Overheard on NPR this evening during All Things Considered was this story about Pope Benedictine XVI. Read this aloud and see if you can figure out why I started laughing a moment after hearing this read by Sylvia Poggioli on the radio.
"In Turkey, some of the harshest reactions were from an official of the Islamic-rooted ruling party. He said Pope Benedict's words look like an effort to revive the mentality of the crusades, and he compared the pope to Hitler. In an effort to quell the furor, the Vatican issued a statement saying the pope wants to cultivate respect and dialogue with other religions and cultures, and had no intention to offend Islam..."
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Turkey complaining when the Pope quoted a 600-year-old comment by a Christian ruler who at the time, was facing extinction at the hands of the Ottoman Turks?
Two generations after this conversation was recorded, Constantinople was finally overrun by these Turks - with the help of Christian Janissaries that had been pressed into service from the territories previously conquered by the Turks. So who are the evil "crusaders" here?
Fast forward to the 20th Century - a million (Christian) Armenians killed by the Turks. Right now in Turkey, a novelist is being tried in court for mentioning this Armenian genocide in her novel!
Kind of makes an interesting counterpoint to both Pontiff's comments and the reaction by the Turkish Parliament.
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