Pope: For Those About to be Beheaded (We Salute You)

Tweet

Bergoglio as a young seminarian

We were going to title this "For Those About to be Beheaded, Please Explain to the Man Behind You That Islam is a Religion of Peace," but it was too long. Also it didn't have that same AC/DC ring.

The following is from the LETTER OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS TO THE CHRISTIANS IN THE MIDDLE EAST, written and made public a few days before Christmas 2014. I was reminded of it by today's remarks of the Pope (once again made at an altitude of 30,000 feet) that the Koran..is a prophetic book of peace." The relevant video clip was posted by the Daily Mail today.

But first the letter. Many of you probably saw it a few months ago. It was written in response to the sufferings inflicted on Christians and others by ISIS. Not all of it is objectionable. It references Paul, thanks Christians for bearing witness to Christ through their actions and so on. From the letter:

Dear Christian brothers and sisters of the Middle East, you have an enormous responsibility and in meeting it you are not alone. That is why I wanted to write to you, to encourage you and to let you know how precious your presence and your mission are in the land which the Lord has blessed. Your witness means much to me! Thank you!

The most interesting part of it, however, is that Christians who may have just lost their homes or friends or loved ones in the name of Islam, or very well may be about to, are told that the thing to do is evangelize.

You know, go to your Muslim neighbor and bring them a book. Open it up before them and encourage them to read it. Explain the difficult parts. Do not force. Simply present. Do so with kindness and tolerance. Let them consider. God will do the rest.

Hurrah! You didn't think the current Pope had it in him, did you? Proselytization is solemn nonsense, and all that.

Not so fast, you silly Christian fundamentalist. The Pope doesn't want you to read the New Testament with them. He wants you to read the Koran together. From the letter:

The majority of you live in environments which are predominantly Muslim. You can help your Muslim fellow citizens to present with discernment a more authentic image of Islam, as so many of them desire, reiterating that Islam is a religion of peace, one which is compatible with respect for human rights and favors peaceful coexistence on the part of all.

Yeah, and burning one's babies to death in a furnace is a perversion of Baal worship. As the Lord said in the Holy Scriptures, "Baal is Peace. Explain to the Baal worshippers that they shouldn't be so fundamentalist about things. Then all My children can get along."

Not.

And going back to the Pope's words of today. Forget the "the Koran is a book of peace" part. That's the eighty-fifth time this Pope has said something like that. We're long past it now.

Rather, what does he mean that the Koran is prophetic? Does he mean the parts where Muhammad (or someone) cut and pasted bits of the Old Testament? Or does he mean Muhammad was a prophet sent by God?

This sort of thing isn't funny anymore. It's simply evil.