Pope Speaks Truth, Draws Unintentional Laughs...

In his speech at the University of Regensburg, Pope Benedict quoted criticism of Islam and the Prophet Mohammad by 14th century Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Palaeologus, who wrote that everything Mohammad brought was evil and inhuman, "such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached."

Benedict repeatedly quoted Manuel's argument that spreading the faith through violence is unreasonable, adding: "Violence is incompatible with the nature of God and the nature of the soul."

The reaction was swift.

"It is obvious from the statements that the Pope doesn't have a correct understanding of Islam," said Din Syamsuddin, chairman of Muhammadiyah, the second largest Islamic organization in Indonesia.

That's right!

More clarification here...

Some photos containing the "correct understanding of Islam":

Burning the religious leader of the West for a "remark" certainly seems like a "proportionate" and peacful response...

A masked Palestinian man from the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade attends a rally in Gaza to protest against remarks regarding Islam made by Pope Benedict XVI September 15, 2006.

Yeah.

The Washington Post brings us more guffaws:

A medieval reference in an academic lecture by Pope Benedict XVI unleashed a wave of denunciations, outrage and frustration across the Muslim world Friday...

Yup! Just takes a reference to unleash waves of outrage...sounds like the WaPost is trying to tell us to shut up; and not to make them mad....and of course, they block for the seething mobs:

The reception to the pope's speech in Germany on Tuesday was a reminder of the precarious, suspicious state of affairs between a West that often views Islam as a faith in need of reform and a Muslim world that feels besieged in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks...

I'm so sorry you feel beseiged! How do you think these folks felt?

And just what was the reference that set the Religion of Peace atwitter?

The pope began his lecture at the University of Regensburg by quoting from a 14th-century dialogue between the Byzantine emperor, Manuel II Paleologos, and a Persian scholar.... in which Manuel questioned the teachings of Islam's prophet, Muhammad.
"Show me just what Muhammad 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," Benedict quoted the emperor as saying.
The pope neither explicitly endorsed nor denounced the emperor's words, but rather used them as a preface to a discussion of faith and reason.

If that's enough to cause angst among the Muslim faithful, what right of revenge do the Jews have, after being called "pigs" and "apes" by virtually every Mufti in the Middle East?