Calm Down!

For some reason, I'm really into this Middle Eastern dispute between the Pope and Muslims.

The article I found today expounds on the Pope's previous faux pax a bit:

The pope on Sunday said he was "deeply sorry" about the angry reaction to his speech last week in which he cited the words of a Byzantine emperor who characterized some of the teachings of Islam's Prophet Muhammad as "evil and inhuman" and referred to spreading Islam "by the sword."

Note that they added the "by the sword." I didn't hear the original speech nor have I seen it written down anywhere, so everytime they add a new quote like this, it's news to me. But in the same article, they had this quote by the Mujahedeen Shura Council, an extremist Islamic group that includes al-Qaida in Iraq:

The group 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 head tax, then the only thing acceptable is a conversion (to Islam) or (killed by) the sword."

Note the same "sword" reference. The liquor and head tax reference is explained in the article. If they had truly listened to the Pope's speech, could they truly be so ignorant as to prove him right like that? Maybe this was all taken out of context. I hope so!

Then the article brought up this memory:

The protests and violence have stirred up memories of the fury over cartoons that were published in a Danish newspaper of the Prophet Muhammad. Angry demonstrations took place in many countries, and some of the violence was directed at Western targets and Christian churches.

Remember that? Honestly, I'm glad I have a Savior who can stand up for Himself! I mean, come on! Our own country makes fun of Jesus - He lives in South Park for crying out loud!