Steve Skojec

I was checking web stats today and saw I had visitors coming from Slate.com. They apparently did a blog roundup on the new Bin Laden tape, and they excerpted my agitated suggestion that we oblige OBL on his accusation that the pope wants a new crusade:

Steve Skojec says bring it on: “If you want a new crusade, Bin Laden, go ahead and go after the pope. Ever hear of the Battle of Lepanto? How about Granada? Vienna? The Catholic armies of the past broke the back of the Ottoman Empire and scattered the warriors of jihad so badly they had to nurse their wounds for centuries.”

On it’s own, this quote loses some of the nuance in my original post, like the grumbling admission that Catholicism ain’t what it used to be. (I need to learn to think in soundbytes if I’m going to get quoted.) There will be no Catholic armies coming to the rescue this time, because there are no Catholic nations. I wish there were.

Hilary left a comment that summed up my sentiment rather well, in all of it’s indignant futility:

“There’s still one dwarf left who draws breath in Moria, eh?”

Pretty much. And the orc hordes are coming.

Sounds like Osama Bin Laden has decided to drag the Holy Father into his scheming nonsense, blaming him for a non-existent role in offending Muslims - which, by the way, is not very hard to do. This has to do with the political cartoons in Denmark that satirically depicted Mohammed, which, as we know, sent Osama and thousands of his pals into fits of hysteria and violence. Apparently, these AK47-wielding chumps have sensibilities that are quite delicate.

And by “delicate”, I mean “whimpering sissy-boys.”

The Vatican rejected on Thursday new accusations by al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden that the publication of cartoons mocking Islam’s Prophet Mohammad was part of a “new crusade” involving Pope Benedict.

[snip]

The Saudi-born militant leader said Europe would be punished for the cartoons, which were first published by a Danish paper in September 2005 and unleashed a bloody reaction after other newspapers around the world reprinted them the following year.

Last month several Danish newspapers republished one of the cartoons in solidarity with the cartoonist after three men were arrested on suspicion of plans to kill him. This sparked a fresh outburst of protest by Muslims.

“Your publications of these drawings — part of a new crusade in which the Pope of the Vatican had a significant role — is a confirmation from you that the war continues,” said bin Laden, addressing “those who are wise at the European Union”.

If you want a new crusade, Bin Laden, go ahead and go after the pope. Ever hear of the Battle of Lepanto? How about Granada? Vienna? The Catholic armies of the past broke the back of the Ottoman Empire and scattered the warriors of jihad so badly they had to nurse their wounds for centuries. To this day, the inheritors of jihadic tradition (like you) still hide in caves and have no choice but to resort to the cowardly tactics of terrorist surprise attacks on innocent civilians to accomplish their ends.

Catholicism isn’t what it used to be, I’ll grant you that. We’re too worried about feeling good to be sharpening our swords in preparation for Islam’s return. Push us far enough, however, and you’ll find that not every member of the True Faith is ready to crawl into a hole and let you have your way with the world. We don’t take kindly when people threaten the pope.