To Prove We're Not Violent, We Will Kill You

A friend of mine who escaped Syria 20 years ago tells me there's no Arabic word for "irony." Maybe he's just pulling my leg, but if he's not, I certainly understand why there's not.

It seems radical Muslims are upset that the pope referred to a several-hundred-year-old assessment that Mohammed was "evil and inhuman." (Hat tip: Boi from Troy) In their outrage of such slander, some of those same nutjobs are calling for the pope's death.

Choudary's appeal for the death of Pope Benedict was the second time he has been linked with apparent incitement to murder within a year.

The 39-year-old lawyer organised demonstrations against the publication of cartoons of Mohammed in February in Denmark. Protesters carried placards declaring "Behead Those Who Insult Islam".

Yesterday he said: "The Muslims take their religion very seriously and non-Muslims must appreciate that and that must also understand that there may be serious consequences if you insult Islam and the prophet.

"Whoever insults the message of Mohammed is going to be subject to capital punishment."

Now I would never insult the founder of anyone's religion, even if he was, say, a child molester or a fraud or a thief -- so BaT avoids the hangman's noose. Although, we'd probably be stoned or just be buried under rocks long before anyone learned we said nasty things about their "prophets."

Not that we're big fans of the Catholic Church, either. Its leaders and followers have had their bad moments, but lately -- oh say the last 200 to 300 years -- they've stuck to feeling up kids than ramming airplanes into buildings. So we tend to take the pope's side on this one. Responding to suggestions that your religious icon is evil by calling for the death of the person making the comments seems to be counterintuitive.

All of this leads to the assertion that Europe is going to sh*t. The clash of civilizations -- Western vs. Medieval -- is under way there, and if history does indeed repeat itself, it will be in Europe where the war is fought. Some in the West understand this threat and hope to prevent another world war by being tough with Iran and Syria over nuclear ambitions and terrorist support.

But, when we allow ourselves to think darkly, the international policy experts at BaT understand that most in the West will not "get it" until there's a major tragedy. It is a common theme, seen throughout the last century, where we react too slowly, then too timidly, then too violently.