Mohammedanism spread by the sword

The NY Times reports:

In a major speech on Tuesday at Regensburg University, Benedict delivered a long, scholarly address on reason and faith in the West. But he began his speech by recounting a conversation on the truths of Christianity and Islam that took place between a 14th-century Byzantine Christian emperor, Manuel II Paleologus, and a Persian scholar.

"The emperor comes to speak about the issue of jihad, holy war," the pope said.

"He said, I quote, 'Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached,' " the pope said.

While making clear that he was quoting someone else, Benedict did not say whether he agreed or not. He also briefly discussed the Islamic concept of jihad, which he defined as "holy war," and said that violence in the name of religion is contrary to God's nature and to reason.

And so the Mohammedans are going berserk again. Some are even threatening to kill Christians until the Pope apologizes. They are trying to prove the 14C emperor correct.

I am not trying to blame Mohammedans for what Mohammedanism did centuries ago, but they are still are still dominated by those who believe in carrying on a jihad against infidels.

A NY Times editorial says:

For many Muslims, holy war -- jihad -- is a spiritual struggle, and not a call to violence. And they denounce its perversion by extremists, who use jihad to justify murder and terrorism. For many Muslims, holy war - jihad - is a spiritual struggle, and not a call to violence. And they denounce its perversion by extremists, who use jihad to justify murder and terrorism. ... [Pope Benedict XVI] needs to offer a deep and persuasive apology, demonstrating that words can also heal.

Note what the NY Times does not say. It doesn't say that anything the Pope said was false, or that Muhammad spread anything new that was not evil and inhuman. It doesn't deny that Mohammedanism was spread by the sword. It doesn't even say that most Moslems are against murder and terrorism; it just says that many of them are.

That's right. Many Moslems are indeed peaceful and do not believe in jihadist murder of infidels. But I don't think that appeasing murderers and terrorists is going to heal anything.