In the middle of September, 2006 Pope Benedict of the Catholic Church made a speech at the University in Regensburg, Germany.

The core of the speech has been characterized as a criticism of modern western civilization for committing itself too much to reason and cutting God out of science and philosophy.

Ian Fisher of the New York Times said that Pope Benedict started out ‘by recounting a conversation on the truths of Christianity and Islam that took place between a 14th- century Byzantine Christian emperor, Manuel II Paleologus, and a Persian scholar.’

Even the New York Times seems to have gotten the message wrong that Pope Benedict was sending.

Pope Benedict did not start by recounting the conversation. The quotation that caused the stir was far into the speech but that is only a minor point.

He was speaking about how reason has polluted faith to such an extent that the message of peace that Jesus brought was being lost in modern society. In fact the speech contained elements of his inaugural lecture at the University in Bonn from 1959.

It is a speech of love, the message of Jesus, the word of God and of and for humanity.

The media reported on a reference to a statement made by Emperor Manuel II Paleologus hundreds of years ago and sparked off a bitter response from the Muslim community around the world.

I am going to begin this evening with a short history so that we have a background for Emperor Paleologus.

The Fall of the Roman Empire took place over a long period of time. During one period the Empire broke into two pieces. There was the western empire which fragmented further into several countries like France, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Portugal - et cetera with a central church whose head of state was in Rome.

The Eastern Empire retained its government and shape but was slowly over run by barbarians from the north and the Muslims from the east who were considered savages at the time.

Eventually the capital of the Eastern Empire at Byzantium was conquered and the Eastern Emperor, of which Manuel II was one of the last, ceased to be a governing power. The Eastern Churches are called Orthodox and range from the Greek Orthodox to the Russian Orthodox with other churches formed from what were formerly mainly Roman provinces.

Each of these orthodox churches has a different internal governing system and until Pope John Paul II made overtures they did not even speak to the Catholic Church in Rome.

During the Fall of the Western Empire a pantheon of gods was replaced by belief in the One True God. Much of the material from that time was preserved and passed down through the ages to the present day. Much of it was also destroyed.

Some of the most holy places in Rome to Catholics were once the same places used to worship Apollo, Diana, Zeus and Hera. Those are the ancient gods of Rome. Their statues were moved it of the buildings and the interiors redesigned to reflect the Catholic faith. A lot of this art is still in existence.

To the east of the Roman Empire - to the east of the Eastern Empire in fact, was in ancient times a nation called the Parthian Empire. After much fighting the Parthian Empire eventually ended up as the Persian Empire.

What happened when Mohammad came along was more bitter, divisive and destructive than the slow and thorough absorption of the old Roman religions by the Catholic religion.

Mohammad declared a campaign of destruction. When the Muslims entered Riyadh they attacked the pantheon of the Parthian or Persian Empire. They destroyed every statue and image they found. The priests were killed along with faithful trying to make a defense. Families were destroyed, the city burned and all the wealth and weapons taken for the continued fury of the spread of the Muslim faith.

The result is that the Muslim faith seemingly has no memory. There was a complete and willful break from the past which, rather than supplanting what was before it replaced it with another more insecure and fragile arrangement. Where local Parthian or Persian tax payers used to collect money now armed priests called Imams collected what is referred to as the ‘poor-tax’ which finds its way these days rarely to the tables of the poor and more often to the makers of guns, rockets and mortars. Osama Bin Laden for example had access to billions of dollars and rather than using it for constructive projects he used it to attack the World Trade Center in order to disrupt trade.

Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, Sudan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and other governments controlled in this way whine to the west about helping the poor while they sit on oil, gold, silver, tin and other natural resources controlled by a few religious leaders as in Iran or by Kings and princes as in Morocco, Saudi Arabia and Jordan.

It was a terrible time and unlike the slow change that took place in Rome it has never seemed to end. In fact the same behavior that the early Muslims showed to the art and culture of their own people was repeated when the Muslim Taliban in Afghanistan destroyed the 18 story tall statues of Buddha with dynamite.

This sort of destructive, irresponsible behavior was echoed again when a Danish cartoonist drew a caricature of Mohammed wearing a bomb for a hat.

