Muslims Vs. Christians (Vegas has the Muslims plus 3)

Holy Jesus Muhammed Christ.

What is the problem with faith these days? Let's leave out those who keep faith in their hearts and govern their reactions with a sane mind. I'm talking about the "organized" relgious folks who are constantly screaming in the press about their many injuries.

I mean, I'm certainly no catholic nor am I religious by any definition, but what in the name of anyone's god are the Muslims so freakin' upset about? Some clumsy quotations uttered by the Pope that vaguely insult their history, their religion and their zeal.

Ah. There it is. Zeal.

WHY DO THEY CARE? Is their god so vulnerable or the faith so flimsy that the words of the pontiff of another religion utterly shake them to their core? I really don't understand this, I genuinely cannot project myself into any sort of situation where this would bother me enough to set churches on fire and enact violence again others (especially considering that those people and those churches were not the source of the so-called outrage). I know the explanation, but I still can't understand it.

First, most of the leading muslim leaders of the world called on the Pope, with voices carying from sober to psychotic (for instance, Turkish leaders seemed cool-headed, whereas voices coming from, say, Iran...oh boy), to apologise for his gaffe, which according to them was blashemy of the lowest order. Apparently it would seem that anyone with a microphone and backed by religious credibility can severaly injure the various gods in the pantheon of this world. So, what does the Pope do? He apologizes. Granted, it's slow in coming, and there were first a couple of half-hearted attempts filled with disclaimers and reeking of lawyer's interference. But he did eventually apologize (and it only took a few days, not weeks), with what I thought was a heartfelt condemnation of his own words. I was surprised, and felt sure the muslim leaders would for the most part be appeased. Boy was I wrong.

The muslim zealots say it's not enough. What do they want?

I didn't want to, but I feel compelled to establish the fact that not only am I not an apologist for western religious leaders or religion in general, but that I am no apologist for the West! But this is ridiculous. The Pope blurted out some poorly-chosen quotes but this seems like a perfect storm of a religious blunder blended with groups of people who are just LOOKING for something to be angry about, to be righteous about, to be holier than thou, about.

Get over it, get a life. Stop reinforcing the stereotype of crazy arabs versus cold-hearted, decadent westerners. Let's move on. If you really believe in god and have faith in your religion, then you have to be confident enough to shrug off the foolishness of others. Not burn down churches, gun down nuns and shriek to the heavens every time someone says something you don't like.