Reply #3: Ain't it a kicker that one needs to post one's

[MADem]

theological bona fides (or lack thereof!!) ahead of any discussion to try, often unsuccessfully, to circumvent any flamethrowing?

I found the level of outrage over this matter curious, myself. Almost staged, as if there was a bit of DELIBERATE stretching and obscuring of the true nature of the words solely to whip up a bit of frenzy. The media picked up the small whines and eagerly fanned the flames like they were touting a cage match. The so-called "religious leaders" who were offended didn't help matters either--instead of calling for discussion or offering measured objections, they pitched a hissyfit and seemed to delight in ascribing the words of a 14th Century dead emperor to a live Pope, as though they were spoiling for a fight.

The whole goal seemed to be a foregone effort to point towards this: get the people in the streets, yelling, hollering, and burning flags (but not Vatican flags, ironically).

But if one sent someone out amongst the demonstrators to ask if they actually bothered to read Benny's speech, and I doubt you'd find a soul in a crowd of any thousand fist-wavers who actually sat down and read it, either in the original German or any translation. And I'll bet most of them believe that either BushCo and BlairCo are tools of the Vatican, or the Vatican works for them.

If, every time an Ayatullah, mullah or imam called for the death of this or that infidel, demonstrations resulted by the aggrieved parties, no work in the world would get done at all.