Is a War Between Catholics and Muslims Brewing?
Just when it seems that the conflict between Islamic extremists of various stripes and the rest of the world couldn't get any worse some Moslems are trying to pick a fight with the world's billion or so Catholics.
Muslims are outraged at Pope Benedict who quoted an obscure Medieval Byzantine text that called some of Mohamad's teachings evil and inhumane. The usual collection of demagogic Islamic preachers and politicians has crawled out of the woodwork and launched tirades against the pope. Some extremists have gone farther, already churches in the West Bank have been firebombed and I imagine Catholic churches in Western Europe will be next.
I also imagine that some terrorists, probably Al Qaeda; will target Catholic leaders and shrines for attack. I also imagine that some extremists will use the Pope's remarks to justify attacks on the Italian led peacekeeping force in Lebanon. Italy's capitol is after all Rome, which is also the location of the Vatican. The Islamic extremists will claim that the peacekeepers are crusaders trying to reconquer part of the lands occupied by the Medieval Crusaders, which Southern Lebanon was.
The great danger from radical Islamic attacks on Catholicism will be the Catholic reaction. Historically, Catholics haven't been very passive in the face of Islamic aggression. Remember the Crusades they were basically a Catholic counterattack against Islam. So was the Reconquista in which Spanish Catholics retook their homeland and destroyed a great outpost of Islamic civilization in the process.
These wars were as violent and destructive as anything launched by Moslems against their enemies.
The reaction of Western Europe's spiritually dead Catholics to renewed Islamic aggression will be to roll over and play dead but what about Latin America and Eastern Europe? Or Poland and Romania where the church is the dominant national institution? What about all the Mexicans who drive around in pick up trucks with pictures of the Virgin on them? All the Latin Americans who make regular pilgrimages to Catholic shrines? What would their reaction be if some Islamic terrorist blows up the Vatican or kills the Pope?
My guess is that there would be grassroots demands for some sort of counterstrike throughout Latin America.
Locally, there would probably be attacks on Moslems and Mosques in that part of the world. I wouldn't want to be a Moslem in Mexico or heavily Hispanic areas of the US if word of an attack on the Vatican comes over the news.
I imagine that there would be a lot of talk of reconquesta and crusades in Latin America. How much of it would translate into action? Well, Brazil is a major military power with a large army and modern weapons. Several Latin Countries have excellent armies so some sort of military action perhaps in alliance with Israel might be possible.
A worse scenario would be freelance military action in other words terrorism by groups of Catholics against the Islamic world. There is lots of historic precedent for this sort of thing remember the Knights Templar, Knights of Malta and other orders of crusading knights from Medieval times. They were indepedent paramilitary organizations much like modern terrorist groups that waged private wars on Moslems and other enemies of the faith, real and imagined. If governments and the church fail to respond to Islamic aggression such groups might arise particularly in Europe.
Judging by the number of novels featuring the Templars as heroes and glorifying their exploits on sale these days there is a great deal of popular interest in those blood soaked conquerors.
There is also some recent history of such groups, there are many right wing paramilitary groups in Latin America, many with close connections to militaries, law enforcement, intelligence organizations and the drug cartels in Latin America. These are the notorious death squads responsible for the atrocities of the 1970s and 80s American leftists wrongly blame on the CIA. The members of most of these organizations are staunchly Catholic. These groups arose in reaction Communism which they saw correctly as a threat to the church, their solution to Communism was to torture and murder anybody they suspected of being a a Communist or Communist sympathizer. How will they react to Islamic terrorism directed against the Church? They might strike back hard and their activities wouldn't be confined to Latin America. In the 1970s, and 1980s, Operation Condor a shadowy alliance of anti Communist intelligence agencies and military officers committed murders and other crimes in several South American countries and even extended its activities to the United States. A modern day Operation Condor with financing from the drug cartels could easily expand it's activities to Europe and even the Middle East. One reaction to an attack on Vatican would be an attack on Mecca.
In Europe we have the example of the Order of the Archangel Gabriel the Romanian fascist army of the 1930s and 40s or Iron Brigades. They were fascists whose goal was to proect the church, a revival of such organizations is likely in the face of Radical Islam.
Hoepfully, the current brew hah hah over Pope Benedict's remarks will blow over but I don't think it will. Unfortunately, these ill advised remarks by a man of peace could be what triggers a very nasty and very dirty war between people of faith.
