Ted Koppel
09/15: What's he doing in Iran? And why's he reporting for NPR? Didn't he retire already?  (Could he, please?) Further, why's it take him, going to Iran to talk to Iranians to find out what millions of people in the US already know: Iran's elites think that Ahmedinjad's a kook, the poor people like his reforms but think he's flirting dangerously with radical religion, much like they see Bush doing with evangelicalism, and Iran doesn't have any intention of using nuclear power for military purposes. I don't get this, honestly. Ted Koppel, gravitas; me, when I say similar stuff: biased, without basis, and America hater. Wonderful.

The Pope
09/08: God knows guarding a BMW factory doesn't make one evil, just a Nazi who likes BMWs - I've got nothing against the man, but when he goes around saying things like this:

In his speech at the University of Regensburg, Benedict quoted criticism of Islam and the Prophet Mohammed by 14th century Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Palaeologus, who wrote that everything Mohammed brought was evil and inhuman, "such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached".
He's asking for some sort of queer looks and shakes of the head. Why someone who's purportedly the foremost religous scholar in the Christian world would go around saying things that are potentially incendiary, I just don't get.  I don't think it's a big deal, really, it's just a blip. I know some people will see it as a big setback, especially in contrast with JP2's outreach to other faiths, including Islam, but honestly, it's a great thing for the Pope to display this sort of view - it's an opening for dialogue. A dialog not only within the Catholic Church for the Crusades, but also a Catholic-Muslim dialogue and an interfaith dialogue. The best way to take it is that he's pushing for Catholics to engage Muslims in their struggle against extremism in Islam. A slightly less "best way" is that he's indirectly addressing the Church's role in spreading the faith via the sword during the Crusades. The worst way would be that he's purposefully condemning Islam as a violent religion.  Strangely enough, statements like this can also be seen as the Pope trying to reassert the relevance of both himself and the Church in modern religious dialog.

I mention this today because, even though I cringed about it on Friday, there seem to be reports of people getting wound up about it as if the Pope were some Danish publisher pissing on freedom of speech and publishing intentionally goading cartoons. My second interpretation of Benedict's statement would be an indelicate attempt to have a Crusade catharsis. (My first was horror at the impending conflagration Benedict's going to cause, as evidenced by said cringe.  I also cringe to think that he's bought into the new modern Crusade.  Is he the next Urban? I thought that was Bush.) I think he's trying to goad Muslims into proving his ignorance face-saving statment wrong. 

Benedict may be a "hard ass" but his past shows something else: If there's anything this Pope's life stands for, it's for correcting past mistakes. Time to man up, Benedict.

Contrast this with Khatami, admittedly not analogous the Pope, but a learned Islamic scholar in his own right, even if a politican, who said things like this last week during his US tour: 'It's about time people of all faiths get together and try not to allow extremist thinking to deny the morality of modern civilization' [I'll get an exact quote for you people]. Again, wonderful.

The Media and Islam
There's state senator in Minnesota running for a federal seat in congress. He's a Democrat and a peace activist who invokes Paul Wellstone and talks about immediate Iraq withdrawal. What he doesn't talk about is that he's a Muslim. What the media talks about is how a Muslim's running for congress, not that he's continuing to ride the wave of anti-Bush Democrats. Makes me throw up a bit in my mouth about the media's sensationalism (that means being a Leftist is less threatening than being a Muslim, wheee) and also how whatever his views are will be tagged as a "standard" Muslim view. It's not, nor is there anything to the implication that Muslims or Islam aren't compatible with democraciy. Wonderment.

I've got more on Islam and democracy that requires some polish, but I thought a little threesome sampler would tide dear readers over.