R.P. BenDedek
Pope Benedict Upsets Muslims : Jews are to Blame.
By R.P. BenDedek
Sep 16, 2006 - 6:02:00 AM

Another Danish Cartoons syndrome all over again?

Well they are at it again. The Religion of Peace is insulted by the infidels, and is predicting more bloodshed and violence.  And it's the Jews once again at fault, only this time, they are using Pope Benedict XVI as their anti-Islamic tool.

Iran urges Pope to correct 'great mistake' (Courier Mail Australia)

• IRAN today urged the Pope to apologise for remarks linking Islam to violence that set off a wave of anger across the Muslim world, saying the pontiff had made a "great mistake".
• The statement said the Pope �should confess to his great fault and by officially apologising he could remedy a small portion of his unforgivable guilt in insulting Islam and Muslims�.

How the B.S. and double speak flows! If you read the headlines, it appears the Pope set out to upset the Muslim world, by attacking it and it's prophet. But what did the pope really say? We know what the Iranians are saying: The Pope's speech is an unforgivable insult!, and we all know how Muslims respond to unforgivable insults.

Shi'ite cleric wants apology from Pope.

• Lebanon's most senior Shiite Muslim cleric on Friday denounced Pope Benedict XVI's recent remarks about Muslim holy war as Egypt warned that the pope's comments could incite violence between Muslims and Christians.
• "We call on the pope to carry out a scientific and fastidious reading of Islam. We do not want him to succumb to the propaganda of the enemy led by Judaism and imperialism against Islam," Fadlallah said.
• "He has to explain himself, and tell us what exactly did he mean," Ahmed Aboul Gheit told The Associated Press in Cuba. "It can't just be left like that."

So what did Pope Benedict Mean? Well first, let's just look at the statements above, for they demonstrate some rather interesting reactions.

• We don't know what Pope Benedict said or meant
• But we are insulted by what he said
• We don't forgive him
• His words will cause violence between Christians and Muslims
• He doesn't understand Islam
• He has made a mistake
• He is under the spell of the Jews.

So once again it is obvious that there are certain Islamic opportunists ready to cause as much trouble as possible, irrespective of the reality, and we have now been warned that there is no forgiveness to be offered, and that there will be bloodshed over this incident. Oh! And of course it is the Jews who are ultimately to be blamed for all of this!

How dare anyone call us violent! We'll show you violence! How dare you insult the religion of Peace! For this you must die!

So what did Pope Benedict say?

The Pope gave a speech about 3776 words long, of which 149 words were used to refer to a discussion held in the 14th century, within which, a one sentence quote of 32 words in reference to spreading Islam by the sword was mentioned. The relevant words as they appear within the context of the entire speech are:

• I was reminded of all this recently, when I read the edition by professor Theodore Khoury (Muenster) of part of the dialogue carried on -- perhaps in 1391 in the winter barracks near Ankara -- by the erudite Byzantine emperor Manuel II Paleologus and an educated Persian on the subject of Christianity and Islam, and the truth of both.
• It was probably the emperor himself who set down this dialogue, during the siege of Constantinople between 1394 and 1402; and this would explain why his arguments are given in greater detail than the responses of the learned Persian. The dialogue ranges widely over the structures of faith contained in the Bible and in the Koran, and deals especially with the image of God and of man, while necessarily returning repeatedly to the relationship of the "three Laws": the Old Testament, the New Testament and the Koran.
• In this lecture I would like to discuss only one point -- itself rather marginal to the dialogue itself -- which, in the context of the issue of "faith and reason," I found interesting and which can serve as the starting point for my reflections on this issue.
• In the seventh conversation ("di�lesis" -- controversy) edited by professor Khoury, the emperor touches on the theme of the jihad (holy war). The emperor must have known that sura 2:256 reads: "There is no compulsion in religion." It is one of the suras of the early period, when Mohammed was still powerless and under [threat]. But naturally the emperor also knew the instructions, developed later and recorded in the Koran, concerning holy war.
  Without descending to details, such as the difference in treatment accorded to those who have the "Book" and the "infidels," he turns to his interlocutor somewhat brusquely with the central question on the relationship between religion and violence in general, in these words:
• **"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."
• The emperor goes on to explain in detail the reasons why spreading the faith through violence is something unreasonable. Violence is incompatible with the nature of God and the nature of the soul. "God is not pleased by blood, and not acting reasonably ("syn logo") is contrary to God's nature. Faith is born of the soul, not the body. Whoever would lead someone to faith needs the ability to speak well and to reason properly, without violence and threats.... To convince a reasonable soul, one does not need a strong arm, or weapons of any kind, or any other means of threatening a person with death...."

The Speech was not about Islam, but a discourse on faith and Reason, and the various phases that the Christian Religion has passed through. It is an interesting speech, which undoubtedly will receive more attention than was probably thought possible, simply because some nut cases hell bent on an Islamic/Christian war, have seen an opportunity to stir up the ignorant to serve the militant purposes of Religious Deviates.

The whole text may be found HERE

R.P.BenDedek

Email: rpbendedek@hotmail.com

Articles on the Middle East:
http://www.kingscalendar.com/cgi-bin/index.cgi?action=viewnews&id=360

R.P.BenDedek is the pseudonym of the Author of 'The King's Calendar: The Secret of Qumran' (www.kingscalendar.com), and is a guest columnist at Magic City Morning Star News. An Australian, he currently teaches Conversational English in China.

'The Secret of Qumran' Academic Articles at'KingsCalendar Com' Publishing Co.
http://www.kingscalendar.com/cgi-bin/index.cgi?action=viewnews&id=333

"The King's Calendar" is a chronological study of the historical books of the Bible (Kings and Chronicles), Josephus, Seder Olam Rabbah, and the (Essene) Damascus Document of The Dead Sea Scrolls.