Too Many Ironies in the Fire

By now a thousand commentators will have chimed in on the tiring predictability and utter lack of self-awareness of global Islam, as it responds to mild verbal criticism with acts of violence, both verbal and physical, big and small, in response to Pope Benedict’s remarks about Islam on Friday in Germany. By now, the burning effigies and the tossed grenades will probably have degenerated into real fatalities, as they can always be counted on to do.

The funniest lead so far is from the Chinese business newspaper, The Standard, which was written, I’m sure, without a trace of ironic intention:

“A wave of Muslim outrage is sweeping the globe after Pope Benedict linked Islam with violence.”

But I really don’t think it’s funny, after all. The behavior of Muslims is getting monotonous, acting as they do like the world's biggest collection of strong-willed children.

Here we have an Indian cleric threatening that the Pope must take back what he said about Muslims and violence, "otherwise Muslims of the world will take to the streets in protest" (violently, of course). Another cleric was quoted as saying "that Muslims all over the world had been enraged by the Pope’s unprovoked comments against Islam. He said this could lead to 'devastating results' if the Pope did not apologise. “Unhein iska bada khaamiyaza bhugatna pad sakta hai,” he said, meaning to say that the Christian world may have to pay heavily for this indiscretion." And I don't think he meant that we'd pay in money.

So we get to watch the pattern repeat again —the demands for apologies from Islamic leaders, the threats of escalating violence unless there is some form of reparation, and then the preservation of the injury where it can be trotted out forever by Islam’s leaders as yet one more excuse for violence and calls for death to America. This by religious leaders who regularly refer to Christians and Jews as pigs and apes.

Locally, Detroit’s Archbishop, Cardinal Adam Maida, has been summoned to a meeting with Imam Sayed Hassan Qazwini of the Islamic Center of America, who had the audacity to criticize Benedict for being “more political than spiritual.” The arch-hypocrite Qazwini hasn’t been bashful about his own entanglement with politics, having been political condemning the United States:

“Imam Hassan Qazwini used his Friday prayer service at the Islamic Center of America to condemn the United States, saying it was killing innocent Afghan citizens. 'We should not accept this, said Mr. Qazwini, who had used his sermons immediately after the attack to denounce Mr. bin Laden. 'Just as we were outraged and hurt by the thousands of people who were killed in New York, we are also hurt and outraged to see many hundreds of people being killed in Afghanistan. We are terrorizing a whole nation because a few terrorists live behind them.'"

A Shiite cleric in Pakistan is accusing the Pope of "reviving the mentality of the Crusades." The mentality of the Crusades meant the West thought it would be a good idea to fight back after years of invasions, wars, and provocations by Islam. It was the mentality of the Crusades that makes it possble for the French to despise us for our bad French, instead of for our bad Arabic. (Stay tuned on that one.) Maybe the Pakistani cleric is right. Maybe the Pope does have the makings of the mentality of the Crusades in mind.

That's what a lot of us have been praying for.