Free Republic

Top News Story Western military buildup underway in the Middle East. Global Research published a major report on the military build-up of conventional, ground, air, naval, and nuclear forces in and around the Middle East and Central Asia. The probability of another war in the Middle East is high. Caroline Glick, The Jerusalem Post reported that the clouds of the coming war are converging upon Israel. But our political and military leaders refuse to look up at the darkening sky.   US confident Russia and China will join in sanctions on Iran. The Washington Times reported that the United...

Top News Story Ahmadinejad to shake up his cabinet. Iran Press News reported that a source close to Ahmadinejad's cabinet said that in the coming days vast changes will be taking place within the administration. The first to leave will be the oil minister; Vaziri Hamaneh is expected to be dismissed from the cabinet.   Ahmadinejad fails to deliver his economic miracle. Inter Press Service reported that Iranian citizens are wondering if Ahmadinejad will ever make good on an election promise to crack down on the corrupt and distribute Iran's vast oil revenues more equitably.BBC News reported that Iran's...

Top News Story Ahmadinejad plans huge increase in uranium enrichment. ABC News reported that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said they want to install up to 100,000 centrifuges to process uranium gas for enrichment in order to produce nuclear fuel. Bush pleased with the Iran Freedom and Support Act The White House, Office of the Press Secretary reported that President Bush said "I applaud Congress for demonstrating its bipartisan commitment to confronting the Iranian regime's repressive and destabilizing activities by passing the Iran Freedom Support Act." Here are a few other news items you may have missed. The International Herald Tribune reported...

Top News Story Bush signs Iran Freedom and Support Act! The Washington Post reported that President Bush on Saturday signed legislation that would impose mandatory sanctions on entities that provide goods or services for Iran's weapons programs.The Associated Press reported that the US Senate finally passed the Iran Freedom and Support Act.The Library of Congress published the full text of the Iran Freedom and Support Act.   But does Condi support a change of regime in Iran? The Wall Street Journal reexamined their recent interview with Condi Rice in which he concludes: Her primary method for dealing with the...

Top News Story Photo evidence of the Islamic Republic's coordinating Iraq's insurgency. Roads to Iraq and Iraqi blog reported that after a fierce battle in “Khan Bani Sa’ad� Diyala governorate north of Baghdad with “Mahdi Army�, Iraqi resistance succeeded to capture one of the “Mahdi Army�. They found a complete modern communications system manufacturing in the Ministry of Defense of Iran believed to be used as a direct contact with the Iranians. Photos.CNN News reported that a Shiite Muslim militia involved in the warfare between Sunni and Shiites in Iraq has received "millions of dollars" and an assortment of...

Top News Story Iran wins another round in the nuclear crisis with the West. ISN Security Watch reported that while a temporary suspension of uranium enrichment would boost diplomatic efforts with Iran, the UN and EU seem to have thrown in the towel, offering talks without suspension and betraying their weak position.Reuters reported that president of the Islamic Republic, Ahmadinejad, said on that Tehran would not suspend nuclear enrichment despite pressure from the West. He said: "Today, Western countries want us to suspend our nuclear technology, but we say to them that we will never give it up."Bill Gertz,...

Top News Story Pentagon report critical of US broadcasts into Iran.   Mercury News reported that a Pentagon unit has drafted a report charging that U.S. international broadcasts into Iran aren't tough enough on the Islamic regime.   The US military on the Islamic Republic's military.   Middle East Newsline reported that the US military officials have assessed that Iran's military was the second most powerful in the Middle East.   Russia finally sets a startup date for Iran's nuclear power plant.   Bloomberg reported that Iran's first nuclear power plant, a Russian-built project, will begin operating by September...

Top News Story "Islam is not compatible with democracy.� - The next Supreme Leader? The New York Times reported concern that Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi, is trying to expand his already growing power by packing the "assembly of experts" (which has the power to elect the Supreme Leader) with his loyalists. He said: “Democracy means if the people want something that is against God’s will, then they should forget about God and religion.�   BBC radio's pro-Islamic Republic campaign of misinformation. Ardeshir Dolat reported that the BBC radio 4 in Britain has started a campaign of misinformation on Iran. Its...