These are two well known incidents in modern times but the destructive behavior has been repeated time and time again through history. Muslims sometimes say it is to defend their faith but lately it has started to seem a little like the fanaticism of men like Billy Sunday and Billy Graham who pull an enemy out of the hat so the donations of the faithful will keep pouring in.

The problem is that the violence that is unleashed through the old interpretation of the Koran is extreme.

Now to return to modern times. What exactly did Pope Benedict say?

Here it is. The Pope is referencing an edited text of Emperor Paleologus’s remarks :

"But naturally the emperor also knew the instructions, developed later and recorded in the Qur’an, 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 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 decisive statement in this argument against violent conversion is this: not to act in accordance with reason is contrary to God's nature. ""

The sentence that drove the Muslim world into a blood frenzy is : "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 press did not dwell on the next sentence which reads, "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."

The response of the Muslim community was almost instant. As if they had been sitting in wait for anything to set them off. If their reaction had not been so violent, apparently unthinking and illogical it might have been humorous.

But several people died apparently as a result of their reaction.

The onus was put back on Pope Benedict and it was intimated that his remarks caused the violence. I heard one radio talk show host on a local religious radio station in Detroit talk about the ‘behavior’ of the Pope and yet she admitted that she had not seen the text of the speech. She was acting just like the Muslim fanatics that opposed him. The text was available online at that time but this Christian fanatic decided to remark on items she did not take the time to investigate.

The problem for the Muslim world is that even though he did not intend to paint the modern Muslim religion as bloodthirsty and violent the response and reaction from Muslim leaders around the world can only lead a responsible, logical adult to conclude that this may be so.

In the meantime the response from the Muslim world began to deteriorate.

Here is what the Pope said in response, ""These were in fact quotations from a medieval text, which do not in any way express my personal thought. The true meaning of my address in its totality was and is an invitation to frank and sincere dialogue, with great mutual respect."

Following are some of the things that were said and done by the Muslim community in response to Pope Benedict‘s speech in Regensburg. You can make your own decision about whether they responded correctly or not. I do not feel that they did and that, rather than proving what Pope Benedict had to say, they underscored the words of Emperor Manuel II Paleologus himself.

Iraqis burned an effigy of Pope Benedict XVI during a protest in Basra. Basra is a city that has seen thousands of political and religious assassinations since the occupation of Iraq began. The Shiites and Sunnis are slaughtering each other but took a break to join together and burn a paper puppet of Pope Benedict.

The New York Times tells us that "an Iraqi group linked to Al Qaeda posted a warning on a Web site threatening war against "worshippers of the cross.""

Ayatollah Ali Khameni, the top Muslim in Iran, is reported to have called Pope Benedict’s remarks "the latest link" in the "chain of conspiracy to set off a crusade."

A Turkish man with a fake gun attacked a Protestant church in the Turkish capital of Ankara.

In Somalia, gunmen shot an Italian nun and her bodyguard to death outside a children's hospital in the capital. It is not clear whether the shooting of Leonella Sgorbati, 64, was related to the papal controversy, but Somalian Islamic extremists had threatened to attack Catholics.

Reuters news agency reported, "She was shot three times in the back."

Reuters goes on to say, "There is a very high possibility the people who killed her were angered by the Catholic Pope's recent comments…"

Somalia was recently taken over by a Muslim government whose first actions were to disarm or kill anyone that opposed them. They have maintained order with violence.

In Sudan the attacks on the Christians in Darfur by armed agents of the Sudan government continue. In a weakly worded statement Condoleeza Rice said that the violence in Darfur is "getting worse".

The concept of spreading Islam by the sword is alive and well in the 21st century.

The Islamic government in Sudan’s north is pushing south with guns and bombs. They are clearing out the Africans who have lived there for thousands of years in order to sell oil contracts to Communist Chinese and even European and American companies.

In Somalia the Muslims are killing anyone that opposes them and replacing local governments with a government based on Muslim law called Sharia.

In Afghanistan the Islamists continue to spread their influence by killing anyone who opposes them.

Active cells of terrorists and Islamic preachers in Pakistan continue to incite violence in western India, Afghanistan and central Asia.

The western parts of Communist China are also feeling the sting of this renewed military expansion.

All through north Africa, the shores of East Africa and even eastern Europe Muslim extremists seemingly resort to violence first.

