Is there something just a little bit off, here? From today's wires, via The Houston Post:

CAIRO, Egypt — An al-Qaida-linked extremist group warned Pope Benedict XVI on Monday that he and the West were "doomed," as protesters returned to the streets across the Muslim world to demand more of an apology from the pontiff for his remarks about Islam and violence. The Mujahedeen Shura Council, an umbrella organization of Sunni Arab extremist groups that includes al-Qaida in Iraq, issued a statement on a Web forum vowing to continue its holy war against the West. The authenticity of the statement could not be independently verified.

The group said Muslims would be victorious and addressed the pope as "the worshipper of the cross" saying "you and the West are doomed as you can see from the defeat in Iraq, Afghanistan, Chechnya and elsewhere. ... We will break up the cross, spill the liquor and impose head tax, then the only thing acceptable is a conversion (to Islam) or (killed by) the sword." Islam forbids drinking alcohol and requires non-Muslims to pay a head tax to safeguard their lives if conquered by Muslims. They are exempt if they convert to Islam.

Stephen Brown, in FrontPage mag today:

Pope Benedict released a storm of outrage in the Muslim world last week during his six-day trip to his native Bavaria when he quoted a medieval Byzantine emperor during a lecture at Regensburg University. The supposedly offensive passage the Pope cited occurred in an exchange the medieval Christian Emperor Paleologus II had with a Persian scholar, in which he called the Mohammed’s teachings regarding Holy War “evil and inhumane.” Benedict XVI went even further in his lecture, saying that to spread a faith through violence is against reason and therefore against God, since God is a rational being. As with the Danish cartoon scandal earlier this year, the Muslim world erupted into almost uncontrollable fury against the German pope, charging that he had insulted Islam. Besides numerous demonstrations accompanied by demands for an apology, an Italian nun has been shot dead in Somalia and three churches have been firebombed in the West Bank and Gaza. A leading representative of Turkey’s ruling party, Salih Kapusuz, also compared the Catholic leader with Hitler and Mussolini.

.....Vatican and other European security officials also now fear an attempt may be made on the pope’s life. A Turkish Muslim extremist severely wounded Pope John Paul II in an assassination attempt in 1981, while an al-Qaeda plot to kill him with a bomb on a visit to the Philippines was broken up in 1995.

Observers say what Pope Benedict actually intended with his comments in Regensburg was to invite Muslims into a dialogue of religions, specifically on the subject of violence -- which is needed at the moment, considering the Islamist terrorist cells constantly being uncovered in Western countries and the large number of Muslims living in the West, who want Shari'a law. The violence referred to, however, just doesn’t include Holy War, but also concerns such matters as the stoning to death of adulterous couples or executing those who convert from Islam to another religion. Benedict has always stated he is against any use of violence in the name of religion.

Does it not seem as though Muslim extremists are proving his point, even as he has apologized amidst the outrage? Where are the many good, majority Muslims who eschew violence, threats, forced conversions, and Holy War; who welcome constructive dialog and rapprochement with The West? Why do they not speak out against the rage, the burnings in effigy in response to Benedict's concerns, such as that pictured above right - in Basra, Iraq? Are they afraid?

TECHNORATI TAGS: POPE BENEDICT, VIOLENCE, ISLAM, MUJHAHEDEEN SHURA COUNCIL, FORCED CONVERSIONS, HEAD TAX, HOLY WAR