Top News Story Is Iran about to launch a war in northern Iraq? DEBKAfile reported that a new Middle East war is in the offing with Turkish and Iranian air units are poised for an imminent coordinated invasion of the northern Iraqi Kurdistan. The report claimed Iranian and Turkish assault troops are already deployed 7-8 km deep inside Iraqi territory.   The EU/Iran have weeks to agree on an agenda for more talks. Reuters reported that France said that EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and Iran had weeks rather than months to agree an agenda for talks about...

John Salazar is one of the most vulnerable Congressman in the country. He tries to get by pretending to be "moderate," though his staff is mainly composed of former Pelosi staffers. He is running against Rightroots endorsed candidate Scott Tipton:Scott Tipton is trying to knock off Democratic incumbent John Salazar in a district that went 55%-44% for George Bush in 2004. This is a seat that should be held by a Republican, but it's a huge district, and Tipton needs lots of cash to overcome the name recognition advantage Salazar holds. If he gets the money he needs, this is...

Top News Story EU3 cave into Iran. Reuters reported that France, Britain and Germany would be willing to begin talks with Iran even if it has not suspended its nuclear enrichment program first, but Washington would not take part.   Islamic Republic tries to crush new Azeri dissent. Regnum reported the arrest of five Azeri after troops were deployed by the authorities in order to prevent massive rallies by Azeri’s against opening new schools in Farsi.   Pakistan surrenders region to Taliban and Al Qaeda? Daveed Gartenstein-Ross & Bill Roggio, The Weekly Standard reported that the government of Pakistan...

Top News Story Iranmania LONDON, September 23 (IranMania) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said rabbis are criticising the 'Zionist' regime more than the Islamic Republic of Iran, IRNA reported. Speaking to reporters after his 10-day visit to Senegal, Cuba, Venezuela and the UN General Assembly in New York, the president said he held a lengthy meeting with Jewish clerics in the US. "They expressed their concerns to us over the behaviour of the Zionists," he added. The president also said that during the visit, he explained Iran's principled stand on a host of issues during meetings with various groups...

. . . Hoping For Attack On HomelandThe cornerstone of the Democrat platform for the upcoming elections - undermining the war on terror while simultaneously weakening homeland security - is not winning the hearts of many Americans and so is in need of fresh material to accomplish these goals. If there is another attack on U.S. soil before the elections, are the Democrats gambling that it will insure a big win for them in November 2006? After all, they have been accusing the President of "not doing enough," all the while they impede the implementation of the war on terror...

Police have agreed to consult a panel of Muslim leaders before mounting counter-terrorist raids or arrests. Members of the panel will offer their assessment of whether information police have on a suspect is too flimsy and will also consider the consequences on community relations of a raid. Members will be security vetted and will have to promise not to reveal any intelligence they are shown. They will not have to sign the Official Secrets Act. The first panel, expected to consist of four people, will be set up initially in London. Tomorrow representatives from police forces across England and Wales...

A current myth among so-called intellectuals is that it doesn’t matter what you believe about ultimate questions or whether you believe anything at all. All that is required of us, say they, is to believe as we wish. But our current war with Islamo-fascists no longer allows us that luxury. We can approach this question on both the political and the theological levels. As to the first, it is simply untenable to maintain that you are free to believe whatever you wish, for the political societies which human beings form are based on some belief or other (in our case,...

FORMER SPANISH PRESIDENT Aznar:“Muslims should apologize for occupying Spain for 800 years” 09/23/2006 Bush and his war on terror, said the West is under attack from radical Islam and must defend itself. “It is them or it is us,” Aznar said. “There is no middle ground.” Jose Maria AznarMuslims should apologize for occupying Spain for 800 years and a U.N.-backed program to encourage dialogue between them and West is stupid, former Spanish prime minister Jose Maria Aznar has said. Aznar made his comments Friday night in a speech at the Hudson Institute, a thinktank in Washington, D.C., as he discussed...

To counter any suggestion that Islam is a violent religion, Muslims attacked churches in the West Bank, Gaza and Basra this week. In Somalia a religious leader named Abubukar Hassan Malin echoed a British religious leader named Anjem Choudary who seemed to be in agreement with a religious leader from India called Syed Ahmed Bukhari that Pope Benedict XVI had to be forced to apologize. Forced? Bukhari left it open how, but Choudary felt that subjecting the Pontiff to "capital punishment" may be persuasive, while Malin was inclined to think that the situation called for hunting down the Holy Father...

