Apologies
So the Pope said some stuff about Mohammed that riled up Muslims around the world. And now he's apologized. Sort of. It depends who you ask.
The AP, for instance, says that Benedict stopped short of the full apology that the Muslims demanded.
Al Jazeera, however, acts as if it's a full apology.
Who's right? Well, both. Neither. To me, it sounds like one of those wishy-washy apologies: "I'm sorry you feel that way" as opposed to "I'm sorry I hurt you."
Here's what the Vatican said:
"[Pope Benedict XVI] sincerely regrets that certain passages of his address could have sounded offensive to the sensitivities of the Muslim faithful and should have been interpreted in a manner that in no way corresponds to his intentions."
I don't know. Maybe something is lost in translation between German, Italian, English, and Arabic. I just wish he hadn't felt the need to apologize at all.
4 comments:
Let me get this straight. The pope quotes a statement made about 400 years ago about Muslims being violent, and today's Muslims react with violent riots around the world? And the pope makes a feeble apology? Hmm.
I think it is high time for the peaceful Muslims around the world to publicly denounce the actions of the terrorist Muslims.
I think it is high time for the peaceful Muslims around the world to publicly denounce the actions of the terrorist Muslims.
I just love it when I find something we can agree on . . . . this is loooong past due!!
Why thank you, Neith!
I noticed in the news this morning that the Muslim activitists have also detected the distinction made by Sotosoroto. Guess they read his blog! ;)
The Washington Post's Anne Applebaum weighs in with a very sensible comment on the kerfuffle over the pope and Islam:
"We can all unite in our support for freedom of speech--surely the pope is allowed to quote from medieval texts--and of the press. And we can also unite, loudly, in our condemnation of violent, unprovoked attacks on churches, embassies and elderly nuns. By "we" I mean here the White House, the Vatican, the German Greens, the French Foreign Ministry, NATO, Greenpeace, Le Monde and Fox News--Western institutions of the left, the right and everything in between. True, these principles sound pretty elementary--"we're pro-free speech and anti-gratuitous violence"--but in the days since the pope's sermon, I don't feel that I've heard them defended in anything like a unanimous chorus."
Amen to that.
This excerpt from http://www.opinionjournal.com/best/
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