I should have put up this link...
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/a...ow/1998666.cms

Dead on.

Hard to imagine the Pope and his advisors not knowing how his remarks would be taken.

you're talking about the catholic church. they don't care. they have their own agenda, the hell with anything that gets in its way. look at the aids epidemic in africa. the church was asked to soften it's stance on birth control, as condom use no doubt would impact the future of aids on that continent. OH NO...we can't do THAT. use of birth control is a sin--but turning a disinterested eye while an epidemic rages isn't i suppose. save lives?? HAH. nope, gotta promote their stance on the issue. no condoms, better to die than possibly prevent a pregnancy....

Catholics, Baptists, Jews, Muslims, etc., they are all full of crap and have their own agenda. To think one religion is worse than the others is ridiculous. Each one is full of it. Not one of them is about anything more than money. God=Good, Religion=Bad.

you forgot to finish with ' and that'll cost you 10%'

yeah, they all are--but since this thread was on the catholic church, i pretty much stuck with them.

ok..so if he "half - assed apologized, does that mean that "papal infallability"
no longer applies?
If you're half wrong, does that mean you're only half right?

i think papal infallability went down the tubes with galileo, didn't it? or maybe with the borgia pope.... or maybe when free will was suddenly hunky dory, after years of being declared a heresy if you dared suggest man had free will....or how about when limbo was suddenly no longer in effect.

pfft again.

The last paragraph of this article says more.
I haven't read the speech.
Seems to me he's charted a course that will have ongoing repercussions.
A dead nun in Somalia, diplomats recalled from the Vatican...geesh!
Can anyone please explain what the heck he's doing?

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article...362944,00.html

I'm still trying to figure out Benedict's agenda. Lots of apologies, but the flames are roaring.
I agree with the last paragraph of this article,"calm and dialogue".
It might take a while to calm this fire down.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/nation...s_Mideast.html

In today's world news...
http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?...ni_sept19_2006

More news...
http://apnews.myway.com//article/200...D8K7B5UO1.html

As of today, I would have thought things would calm down a bit.
Not so.
Despite three messages of regret, the murder of a nun in Somalia, and six churches in Gaza and the West bank torched, there are calls for Holy War throughout the Islamic world. The Crusades have not been forgotten.
Is this Revelation in the making?
I sure hope not.
Faith can not be brought with the sword, any more than it can be by inflammatory speech.

I pray for peace.

Sad and scary!

Timm,
It is very sad and scary.
I just saw something from London where an Islamic cleric called for the assasination of the Pope...burning flags and effigies..outrage.
Tragic stuff!
This will breed more religious fanatics (terrorists).

What's ironic about this whole thing is that these militant Muslims are making the Pope look like he was right. The Pope was saying that it's a violent religion and now these militants are calling for the killing of the Pope and the killing of Christians, etc.

You would think that they would do the opposite. If they want to show that the Pope's remarks were incorrect, they should all be calling for restraint. They should be saying that his comments were incorrect and ignorant. By calling for violence, they are making his comments look correct.

That is the only religion that you are not allowed to say anything bad about. If you say anything bad about their religion they want to kill you.

Sounds like this is the only thing these factions agree on....

This article is pretty long but definitely worth the time.
It one of the clearest explanations I've seen.

http://www.theherald.co.uk/features/70300.html

No, I believe you are wrong. Nearly all Muslims practice and are here practicing restraint. However, the fraction of a percent of Muslms that does not is what makes news or, better said, is considered newsworthy by those who have newspapers and airtime advertising to sell.

Nearly all Muslim clerics and community leaders have indeed accused the Pope of displaying ignorance or bigotry. Arguably true.

Yet today, the Muslim Council of Great Britain welcomed and accepted the Pope's apology for his remarks.

You won't see this reported on Fox News nor will it see much airtime on CNN or the U.S. broadcast networks. That's just the way it is. BBC certainly had more balance to the story than the U.S. networks as I watched the news today.

When you say of Islam, "That is the only religion that you are not allowed to say anything bad about. If you say anything bad about their religion they want to kill you," that is lamentable and very wrong.

One observation I've made is that you rarely just see one comma. They usually come in pairs. And you rarely see intolerance without ignorance.

I say this not of you but of all of us.

The pope made the Catholic church look foolish. And then at the same time made the more radical elements of Islam look like rabid dogs. Again they take to the streets, just like with the idiotic cartoons, and make themselves look like out of control thugs.

So it was a good week for the atheists. They got not only ONE but TWO of the world's largest religions looking like war-mongering fools.

Is there anyway for the leader of a religious group to just say, "yeah, whatever." ? And then mildly go about their day without imposing their unyielding, intolerant insanity on others.

Yes I heard the great outcry from the Imams saying, yeah, whatever. Dont take to the streets, it would just be foolish and make us look like the West wants us to look... Intolerant, violent, zealots.

Sadly, I did not see any statements from Islamic leaders that this was a somewhat ignorant regretful statement, BUT, dont be as stupid as this Western religious leader who made a statement he really should apologize for. Did you see any mention of this STS? Hold back, we are better than that?
I did not.