On last Monday's (9/18/2006) Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Jay weighed in on the Pope controversey. Some excerpts: A 110 degree day here in Los Angeles -- I'll tell ya, I was sweating like the Pope visiting Mecca, it was that hot out there... Statement from President Bush "I didn't even know the Pope was Jewish" Iraq has demanded that the pope issue a statement of apology for a statement he made linking Islam to violence. Well where did the Pope get THAT crazy idea from, HUH? I'm STUNNED! Well maybe the apology will stop the church burnings and the...

POPE Benedict has hit out at Islam and its concept of holy war during a visit to his Bavarian homeland. The thinly veiled attack on extremist Islam's justification for terrorism came during a theological lecture to staff and students at the University of Regensburg, where the former Joseph Ratzinger taught theology in the 1970s. Using the words, "jihad" and "holy war", the Pope quoted criticisms of the prophet Mohammed by a 14th century Byzantine Christian emperor, Manuel II, during a debate with a learned Persian. "Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things...

Employees of the state body that organizes Muslim worship in Turkey asked the authorities on Tuesday to open legal proceedings against Pope Benedict and to arrest him when he visits the country in November. Muslims worldwide have been angered by remarks the Pope made in a lecture last week that they said portrayed Islam as a religion tainted by violence and irrationality. Benedict has said he is deeply sorry Muslims have been offended by his use of a medieval quotation on Islam and holy war, but has stopped short of retracting his comments. Employees of Ankara's Directorate General for Religious...

Muslims in Hamas-controlled Gaza have formed an ad hoc terrorist group promising to attack Christian targets to avenge the Pope’s use of quote insinuating that Islam is prone to violence. The group, which calls itself the “Army of guidance,” sent an announcement to news agencies based in Gaza saying that “every place relevant to Christian will be a target until the cursed infidel – the Vatican – apologizes to Muslims.” Hardline Islamic groups were offended by the Pope’s citing of a Byzantine emperor who criticized Islam’s founder Mohammad’s command to spread Islamic faith by the sword. Last Friday, the 1,400...

We Love and Support our Pope “This week the Catholic Church has been on the receiving end of evil and inhumane threats and acts of violence. We must meet these challenges with prayer and strength in solidarity with our pope....’ states prominent Roman Catholic Priest. (Front Royal, VA)—The Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuer, president of Human Life International, issued the following response to the recent torrent of hostility directed at Pope Benedict XVI by Mohammedan jihadists. “Human Life International has launched a new website to bring all Christians together in pray for our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI in our moment...

Let's begin with the obvious: Benedict's words were purposely chosen. The quotation of Manuel II was not a one-liner, accidentally blurted out. The pope was giving a prepared lecture that he may have written himself -- and if it was written for him, it was one that he carefully read. Moreover, each of the pope's public utterances are thoughtfully reviewed by his staff, and there is no question but that anyone who read this speech before it was delivered would recognize the explosive nature of discussing anything about Islam in the current climate. There is not one war going on...

Benedict's meaning in his Regensburg speech has been misinterpreted by almost everyone -- by those who condemn him, but also by his defenders... "They sow the wind, and reap the whirlwind." --Hosea 8:7 "Ich hätte mir ein paar Worte der Differenzierung gewünscht. Zwei, drei Zeilen hätten viel bewirkt." ("I would have wished for a few words of clarification. Two or three lines would have accomplished a great deal.") -- Prof. Theodore Khoury, editor and translator of the book containing the dialogue of the Emperor Manuel II Paleologus with the Persian Muslim which Pope Benedict cited in his Regensburg speech September...

CAIRO, Egypt — The head of Egypt's Coptic Orthodox Church on Saturday became the first top Christian leader to join the Muslim world in denouncing comments made by Pope Benedict XVI's about Islam and jihad, as religious and political leaders warned of impending sectarian violence despite the Vatican's insistence that the Roman Catholic leader's words were misinterpreted and he didn't intend to be offensive. Coptic Pope Shenouda III said in published remarks that he didn't hear Benedict's exact words but that "any remarks which offend Islam and Muslims are against the teachings of Christ." Christians, mostly Coptic, make up about...

