Sticky Notes

    TIME/AP

Let' me pose a question here:  Will the Muslim uprising against the Pope affect the November election?

Sixty-three Percent of Catholics Voted in the 2004 Presidential Election
About 52% voted for Bush and 47% voted for Kerry. That means it was quite close.

Present Situation: 

Now Pope Benedict XVI makes a true historical statement about Islam and there is Muslim outrage.  I posted earlier today this quote: "Foreign Ministry in Islamabad:  'Anyone who describes Islam as a religion as intolerant encourages violence.' " (Here is the complete translation, meant as a scholarly discourse.)

"On Tuesday, Pope Benedict XVI said Islamic jihad, or holy war, was against God’s nature during a speech on faith and reason at Regensburg University in Germany. The pontiff called for cultural dialogue.  The growing rage in the Islamic world only reveals how correct Pope Benedict is when he notes that genuine dialogue can only be achieved by ‘broadening our concept of reason and its application."   Christian Post

"All the attacks so far are based on a few quotes and excerpts liberally taken by Western news agencies on what the Pope said about Islam, which was only ten per cent of his speech. The media—which should indulge in some self-criticism of its own—picked out those remarks from the speech that it could immediately use and superimposed them on the current international political context. Comments made by Western Muslims were superficial and fed the circus-like criticism. In a phone-in programme on al-Jazeera yesterday, many viewers called in to criticise the Pope but no one knew about what. These were just emotional outbursts in response to hearsay concerning the Pope talking about jihad and criticising Islam, when in fact all that is false. "  Asia News 
( MUST read overview of what the Pope actually said).

Remember, that in 2002:  "The Pope has been told that the al-Qaeda terrorists who masterminded the September 11 attacks in the United States planned to assassinate him during his tour of the Philippines."

Then there the Turkish bestselling book - "Who Will Kill the Pope in Instanbul?"    Fiction? In the last seven months, three Catholic priests have been attacked in Turkey.

Now if you are Catholic, and the Muslim world disparages and threatens your religious leader, does it bring the threat of terrorism closer to home?  Will it affect how you vote in November?

More at California Conservative as well.