Laff, riot
Pope Benedict XVI makes one a little nostalgic for the pontificate of his scholarly predecessor. He is a public figure, wrongly seen as representative of the West in much of the Muslim world (an image he certainly cultivates). John Paul II, at least, had some idea of the value of diplomacy and tact; Benedict exhibited his shortcomings in that department when he cravenly donned the mask of 14th-century Byzantine emperor Manuel II Paleologus to say “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.”But of course, religious wackos never do their best work alone. The predictable response was riots and terror of the kind that makes one almost forget the hundreds of millions of completely non-idiotic Muslims who make up the huge majority of that faith’s adherents. Much of the protest, happily, was peaceful, calling for an outright apology from Benedict over his remarks. I rate it unlikely that he will apologize (after all, his god is bigger or whatever).
In Jakarta, though, the organizer of a reportedly peaceful demonstration trumped the papal pedi-oral insertion with pure absurdity, taking top honors for saying the single stupidest, and funniest, thing uttered in the course of this brouhaha. A certain Heri Budianto proclaimed that “Only Muslims can understand what jihad is. It is impossible that jihad can be linked with violence, we Muslims have no violent character [my emphasis].” Maybe he ought to go on a standup tour with venal former US Representative Tom DeLay and his buddy, Baptist minister Rick Scarborough!
If it weren’t funny, it might be sad. Keep smiling.
Update: Still a putz.
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