Why would it be so difficult to find clarity on the absurd Islamic reaction to the Pope's recent speech? Muslims have proven the Pope's point. Many have become angry and violent precisely because of being accused of being violent. And their violence is slowly but surely convincing more and more people in the West that Islam has a serious problem (my empirical analysis of Midwesterners). I have been almost amazed at the clarity of reporting on this subject, even from the Associated Press. Today, the Washington Post was willing to publish an ostensibly decent editorial on the Pope controversy, written...

Jeff Israely, in TIME, September 13, 2006), headlines his story:THE POPE TAKES ON FAITH AND TERRORISM: In a provocative speech citing the concept of jihad and referencing the Muslim prophet by name, Benedict sends the world a signal that it's time for hard-questions - not hugs and handshakes. Then in a highly-laudatory piece, Israely notes:There is little doubt left that Benedict is indeed highly attuned to the risks of fundamentalist terrorism . . . This is indeed Benedict doing it on his own terms. Rather than tackling the challenge of fundamentalist terrorism with a pithy remark packaged for the 9/11...

THE former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey of Clifton has issued his own challenge to “violent” Islam in a lecture in which he defends the Pope’s “extraordinarily effective and lucid” speech. Lord Carey said that Muslims must address “with great urgency” their religion’s association with violence. He made it clear that he believed the “clash of civilisations” endangering the world was not between Islamist extremists and the West, but with Islam as a whole. “We are living in dangerous and potentially cataclysmic times,” he said. “There will be no significant material and economic progress [in Muslim communities] until the Muslim...

Searching For Moderate MuslimsBy David Keene September 20, 2006 The Islamic world, along with the politically correct world, is in a snit because Pope Benedict had the bad judgment in an academic forum to quote a Byzantine emperor's criticism of Islam's justification of forced conversion during his time. Islamic spokesmen reacted quickly, asserting that theirs is a religion of peace, condemning the Pope and blaming him as their followers began a new round of torching Christian churches around the world and killing those who attend them. I am agnostic on the question of whether Islam is at its heart peaceful...

.... The Muslim protesters are actually being highly ungrateful. When the embassies of Denmark were being torched earlier this year, Rome managed a few words of protest about … the inadvisability of profane cartoons. In almost every confrontation between Islam and the West, or Islam and Israel, the Vatican has either split the difference or helped to ventriloquize Muslim grievances. Most of all, throughout his address to the audience at Regensburg, the man who modestly considers himself the vicar of Christ on Earth maintained a steady attack on the idea that reason and the individual conscience can be preferred to...

Christian churches in the Middle East are vandalized, a Catholic nun in Africa is killed and Muslims have demanded that the pope convert to Islam – all because he read a quote from a medieval text that described Islam as "evil and inhuman." The pope has issued an apology for even referencing the historic text, emphasized that those views are not his, but still many in the Islamic world are demanding blood. A new group called "The sword of Islam" contacted reporters and said it had fired gunshots at a Christian church in the Middle East during a demonstration over...

What the pope really said: Placing history and theology into context By John David Powell on Sep 20, 2006 Chaos reigns today from the hands of madmen, Muslims who hear but do not listen, and who react with a passion devoid of reason. One can make a similar statement regarding journalists covering the case of Pope v. Muslim Mob. The mainstream media failed to provide balanced reporting and cogent commentary. Instead of placing into context last week’s Faith and Reason lecture by Pope Benedict XVI to an academic audience at the University of Regensburg and the violent and murderous responses...

Muslims, Islam, Pope Benedict Religion of Peace Dying to Kill Again Al Qaeda terror commander hints at big attack on N.Y., Washington... The new al-Qaeda field commander recently interviewed in Afghanistan, is calling for Muslims to leave the U.S. -- particularly Washington and New York -- in anticipation of a major terror attack to rival Sept. 11, says the Canada Free Press story. Like most peace loving free people of the western world, I'd like very much to believe that Islam is indeed a peaceful religion seeking a peaceful coexistence with all peaceful peoples of the world. It's just hard...

Pope Benedict XVI, the "Panzer pope," has done the unusual in modern discourse: he has jumped into the war on terror with armored facts from six centuries ago that refute a deal of the appeasement from 21st-century Europeans and their American fellow travelers. You will recall that Pope Benedict recently spoke, auf Deutsch, at Regensburg University, where he once enjoyed a professorship. The speech was dry, mechanical, unappetizing, a predictable German exercise in theology, with much attention to how reason and faith are compatible. In Calvinist seminary we used to call this a Roman disquisition on epistemology. Yet in the...

