Pierre Legrand’s Pink Flamingo Bar

Pope Benedict is starting to give me reasons to rejoin the Catholic Faith. If there is such a thing as speaking truth to power then he is fully committed to such a course. No namby pamby beating around the bushes, he goes straight for the central issue regarding Islam’s dealings with the West. The debate about whether Islam can be reformed enough must center around Mohammed himself, his life, his example, since Islam revolves around him. If Mohammed was a radical then exactly how is the religion to reform itself without losing its soul.

BREITBART.COM - Muslims Assail Pope’s Remarks on Islam Turkey’s ruling Islamic-rooted party joined a wave of criticism of Pope Benedict XVI on Friday, accusing him of trying to revive the spirit of the Crusades with remarks he made about Islam. Muslim leaders in the Middle East expressed dismay, and Pakistan’s parliament unanimously condemned him. The Vatican said the pope did not intend the remarks _ made in Germany on Tuesday during an address at a university _ to be offensive. The pope quoted from a book recounting a conversation between 14th century Byzantine Christian Emperor Manuel Paleologos II and a Persian scholar on the truths of Christianity and Islam. “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,’” he quoted the emperor as saying. He did not explicitly agree with them nor repudiate them.

For instance Ralph Peters just put out a polemic published in the otherwise sane NY Post attacking those of us who believe that the issue isn’t radical Islam vs Moderate Islam, but Islam itself. We are called bigots, pollyannas, Nazis by his clever use of Untermenschen and finally ChickenHawks. Naturally he never addresses the central issue of Islam how does Mohammed fit in a moderate version of Islam? Not that he doesn’t realize that Islam needs to be reformed since he states as much twice in the same article. Naturally this begs the question if we are so wrong about Islam why reform it? Ralph and his ilk simply refuse to go to the heart of the matter preferring the easy road of attacking those of us who point out inconvenient facts. The Pope on the otherhand avoids all of that and gives his considerable weight to the central issue of Islam.

Was Mohammed an Islamist? Or was he a moderate?

Do we imagine Mohammed sitting down to discuss why a 14th Century Byzantine Christian Emperor had it all wrong about him. Would it be bigoted of us to imagine him dealing with that 14th Century Emperor in much the same way he dealt with Asma bint Marwan or One singing-girl or Banu Quraiza tribe?

Asma bint Marwan She was a poetess who belonged to a tribe of Medinan pagans. She composed a poem blaming them for obeying a stranger (Muhammad) and for not taking the initiative to attack him by surprise. Perhaps in March 624, when the Allah-inspired Prophet heard what she had said, he asked, “Who will rid me of Marwan’s daughter?” A member of her husband’s tribe volunteered and crept into her house that night. She had five children, and the youngest was sleeping at her breast. The assassin gently removed the child, drew his sword, and plunged it into her, killing her in her sleep. [5]

One singing-girl After Muhammad conquered Mecca in early AD 630, a conquest that saw some bloodshed of twenty-eight Meccans, he showed amnesty to the newly conquered. But on the list of those excluded from amnesty was not only Abdullah b. Katal, collector of legal alms, who had killed his slave for incompetence, apostatized from Islam, and took the money back to Mecca. But his two singing-girls who sang satirical verses about Muhammad, which Abdullah had composed, were also excluded from the list. He was killed, even though he was clinging to the curtain of the Kabah shrine. And one of the girls was killed, but the other ran away until she asked for pardon from Muhammad, who forgave her.

Banu Quraiza tribe After almost a month-long siege, the Prophet Muhammed proposed that Banu Quraiza accept the judgment of a man named Sad bin Muadh. Sad offered a simple final solution: Behead every single postpubescent male of the tribe–approximately 600-800 males; take all the females as slaves; divide up their property among the Muslims who accompanied the Prophet.

We do no favors to the true reformers of Islam by denying the tremendous obstacles they must overcome to reach a version of Islam that will live peacefully next to its neighbors. A version of Islam which can co-exist with democracies and laws which declare the individual has the right to choose how to live his life. A right to choose or unchoose his religion. A right to demand equal treatment under the laws. Those of us still confused about moderate vs radical Islam might want to start asking, “What would Mohammed do?”.

Other posts relating to Islam relevant to their moderate temperament.

• Bravery found in unexpected places against Islams fanatics but not in the US.
• Understanding the threat in Europe, is it too late?
• Eurabia, Censorship in England, Moderate Islam the Mirage in the Desert
• So what is a moderate Muslim  UPDATE: More at Sweetness & Light , Dumb Ox News delightful rant, PJ Media Michelle Malkin I support the Pope , California Conservative

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