My close reading of Pope Benedict XVI’s speech at the University
of Regensburg makes two things clear. First, the Pope intended, unambiguously, to incite Islam. The quotations from Emperor Manuel II Paleologus were absolutely gratuitous and unrelated
to the subject matter of the rest of the speech. In case you didn’t read my last sentence carefully, the part of
the Pope’s speech dealing with Islam had nothing to do with the rest of the
speech. It was tacked on for political
purposes.
Even worse, it was a
truly outrageous and disingenuous quote. Paleologus was leading an army against
Islam at the time he made his statement.
Second, Pope Benedict XVI is one of the better minds of the 12th Century.
The man has the knowledge and understanding of a person
1,000 years out of date. He has learned
nothing from the experiences of the world over the past ten centuries. He mistakenly thinks European Enlightenment is the direct
beneficiary of Roman Catholic theology.It isn't. On the otherhand, 15 centuries of warfare, slaughter and anti-Semitism can be
laid on the steps of the Church right up to and including the IRA terrorists.
But since the Pope, in his speech, is still fighting against the Protestant Reformation and the rise of science he shows how out of touch he is and that the Church has no claim on the European Enlightenment. The Pope doesn’t even know the Industrial Revolution happened.
Read the Pope’s speech if you don’t believe me.