Misleading by Misreading
By Suzanne Fields
Thursday, September 21, 2006

Pope Benedict XVI did the right thing, twice. In his talk to scholars in Germany, he correctly put Islam in historical perspective, describing how Islam was perceived as "evil and inhuman" by a 14th-century Christian emperor desperate for the help of other Christians to defend his country against Islamic conquest. (His fellow Christians didn't help.)

He was correct this week as well, to say he was "deeply sorry for the reactions in some countries to a few passages." He clearly wanted to put a lid on the violence without contradicting his earlier remarks. Benedict, reasonably enough, called for reflection to seek the "true sense of his words" about how violence is the wrong approach to faith. Who among us could disagree with that? (A lot of Muslims, to be sure.)

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