(Shakespeare, Henry V)
Now that most of the heat has died down (and the worst of my school work is over), we find columnist Tony Blankley reflecting on Pope Benedict's visit to Turkey. He quotes from writer Michael D O'Brien:
"Benedict is a man of charity and of truth, and rarer still, he is a man who has integrated both within his life and teaching. In a sense he is like St Francis of Assisi, who in 1219, during the Crusades, walked into the midst of the Saracen camp and preached for days, and eventually spoke with the Sultan of Egypt in the hope of converting him... He was a sign of contradiction to all parties in the wars. He was unarmed. He was a presence of Christ to the major adversary of Christian civilization in those times.
"So, too, Pope Benedict continues to be a sign of contradiction..."
Benedict would make a better chess player than a poker player. Some radtrad Catholics don't get this. They want dramatic statements like the popes of the nineteenth century, none of whom had to look an imam in the face with the threat of assassination in the air.
Our tip of the Black Hat this week is for Ms Shaidle, who brings this insight to our attention, and who also wishes she had written this other one: "The real message is, exactly how brave do you have to be before you shut people up? This Pope is brave enough to die. There is no Islamic equivalent. Muslim fascists are brave enough to form a mob and make silly signs. If they all want to die as martyrs, wouldn't it be easier for all of them to march off a cliff, rather than blow up drunks like me in bars?"
Good question, eh?
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