments were unforgivable, but that Palestinians must not fight among themselves.

"We are one people and violent reactions like these should not happen here," he said."

For those of you who think that there have been no calls for Muslims to not react in violence.....I made this post at the very beginning of the thread. I was very pleased to see a leader from Hamas denounce the attacks. Of course there have been many instances like this. And we must remember that despite the sensational news coverage of violent episodes of retribution.....the vast vast majority of Muslims are peace loving...no matter what the media would have us believe.

[MidnightBlue]

More Muslim responses to the Pope, from here:

Few in the Islamic world were satisfied by Benedict's statement of regret.

"The pope's words have caused a deep wound in the hearts of Muslims that won't heal for a long time, and then only after a clear apology to Muslims," Egypt's religious affairs minister, Mahmoud Hamdi Zaqzouq, wrote in a column in the government daily Al-Ahram on Monday.

An influential Egyptian cleric, Sheik Youssef al-Qaradawi, called for protests after weekly prayers on Friday, but maintained they should be peaceful.

Extremists said the pope's comments proved that the West was in a war against Islam.

Al-Qaida in Iraq and its allies issued a statement addressing the pope as "a cross-worshipper" and warning, "You and the West are doomed, as you can see from the defeat in Iraq, Afghanistan, Chechnya and elsewhere.

"You infidels and despots, we will continue our jihad (holy war) and never stop until God avails us to chop your necks and raise the fluttering banner of monotheism, when God's rule is established governing all people and nations," said the statement by the Mujahedeen Shura Council, an umbrella organization of Sunni Arab extremist groups in Iraq.

Another Iraqi extremist group, Ansar al-Sunna, challenged "sleeping Muslims" to prove their manhood by doing something other than "issuing statements or holding demonstrations."

"If the stupid pig is prancing with his blasphemies in his house," the group said in a Web statement, referring to the pope, "then let him wait for the day coming soon when the armies of the religion of right knock on the walls of Rome."

[Tigress]

Originally Posted by gracie

i know! it reminds me of a kind of funny editorial cartoon that came out after the Mohammed cartoon fiasco.

two men are sitting at an outdoor cafe, reading the paper. one says "it says here that many westerners detect a streak of intollerance and violence in islamic culture!" the other very calmly replies while sipping his coffee "tsk! how ridiculous! death to the west!"

Indeed. If the extremists wish to prove that their religion is not one of violence, it would help their cause to not react with violence. I wasn't aware that such a concept was a difficult one to grasp, especially for grown men. I do feel sorry for those Muslims not inciting violence. It's difficult when one group ruins everything for the rest.

[Buttercup]

From the above article posted by MidnightBlue:

"The Vatican on Monday sought to defuse the anger, ordering papal representatives around the world to meet with leaders of Muslim countries to explain the pope's point of view and full context of his speech."

It's incredible what turmoil and strife a few words cause.