And these Muslims are proving that the quote by Manuel II Paleologus is inaccurate... how?
I mean, it sure seems to me that if someone was telling others that yours is a bloodthirsty faith, and you wanted to prove it otherwise, the logical thing to do would be to strive to practice unconditional love toward that person, no matter what they were saying about your religion. Or as Someone much greater than I once said, "Love one another..." and especially your enemies.
Islam is certainly coming across as a religion without much confidence in the god it professes to believe in, given threats like these being made toward Pope Benedict XVI and others, be they Christian or Jewish or whatever. I mean, if you truly believe in an all-powerful, all-knowing God, you are supposed to have enough faith to know that He doesn't need your help to defend Himself before petty humankind. He definitely doesn't need you to kill others in His name. So to what extent can Islam really claim to have faith in God at all?
Muslims such as those who threaten "the infidels" do nothing to uphold and build-up their faith, and do everything possible to destroy its credibility. Pursuing God and what He would have us do is supposed to make us flee from our carnal instincts, not cling to them with maddened lust. To follow God and mean it is to be changed in His image, not become more like our own... which you have to admit, on its own human nature tends to be a pretty ugly thing.
I'm not saying this as a Christian pushing my own religion. I'm just trying to say this as perfectly an objectionable person as I can be: that the god of Islam, as those that threaten the pope are presenting him to us, would absolutely appear to a neutral person as a very small and hollow thing that could only possibly appeal to those with the very least of regards for their fellow man. And that those who are making such threats should reconsider what it is that they are doing, if they want the religion they claim to be worthy of any respect and consideration at all.
