Sorry for the cheap rip-off of the Demo slogan. Anne Applebaum puts it well in Enough Apologies. I have been thinking along similar lines regarding the death threats by the supposed "leaders" of some Islamic nations. When is enough enough? Is it okay to have the attitude, "you touch my pope and there will be hell (literally) to pay"? I pondered this and the thought of needing to pray for the pope, the Islamic world and so much more. As Ms. Applebaum puts it
All of which is simply beside the point, since nothing the pope has ever said comes even close to matching the vitriol, extremism and hatred that pour out of the mouths of radical imams and fanatical clerics every day, all across Europe and the Muslim world, almost none of which ever provokes any Western response at all. And maybe it's time that it should: When Saudi Arabia publishes textbooks commanding good Wahhabi Muslims to "hate" Christians, Jews and non-Wahhabi Muslims, for example, why shouldn't the Vatican, the Southern Baptists, Britain's chief rabbi and the Council on American-Islamic Relations all condemn them -- simultaneously?
Would it be enough to call for the head of any imam that provokes his followers into assassinating the pope? I love her last paragraph
But if stray comments by Western leaders -- not to mention Western films, books, cartoons, traditions and values -- are going to inspire regular violence, I don't feel that it's asking too much for the West to quit saying sorry and unite, occasionally, in its own defense. The fanatics attacking the pope already limit the right to free speech among their own followers. I don't see why we should allow them to limit our right to free speech, too.
Tip to the Crowhill Blog
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