Watching one medieval anachronism insult another would be pretty laughable if it didn't have such tragic consequences.

And Pat Robertson has no navy. But we have a big dangerous problem now that G.W. Bush says openly that Muslims are our enemies. Now, officially, he is fighting "ISLAMIC terrorists" and "Islamic fascists," rather than just terrorists and fascists.

John Paul II was in the Polish Resistance? When the fuck did that happen??

You spelled "Muslim" wrong.

Why would anyone be surprised by this Pope's catholic chauvinism? Just look at the position he held prior to his election . . . head of the office that is the church's 21st century descendant of the Inquisition.

Not since Garrison Keillor have I read such insights into the International Catholic Conspiracy.

It's hard to quibble with perhaps the confrontational nature of his comments. So be it. First and foremost the Pope is the advocate for the Catholic church. All else is subsumed by that. And while I, an observant Jew have no special love for this or any Pope, I have to believe that at some point you stand up and say what you mean, consequences be damned.

It's convenient to tack a target on the Pope because, after all, the Catholic church is centralized. Unlike Islam where any leader can spout off at will and say whatever retarded inflammatory thing pops into their silly bigotted heads and everyone else can claim "Well he doesn't speak for us". But in fact they do, sometimes, somewhere.

In the meantime the editorial boards of the Guardian and cos. can make it their cause célèbre to affect blind spineless acceptance of anything in an interesting hat and frothing anger by proxy for anyone and anything that isn't as perversely intolerant as they themselves are. Of course anyone mad enough to kill you must have some kind of good enough reason to do so. And aren't those quaint robes interesting? Where can I get one?

Isn't it darkly amusing that Fallaci didn't get death threats from Muslims and didn't get sued and censured by Muslims but by fellow liberal postmodern Eurocrats? Isn't it darkly amusing that Islam, or least the face it presents to the west is so hidebound so incurious that the religion of peace becomes the sharp point of the spear?

So perhaps we need not examine their anger too closely. Perhaps THEY need to do that. Perhaps a world faith of one out of six people on the planet needs to examine what it is about itself that foments such insecurity that causes its followers to violently believe it is under assault by everyone everywhere at all times? Perhaps instead of pointing at Papal paranoia they should look at their own.

Madeline Bunting? Salon, where did you find that cunt?

From the Associated Press:

""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...

Al-Qaida in Iraq said Muslims would be victorious and addressed the pope as "the worshipper of the cross" saying "you and the West are doomed as you can see from the defeat in Iraq, Afghanistan, Chechnya and elsewhere. ... We will break up the cross, spill the liquor and impose the 'jizya' tax, then the only thing acceptable is a conversion (to Islam) or (being killed by) the sword.""

Ms. Bunting, I don't see any exclusion for you or your ilk from the coming neck-chopping and doom to the West. Unlike the US, where anti-Catholic bigotry remains one of the few acceptable forms of public predjudice, the Islamists do not worry about such distinctions. An infidel is an infidel is an infidel, and an infidel is a resident of the West. I die, you die, we all die (unless, of course, we convert).

This abject failure to recognize the real threat is why I and so many other millions fear for the future. While the left and other apologists for truly dangerous theocrats dither and make excuses for intimidation and murder, our self-stated enemies gather their forces and strength in preparation for a bloodbath they see as inevitable and divinely ordained.

The ravings of some fanatical extremists are as indicitive of the true face of Islam as the ravings of Adolf Hitler are of the true face of the West.

I expect terrorists to talk crazy shit, it's part of what they do. But it's kind of sad to see educated Americans taking that same crazy shit at face value and mistaking it for the true face of another culture.

Get a grip already, Peter, this clash of cultures BS is exactly what the jihadists want you to believe. Are you always this succeptible to enemy propaganda?

This article is appalling. Churches and Christians are being attacked with violence, and the Pope's comments are blamed? How is this different from blaming a woman for her rape because she happens to be wearing provocative clothing?

As a proud liberal and a proud feminist, I am more and more revolted by fellow liberals who stay silent about Muslim oppression of women, denial of free speech, death threats against "apostates and infidels," and violent attacks upon those who criticize them. Even worse are those who blame the victims.

Dear Ms. Bunting. It's not the Catholic Church you need to fear. Dear Salon. You should be deeply, deeply ashamed.

I'm really not sure why everyone is so suprised at Pope Benedict's bone-headed quotations regarding Islam. Considering that the Catholic Church considers itself to be the one true faith and that all other religions are at best misguided or at worst evil, his comments should come as no great shock. After all, this man was the church's bulldog on issues of dogma and faith for years. No surprise that he would lack any real understanding of other teachings.

What is surprising at just how absurdly naive and flatfooted his comments are, and how reliculously predictable the church's two-step has been since. Sure, the Pope was quoting someone else (though why he had to pick that particular quote to speak about religious violence - if that was indeed his goal - is beyond me). But he had to know that the reaction was going to be swift and strong.

The church them compounded the problem, first with the meally mouthed "he didn't mean to offend anyone" half-appology, and then with the Pope himself finally making a week appology days later, after several churches in the Middle East were attacked, a nun was shot dead and Christians throughout the Muslim world feared for their lives.

The Popes comments were like poking an angry bear with a sharp stick. He could not be blind to the fact that the Muslim world would respond negatively to his statement. And given the church's history towards other religions - the Crusades, the Inquisition, the witch hunts and forced conversion of Pagans, Jews, Muslims, Native Americans, etc... his organization has little ground to stand on when it comes to religious violence unless they want to speak of their own misguided history.