Muslims are outraged at Pope Benedict who quoted an obscure Medieval Byzantine text that called some of Mohamad's teachings evil and inhumane. The usual collection of demagogic Islamic preachers and politicians has crawled out of the woodwork and launched tirades against the pope. Some extremists have gone farther, already churches in the West Bank have been firebombed and I imagine Catholic churches in Western Europe will be next.
I also imagine that some terrorists, probably Al Qaeda; will target Catholic leaders and shrines for attack. I also imagine that some extremists will use the Pope's remarks to justify attacks on the Italian led peacekeeping force in Lebanon. Italy's capitol is after all Rome, which is also the location of the Vatican. The Islamic extremists will claim that the peacekeepers are crusaders trying to reconquer part of the lands occupied by the Medieval Crusaders, which Southern Lebanon was.
The great danger from radical Islamic attacks on Catholicism will be the Catholic reaction. Historically, Catholics haven't been very passive in the face of Islamic aggression. Remember the Crusades they were basically a Catholic counterattack against Islam. So was the Reconquista in which Spanish Catholics retook their homeland and destroyed a great outpost of Islamic civilization in the process.
These wars were as violent and destructive as anything launched by Moslems against their enemies.
The reaction of Western Europe's spiritually dead Catholics to renewed Islamic aggression will be to roll over and play dead but what about Latin America and Eastern Europe? Or Poland and Romania where the church is the dominant national institution? What about all the Mexicans who drive around in pick up trucks with pictures of the Virgin on them? All the Latin Americans who make regular pilgrimages to Catholic shrines? What would their reaction be if some Islamic terrorist blows up the Vatican or kills the Pope?
My guess is that there would be grassroots demands for some sort of counterstrike throughout Latin America.
Locally, there would probably be attacks on Moslems and Mosques in that part of the world. I wouldn't want to be a Moslem in Mexico or heavily Hispanic areas of the US if word of an attack on the Vatican comes over the news.
I imagine that there would be a lot of talk of reconquesta and crusades in Latin America. How much of it would translate into action? Well, Brazil is a major military power with a large army and modern weapons. Several Latin Countries have excellent armies so some sort of military action perhaps in alliance with Israel might be possible.
A worse scenario would be freelance military action in other words terrorism by groups of Catholics against the Islamic world. There is lots of historic precedent for this sort of thing remember the Knights Templar, Knights of Malta and other orders of crusading knights from Medieval times. They were indepedent paramilitary organizations much like modern terrorist groups that waged private wars on Moslems and other enemies of the faith, real and imagined. If governments and the church fail to respond to Islamic aggression such groups might arise particularly in Europe.
Judging by the number of novels featuring the Templars as heroes and glorifying their exploits on sale these days there is a great deal of popular interest in those blood soaked conquerors.
There is also some recent history of such groups, there are many right wing paramilitary groups in Latin America, many with close connections to militaries, law enforcement, intelligence organizations and the drug cartels in Latin America. These are the notorious death squads responsible for the atrocities of the 1970s and 80s American leftists wrongly blame on the CIA. The members of most of these organizations are staunchly Catholic. These groups arose in reaction Communism which they saw correctly as a threat to the church, their solution to Communism was to torture and murder anybody they suspected of being a a Communist or Communist sympathizer. How will they react to Islamic terrorism directed against the Church? They might strike back hard and their activities wouldn't be confined to Latin America. In the 1970s, and 1980s, Operation Condor a shadowy alliance of anti Communist intelligence agencies and military officers committed murders and other crimes in several South American countries and even extended its activities to the United States. A modern day Operation Condor with financing from the drug cartels could easily expand it's activities to Europe and even the Middle East. One reaction to an attack on Vatican would be an attack on Mecca.
In Europe we have the example of the Order of the Archangel Gabriel the Romanian fascist army of the 1930s and 40s or Iron Brigades. They were fascists whose goal was to proect the church, a revival of such organizations is likely in the face of Radical Islam.
Hoepfully, the current brew hah hah over Pope Benedict's remarks will blow over but I don't think it will. Unfortunately, these ill advised remarks by a man of peace could be what triggers a very nasty and very dirty war between people of faith.
posted by great one at 7:56 AM
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