About 1,000 clerics and religious scholars at a meeting in eastern Pakistan demanded the removal of the Pope for making “insulting remarks” against Islam, and warned the West of severe consequences if it didn’t change its stance regarding Islam. “Pope Benedict XVI should be removed from his position immediately for encouraging war and fanning hostility between various faiths and making insulting remarks” against Islam,” said a joint statement issued by the clerics and scholars at the end of their one-day convention in the eastern city of Lahore. “The Pope, and all Infidels, should know that no Muslim, under any circumstances,...

If you call me a killer one more time, I'm gonna kill ya http://moonagewebdream.blogs.com/moonage_political_webream/2006/09/if_you_call_me_.html September 20, 2006 If you call me a killer one more time, I'm gonna killa ya. `Show me just what Mohammed 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." Those are the words Pope Benedict uttered that has caused quite a stir. Those words were originally uttered in the 14th century by the Byzantine Emporor Manuel II. Now, contrary to the replies from Muslim fanatics, Byzantine was...

THE Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, entered the row over the Pope’s comments on Islam yesterday when he questioned whether Turkey should be admitted to the European Union. Cardinal Murphy-O’Connor, spiritual leader of the four million Catholics in England and Wales, echoed concerns shared by the Pope when he argued that the predominantly Muslim state was not culturally part of Europe. The Cardinal played down the controversy over the Pope’s address in Regensburg, Germany, last week, in which he quoted the words of a Byzantine emperor who described Islam as “evil and inhuman”. But the Cardinal did say that...

Funny, isn't it, how certain experts and leaders of other religions are so eager to explain to Pope Benedict XVI how to really be a pope? A shining example is this piece in today's Baltimore Sun. [Quotes from:] (America magazine's Thomas Reese)...(St. John's U history professor Frank Coppa)...(CAIR's communications director, Ibrahim Hooper)(a Dr. Gillis, chairman of Georgetown "theology" department)(Rabbi Jack Bemporad, Center for Interreligious Understanding) To summarize so far: • Benedict doesn't realize he is pope...Whether this is due to excessive stupidity or humility is not clear. • Benedict doesn't have "street smarts." • He's not political enough, and is...

Choudary: Refuses to discuss his dissolute youth At 39, Anjem Choudary should be a symbol of success for his peers. Born into the working-class family of a market trader in Welling on the outskirts of London, he has risen - thanks to the opportunities offered by the British education system - to become a qualified lawyer. But it is unlikely his old school will be inviting him to be guest speaker on prize-giving day. Their former pupil is not famous for his elegant oratory in court. Instead, the articulate Mr Choudary preaches hatred and murder in the streets of Britain...

From the Vatican to the Pentagon, goodwill gestures offered to the Muslim world too often blow up in the West’s collective face. The nicer we are to them, the harsher they are to us. The olive branch Pope Benedict XVI extended to Muslims is obscured by the smoke that has billowed since his address at Bavaria’s Regensburg University. The pope cited a conversation between “an educated Persian” and the 14th-century Byzantine emperor, Manuel II Paleologus. They discussed, the pope said September 7, “the subject of Christianity and Islam, and the truth of both.” He then quoted Paleologus who said: “Show...

The Guardian of Islamic ExtremismBy Robert SpencerFrontPageMagazine.com | September 21, 2006 As the global Muslim reaction to Pope Benedict XVI’s recent remarks on Islam threaten to eclipse last winter’s Cartoon Rage in irrationality and violence, there has been the usual and by now predictable undercurrent of sympathy on the Left for those breathing threats and murder against the Pope and the West. Notable among the spokesmen for appeasement and accommodation of violent Islamic intimidation was Karen Armstrong, author of the popular books Islam: A Short History and Muhammad: A Biography of the Prophet. Armstrong on Monday published a piece in...

Radical Muslim clerics and scholars in Pakistan have demanded the removal of Pope Benedict XVI for what they called "insulting remarks" against Islam. The Pope should be dismissed for "encouraging war and fanning hostility between various faiths" the hundreds of senior Muslims said in a joint message. The Pope has said he is "deeply sorry" that his words, quoting a 14th Century Christian emperor, had upset Muslims. But his apology was rejected by the Muslims meeting in Lahore, Pakistan. "The Pope, and all infidels, should know that no Muslim, under any circumstances, can tolerate an insult to the Prophet [Muhammad]....

