-The Pope quotes a 14th-century Byzantine emperor who says that Islam uses violence to achieve its goals.
-The Pope expresses regret for the offense his remarks caused, but doesn't retract the statements. He said he wanted to open a dialogue.
-Muslims around the world protest. They deny that Islam is violent, and some are declaring jihad on the Roman Catholic Church.
It's obvious that news travels pretty fast through the Islamic world, without the listeners paying any attention to the actual news. Somebody says: "The pope criticized Islam," and the riots start, with nobody asking "What did he say?" For if they did, you'd think they would realize how stupid they'd look using violence to protest a claim that Islam is violent.
Remember the cartoon controversy of a few months ago?
Anti-Christian zealots like to blame Christianity for every war and ill in the world. But since the Crusades, those in the churches called Christian tend to fight one another, as in Northern Ireland. And there has been some recent Christian-Muslim violence in various parts of the world. But those seem small compared to the worldwide explosion at any slight perceived by Islam. And where is any sect of Christianity setting off car bombs and beheading people?
Yes, I know Muslims. My dentist is a Muslim; best one I ever had. A total nice guy.
But there is a fundamental problem in Islam that it produces such bloodthirsty thuggery at the drop of a hat. The pope says "Let's talk." Some Muslim extremists say, "God enable us to slit their throats." Doesn't that just make you feel all warm and fuzzy?