Two Wrongs Don't Make A.....

Can I just say this.

The Pope made some glaringly hurtful, and largely inaccurate statements the other day. It was wrong. He shouldn't have said it. Etc, ad infinitum.

At. The. Same. Time.

Muslims respond by burning churches, threatening to kill him, etc?

Isn't that kind of proving his point, instead of disproving it?

I'm not saying that he was justified, but I am saying that, had they wanted to, Muslims could have seized the moment after his remarks to make a point about just how wrong he was (or could have been, depending on your perspective). In the United States, had a politician made the same sort of miscalculated and misled statement, his opponents would have secretly done backflips for JOY at the fact that their nemises had just discredited and embarassed himself, at no effort or expense to them. They would have let reality speak for itself. Isn't that what happens all the time?

I just have this feeling that until people can put aside the threatening rhetoric and violent behaviors, trying to achieve ANY sort of stability to the Middle East is going to be challenging (if not impossible). People have to be mature enough to engage in a dialogue to solve whatever differences they have amongst themselves - if not for the sake of democracy and a stable global market, then at least for the sake of whatever value one places on human life and dignity.

And if the point is that a certain group of people doesn't actually PUT that value on human life and dignity, well...

........?