Muslims want Pontiff out Clerics, scholars call for Benedict removal after controversial Islam remarks by AP LAHORE, Pakistan -- About 1,000 Muslim clerics and religious scholars meeting yesterday in eastern Pakistan demanded the removal of Pope Benedict for making what they called "insulting remarks" against Islam.

The Pope has invited envoys of Muslim nations for talks on Monday to try to smooth relations following a speech that offended the Islamic world. The talks at Pope Benedict XVI's summer residence will aim to explain that the pontiff's recent speech in Germany has been misunderstood, the Vatican said. The pontiff has said three times that he regrets the offence caused, expressing "deep respect" for Islam. Muslim leaders have been demanding an unequivocal apology from the Pope. The pontiff invited Muslim ambassadors and leaders of Italy's Muslim community to his residence of Castel Gandolfo, outside Rome, the Vatican said....

This Friday, September 22, 2006, votaries of Islam worldwide, defying the timeless wisdom of G.K. Chesterton, are preparing to “ape an ancient rage” with organized demonstrations condemning Pope Benedict XVI’s 9/12/06 remarks. In an earlier essay, I described at some length the historical context for the comments Pope Benedict made which have so inflamed both the Muslim leadership, and masses. Benedict cited one of the later examples of a vigorous Muslim-Christian polemic that transpired for at least four centuries, during the 11th through 15th centuries. Specifically, the Pope alluded  to the late 14th century Byzantine ruler Manuel II Paleologus’ statements...

Hundreds of Pakistani Islamists held street protests to condemn Pope Benedict XVI for remarks they regard as anti-Islamic, with one leader saying the pontiff should be crucified. Demonstrators Friday poured out of mosques after the main weekly Muslim prayers in Pakistan's largest city Karachi, the eastern city of Lahore, the capital Islamabad and other urban centres. "If the pope comes here we will hang him on the Cross," Hafiz Hussain Ahmed, a senior leader of Pakistan's main alliance of radical parties, told around 200 noisy demonstrators in Islamabad. The alliance, called the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal or United Action Front, forms part...

The Guardian of Islamic Extremism http://www.aina.org/news/20060921100346.htm ................................................................................................... Churches Firebombed By Members Of The "Religion of Peace" http://www.postchronicle.com/commentary/article_21240687.shtml ...................................................................................................If Islam is the religion of peace, it should act like it http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2006/092006/09212006/223419 The Free Lance-Star, VA - Sep 21, 2006... My next complaint is the lame argument that says something along the lines of "Islam (the religion of peace) doesn't promote violence; remember Christians are ......................................................................................................Death threats from the 'religion of peace' http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=52078

Pope Benedict's comments last week that sparked such a furor have united the Muslim world. But the bigger story is the effect those comments are having among Catholics. Anger toward Pope Benedict xvi is unifying Muslims, but a growing sense of sympathy and loyalty to the pontiff is rousing Catholics and Europeans to his defense. We have all seen the images of rage-ridden Muslims rioting in the streets, torching churches and demanding and re-demanding an apology from the pope. Largely underreported, however, is the growing number of Catholics and Europeans surging to Benedict’s defense. Islamic rage is igniting a deeper...

September 22, 2006 Churches Burned as Muslims Riot in Nigeria Over Pope Remarks The Religion of Free Speech and Freedom of Religion in Africa. Blasphemy against the 'Prophet' Mohammed is a capital offense under Islamic law. Reuters: Nigerian authorities have imposed a night curfew on the northern town of Dutse after Muslim mobs burned 11 churches over what they said was blasphemy against the Prophet Mohammad by a Christian woman, police said on Thursday. Scores of houses and shops owned by Christians were also torched in the capital of remote Jigawa state during a riot on Wednesday sparked by a...

Always nice when a bishop criticizes the Pope in a homily: In an example that's very timely, I think, and I say this with some hesitation because I'm going to talk about Pope Benedict. I think that's the problem that happened this week. He listened selectively to God's word, and when he proclaimed the message that he proclaimed this week -- what he said that would cause so much trouble, he discussed the Islamic concept of jihad, which he defined as "holy war," and he said that "violence in the name of religion is contrary to God's nature and...