These are real expansions and they are not being addressed by international diplomacy.

Indonesia, a major trading partner with the United States, continues to be ruled by a military style government heavily steeped in Muslim influence. Three apparently innocent Christians were recently executed for anti-government activities just before the Muslim holy days of Ramadan in what appears to be an insult to the West in that the Muslim cleric and men who killed so many in a bombing in Bali have still not been sentenced.

The executions were scheduled for early August, but were postponed following an appeal by Pope Benedict. Then the scheduled executions of the Bali bombers, who murdered 202 people, was also postponed. They may have a new date set in October but there is no telling with the Indonesian government.

Din Syamsuddin, chairman of Muhammadiyah, the second largest Islamic organization in Indonesia said, "It is obvious from the statements that the Pope doesn't have a correct understanding of Islam. Whether the Pope apologizes or not, the Islamic community should show that Islam is a religion of compassion."

Fauzan Al-Anshori, spokesman for the Indonesian Mujahideen Council, said "Muslims can't eliminate jihad from the Islamic discourse, the same way Christians can't do away with the doctrine of Trinity,"

The Associate Press stated that "Al Qaeda in Iraq warned Pope Benedict XVI on Monday that its war against Christianity and the West will go on until Islam takes over the world…"

Protests broke out in South Asia and Indonesia

The Mujahedeen Shura Council in Iraq released a statement addressing the pope as "a cross-worshipper" and saying, "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."

Another Iraqi group said on the internet, "If the stupid pig is prancing with his blasphemies in his house then let him wait for the day coming soon when the armies of the religion of right knock on the walls of Rome."

In Iran, supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said, "Those who benefit from the pope's comments and drive their own arrogant policies should be targeted with attacks and protests."

Islamic Defenders' Front said in Jakarta, India said, "His comments really hurt Muslims all over the world. We should remind him not to say such things which can only fuel a holy war."

Malaysia's foreign minister, Syed Hamid Albar, said Benedict's apology was "inadequate to calm the anger."

President Bush weight in and said that Pope Benedict was sincere in his apology for comments on Islam that have sparked outrage in the Muslim world. I can’t figure out which side he is on because according to the Catholic Church Pope Benedict did not apologize. Bush was with the Malaysian Prime Minister at the time so politics may be taken into account.

Another statement out of Iraq was, "We shall break the cross and spill the wine."

In Palestine a church in Tulkarem was attacked with gasoline bombs followed by an attempted attack on a church in Tubas, near Jenin along with gasoline bomb attacks on three churches in Nablus, as well as an attack on a church in Gaza.

In Turkey, a recipient of much American aid money, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan asked Pope Benedict to apologize for his "ugly, unfortunate statements."

In Morocco King Mohammed VI sent a written message to the pope denouncing his "offending statements."

Pakistan's National Assembly voted unanimously a resolution condemning the Pope Benedict’s comments.

The Pakistani National Assembly wrote, "This statement has hurt sentiments of the Muslims. This is also against the charter of the United Nations. This house demands the Pope retract his remarks in the interest of harmony among different religions of the world."

In New Delhi, India, Syed Ahmed Bukhari, the chief cleric of Jama Masjid, India's largest mosque said, "No Pope has ever tried to attack the glory of Islam like this Pope. Muslims must respond in a manner which forces the Pope to apologize."

Meanwhile, violence continued in Somalia where the Muslim extremists attempted to assassinate the new President. The President lived by 8 people including his brother were murdered. The attack came as the President of Somalia has been trying to work out an agreement to reign in the Conservative Council of Islamic Courts which wants to run Somalia on Muslim Sharia law.

Protests occurred in South Asia and across Indonesia.

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

The Pakistani government made a big noise about Pope Benedict’s comments but they didn’t say anything about the fact that violence and religion don’t mix. In fact, neither did the Indonesians, Malaysians, Morrocans, Egyptians, Sudanese, Iraqis, Iranians or any of the Muslim dominated governments.

To harken back to the past in Delhi, India in 1398 Chinggis Khan invaded the city. He had Hindu and Muslim prisoners separated. He then ordered all the non-Muslims to be killed. Over 100,000 Hindus were killed that day.

The battle between Buddhism and the Muslim religion which caused the destruction of the statues in Afghanistan dates back to the 1300’s as well.

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