• Religion Of Peace? Right.
  
  Apparently, if you're going to say anything about Muslims or Islam other than "Praise Allah!", it darn well better be something nice. The Holy Father made a few historically correct and spiritually insightful remarks last week…
  
  

  Citing historic Christian commentary on holy war and forced conversion, the 79-year-old pontiff quoted from a 14th-century Byzantine emperor, Manuel II Paleologos.
  
  "The emperor comes to speak about the issue of jihad, holy war," the pope said. "He said, I quote, '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.' "
  
  Clearly aware of the sensitivity of the issue, Benedict added, "I quote," twice before pronouncing the phrases on Islam and described them as "brusque," while neither explicitly agreeing with nor repudiating them.
  
  "The emperor goes on to explain in detail the reasons why spreading the faith through violence is something unreasonable," Benedict said.
  
  "Violence is incompatible with the nature of God and the nature of the soul," the pope said, issuing an open invitation to dialogue among cultures.

  
  
  …and now every turban-and-burqua wearing wackjob in the world has gone all to hell over it:
  
  

  

  
  
  And a number of bloggers are going out of their way to show support for the Pontiff:
  
  

  

  
  
  Of course, since this involves that "religion of peace" known as Islam, waving signs isn't enough for a great many of the wackos:
  
  

  An Iraqi militant group led by al Qaeda vowed a war against the "worshippers of the cross" in response to a recent speech by Pope Benedict on Islam that sparked anger across the Muslim world.
  
  "We tell the worshipper of the cross (the Pope) that you and the West will be defeated, as is the case in Iraq, Afghanistan, Chechnya," said an Internet statement by the Mujahideen Shura Council, an umbrella group led by Iraq's branch of al Qaeda.
  "We shall break the cross and spill the wine. ... God will (help) Muslims to conquer Rome. ... God enable us to slit their throats, and make their money and descendants the bounty of the mujahideen," said the statement.

  
  
  Tell me again, Mr. President, how Islam is "is a peaceful religion, a religion that respects others."
  
  Can you believe that Dubya actually said that? Look, the guy has a ranch. He oughta know BS when he sees it.
  
  Religion of peace, my ass.
  
  Islamabad threw some fuel on the fire:
  
  

  Pakistan's parliament on Friday unanimously adopted a resolution condemning Pope Benedict XVI for making what it called "derogatory" comments about Islam, and seeking an apology from him for hurting the sentiments of Muslims...
  
  "Anyone who describes Islam as a religion as intolerant encourages violence," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam said.

  
  
  Yep... Islam is a very tolerant religion... and the Muslims will wage war against you if you say different!
  
  What's more, you make 'em mad enough, they'll kill nuns:
  
  

  Gunmen killed an Italian nun at a children's hospital in Mogadishu on Sunday in an attack that drew immediate speculation of links to Muslim anger over the Pope's recent remarks on Islam...
  
  "I was in class when I heard about six to eight shots, I ran out and saw sister bleeding," Fatuma Hassan, 21, told Reuters.
  
  "We're so sad. It's a big loss."

  
  
  Just chalk it up to a lesson learned. And, if the past five years have been any indication, a lesson that will be forgotten in about fifteen minutes.
  

  

  
  
  And, besides, "radical Christianity is just as threatening as radical Islam." If you don't believe me, just ask that tub of co-host, Rosie O'Donnell:
  




• Emanuel! Christ Among Us! NOT!
  
  Rey linked to this video this weekend. Apparently, everything you've ever been taught by any Christian church you've ever attended has been wrong. How can I say that? Well, because the lord himself has come back… and he dresses like a Columbian coke cartel general.

  
  There are people who follow this guy? Come on, nobody would really buy into an obviously fake religion just because it's glitzy and glamorous and explains away human failures very easily… would they?




• Another Reason To Mourn Steve Irwin
  
  According to the National Review, the Crocodile Hunter didn't just have a big heart and a big image… he had a brain, too. The National Review reports that Irwin was not…
  
  

  …the sort of leftist-environmentalist nag that infests this zone of human activity. To the contrary, he was a political conservative, and a strong supporter of Australia’s robustly sensible premier John Howard, whom he once described, to some derision from the Australian media, as “the greatest leader in the entire world.”

  
  
  RIP, Steve. We hardly knew you.



• Those Mean Old Metallica Fans
  
  Apparently, Metallica's failed producer for about fifteen years, Bob Rock, has a bone to pick with a number of the band's fans. It seems that some of us have hurt Bob's feelings… or at least, according to Bob, we've confused his children:
  
  

  A behind-the-scenes look at that tumultuous (St. Anger) project was featured in the… unflinching documentary "Metallica: Some Kind of Monster." A petition that some 1,500 fans signed subsequently was posted online calling for Metallica to dump Rock, claiming he had too much influence on the band's sound.
  
  "The criticism was hurtful for my kids, who read it and don't understand the circumstances," Rock says. "Sometimes, even with a great coach, a team keeps losing. You have to get new blood in there."

  
  
  And sometimes a lame producer causes a well-written album to sound like crap. Either way, Rock is out of the picture and an amazingly talented producer is on board. Metallica fans have reason to anticipate the next album.

Labels: Blogs, Links, Metallica, Music, News, Politics, You Tube

Permalink -- Posted by Darrell at 12:39