Pope angers Muslims

My love affair with Pope Benedict XVI continues. Finally a pope that is not afraid to speak truth! The current uproar is due to a lecture the pope gave on Tuesday. In this lecture the pontiff quotes a 14th century text that says:

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

Ironicaly the response to the quote is exactly what the pope was speaking against. The main point of the lecture (which is quite good, though very academic) is that spreading faith by the means of violence is against the nature of God. He spends a good deal of time dealing with what "rationalism" is and the nature of how Greek philosophical thought has affected Christianity. It's a good lecture and it's unfortunate that the Muslim world is focusing on that one quote rather than listening to the rest of what he was saying. Then again as one person said,

The message he is sending is very, very clear," Taft said. "Violence in the name of faith is never acceptable in any religion and that (the pope) considers it his duty to challenge Islam and anyone else on this.

Perhaps this is the pope's way of entering the fray of our overly PC world - particularly the European world that he spends most of his time in. Either way it's nice to see a Christian leader willing to point out the inconsistencies in Islam to the world and hold the Muslim leaders accountable.