Want To See A Real Crusade?

Some Muslim extremist group has made a threat to kill the head infidel - the Pope - in "the name of Allah."

Now I'm not Catholic and I certainly haven't agreed with many things the John Paul has said. But he is a man who, more than anyone else alive today that I can think of, tries to live his life according to his religion.

John Paul is more than a man, he is a symbol. Despite the times when he is wrong, he is a symbol of all that is right with Christianity. I'm not trying to minimize the faults of the Church or the man, but he does seem to stand just a step above. He seems to suffer his (and the Church's) faults with the stoicism of a man who knows that he's comfortable in meeting his Maker.

John Paul is a good man and one who commands respect, even from non-Catholics. What would the Muslims achieve by his assassination?

They would strike at a symbol. They would kill the man. They would celebrate and sing paeans to Allah. For a few minutes, a few extremists would exalt themselves with the fantasy that they defeated Christianity and proved the supremacy of Mohammed.

But they don't realize that the Church is more than one man. The Vatican would mourn and move on. A new Pope would take the place of John Paul. The Christian religion would survive, easily.

And there would be a unity in the Church that hasn't been seen in years. Catholics and non-Catholics alike would be aghast at the assassination. The "live and let live" moderates of the Christian faith would swing in great numbers to the side of "eliminate Islamic extremism."

The wakeup call for Christianity would be the equivalent of a foreign power assassinating President Bush. The fury unleashed by John Paul's death would be enormous; the effects certain.

The extremists would be hunted down and eliminated. They claim that they are fighting a holy war. They would find out what a real holy war is about.

We, the Christians, would, of course, win. The carnage on the Muslim side would be widespread and terrible. It would almost be a Crusade of medieval proportions.

The cleansing of the Muslim faith would be nearly complete. The extremist elements would be destroyed and they would remember that there is a fear greater than the fear of Allah.

They would remember to fear a united and angry Christianity.

Laurence Simon over at Amish Tech Support has also commented on this.