Pope Extends Invitation

In an effort to defuse the Muslim reaction to his earlier speech, the Pope has extended an invitation to the ambassadors of Muslim nations and various clerics to meet and discuss his remarks within the proper context. I doubt many will show since rational dialog could possibly end their reasons for throwing a tantrum.

This past February 3, 2006, in a sermon calling for an earlier “rage” (or what I termed a “Jackass Jihad”; see below) against the publication of 12 rather tame Danish cartoons depicting the Muslim prophet Muhammad, Qaradawi exhorted his millions of Muslim followers to “rage in anger”. He maintained,

It is told that Imam Al-Shafi’ [d. 820, founder of the Shafi’ite school of Islamic jurisprudence] said: ‘Whoever was angered and did not rage is a jackass.’ We are not a nation of jackasses. We are not jackasses for riding, but lions that roar. We are lions that zealously protect their dens, and avenge affronts to their sanctities. We are not a nation of jackasses. We are a nation that should rage for the sake of Allah, His Prophet, and His book. We are the nation of Muhammad, and we must never accept the degradation of our religion.

Sheikh Qaradawi’s calls for “days of rage” — earlier in response to the Danish cartoons , and now following Benedict’s speech — reflect his own devout jihadism, most notably Qaradawi’s previous characterization of Muhammad as the prototype jihadist

“Whoever was angered and did not rage is a jackass.” Now that’s rational thought.

Maybe the Pope ought to consider this invitation:

The elder son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has called on Pope Benedict XVI to convert to Islam immediately, dismissing last week’s apology from the pontiff for offending Muslims.

“If this person were really someone reasonable, he would not agree to remain at his post one minute, but would convert to Islam immediately,” Mohammed Gaddafi told an awards ceremony on Monday evening for an international competition to memorise the Qur’an.

“We say to the pope – whether you apologise or not is irrelevant, as apologies make no difference to us.”

Okay, then. I’m confused. First they demand an apology but then Gaddafi Jr. says it makes no difference. Ah, it must be because they will behave like jackasses no matter what the Pope or the west does.