Muslims just get a bad reputation. They're no different than we are; they have just as many fundamentalists as Christianity does . . . we've perceived everything totally incorrectly. We've grown partial and, unfortunately, prejudice, and extremely stereotypical. As for Mohammed, no, he wasn't a great guy, but that's not to say that only Islam produces such people. The radicals today, killing nuns and blowing up churches, do they not have the same mentality as those - no more than fifty years ago - burning churches in "colored" areas? Secondly, for Benedict XVI to have read a post-Crusades document, quoting a CHRISTIAN EUROPEAN (shortly after THE CRUSADES) on MUSLIMS . . . terribly one-sided. It would be like the pope, five-hundred years from now, quoting a radically conservative Christian American fundamentalist on Muslims. Did people really expect no reaction? Not that it's justified, but more understood.
The only difference between them and us is 1) unconditional hospitality and mercy to everyone (they) encounter and 2) it's okay for us to wear shorts in public.
Just like our views on the middle-east . . . Go to a local Kroger (stereotypically, a Wal-Mart customer's response is too predictable), but go to Kroger and ask anyone what an Muslim is and I guarantee you they'll either say, "A crazy person," or, "We should be killing them" (ie some stupid shit).
Go to an authentic local bazaar, however many thousands of miles away it would be, and ask anyone what an American is. The response is the same.
If someone had verbally attacked the pope, he or she would not be seen again. I guarantee that. The public probably won't ever find out. But that offender would be gone.
