"True peace and love"

Some people say there is no difference between Islam and Christianity because both have violent histories.

But I say there is a huge amount of difference. Yes, the Catholic Church has, at some few times in our history, resorted to violence, such as fighting the Crusades to take back the Holy Land, but anyone who argues that Christians are out perpetrating the sort of violence Muslims do these days is crazy.

Here is the text of the prayer that Pope Benedict XVI will read at Ground Zero on 20 April:

"O God of love, compassion, and healing, look on us, people of many different faiths and traditions, who gather today at this site, the scene of incredible violence and pain.

"We ask you in your goodness to give eternal light and peace to all who died here -- the heroic first-responders: our fire fighters, police officers, emergency service workers, and Port Authority personnel, along with all the innocent men and women who were victims of this tragedy simply because their work or service brought them here on September 11, 2001.

"We ask you, in your compassion to bring healing to those who, because of their presence here that day, suffer from injuries and illness.

"Heal, too, the pain of still-grieving families and all who lost loved ones in this tragedy. Give them strength to continue their lives with courage and hope. We are mindful as well of those who suffered death, injury, and loss on the same day at the Pentagon and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

"Our hearts are one with theirs as our prayer embraces their pain and suffering. God of peace, bring your peace to our violent world: peace in the hearts of all men and women and peace among the nations of the earth.

"Turn to your way of love those whose hearts and minds are consumed with hatred. God of understanding, overwhelmed by the magnitude of this tragedy, we seek your light and guidance as we confront such terrible events.

"Grant that those whose lives were spared may live so that the lives lost here may not have been lost in vain. Comfort and console us, strengthen us in hope, and give us the wisdom and courage to work tirelessly for a world where true peace and love reign among nations and in the hearts of all."

Beautiful, isn't it? And do notice that the Pope prays for the redemption of those who committed these terrible acts. He does not condemn them to Hell. He does not call them names. He does not advocate the burning of their buildings.

This is in stark contrast to the behavior of Muslims the world over when someone so much as draws and publishes an editorial cartoon with the ever precious Mohammed in it. The Muslim leaders pray and preach murder and violence.

Remind me which is a violent religion? If you can't tell, then you must be very stupid, indeed.

"In the Lord we have become close."

AP: Pope baptizes prominent Italian Muslim---

VATICAN CITY - Italy's most prominent Muslim, an iconoclastic writer who condemned Islamic extremism and defended Israel, converted to Catholicism Saturday in a baptism by the pope at a Vatican Easter service.

An Egyptian-born, non-practicing Muslim who is married to a Catholic, Magdi Allam infuriated some Muslims with his books and columns in the newspaper Corriere della Sera newspaper, where he is a deputy editor. He titled one book "Long Live Israel."

As a choir sang, Pope Benedict XVI poured holy water over Allam's head and said a brief prayer in Latin.

"We no longer stand alongside or in opposition to one another," Benedict said in a homily reflecting on the meaning of baptism. "Thus faith is a force for peace and reconciliation in the world: distances between people are overcome, in the Lord we have become close."

Vatican Television zoomed in on Allam, who sat in the front row of the basilica along with six other candidates for baptism. He later received his first Communion.

God bless him and keep him safe.

Victims, generosity, and gratitude (or the lack thereof)

From Right Truth:

Victimhood seems to be the word for the day. Illegal aliens are victims, blacks are victims, Muslims are victims, ... you get the idea. Americans try to help everybody they can here and around the world. To whom much is given, much is expected, ... so we are glad to lend a had to those in need. But need and greed are two different things. Being a victim and wanting special treatment are not the same. And is it too much to expect a little gratitude for what we do?

One example is the new immigration bill, which in my opinion is a complete sham. Listening to the illegal aliens being interviewed on television was a real eye-opener. They don't like the bill, they don't want anything required of them. Illegals don't want to pay $5,000. Aliens don't want to go home, or touch back, in order to get their Z-visas. (a/k/a E-Z-visas) They want citizenship and they want it now. Not grateful for what is being offered, they want more.

How about a little appreciation and gratitude, in the form of assimilation? Go see the images and article at Ironic Surrealism

The Conservative Constitutionalist points out that it may be legal American citizens and illegal aliens who are the real victims of the new immigration bill, -- when we get hit with another terrorist attack by someone who slipped across the border.

Legal Americans feel "that NONE OF US will have a say in the final solution" to illegal aliens, according to The Bill-T Blog. We call, fax, email, snail-mail .. is anybody really listening? Rastaman thinks it's "because corporations are now running America and the corporations have decided that they want a lot of cheap labor from Mexico."

Hillbilly has a link to the full immigration bill if you want to go read it (pdf alert).

Red Satellites says "Welcome to the Hood -- Victimhood"

If you happen to have lived in or around New Orleans when Katrina hit- you've hit the lottery.

After a massive deadline filing rush recently that is still being sorted through, the United States is facing legal claims from more than 250,000 people here demanding compensation because, they allege, the Corps negligently designed the waterworks that permeate the city.

Every person within a 200 mile radius has lined up for this massive handout. Oh by the way, anyone done the math lately? Hmmm....$278 billion divided by ~250,000 = 1.11 MILLION per 'victim'. Yep.

If the government pays out all claims, each and every plaintiff, on average, will score more than a million dollars...

I'm wondering what the total amount of donations to Katrina victims has been? Like the September 11 widows, it never seems to be enough. A little personal responsibility would have saved many of these people in New Orleans from the tragedy they experienced. Hillbilly sums it up:

I may live in the city, enjoy a lot of creature comforts, technological advances, higher education, and many more things, but my roots are strong. If all these things disappeared tomorrow, I’d still survive because my family taught me how to think and do for myself. It’s the saddest thing in the world to me to read about people who can’t. If you want to cure the world’s ills teach them how to think and do and learn for themselves, not just give it and expect them to be grateful. Gratitude is a capricious creature. Just when you expect it to come in a flood you get complaints that what was given wasn’t enough. (Hillbilly Politics)

Muslims are not victims either, as Islamanazi so clearly points out:

It’s time our media stopped portraying the tribal peoples of other nations as being “undeveloped” because they still adhere to ancient and horrible practices. [snip]
No, the people who persist in abusing their women and mutilating and torturing each other aren’t undeveloped. They have full access to modern technology. Yet they constantly fight each other for domination. They fight over differences in belief, over slights and imagined slights, over territory, wealth, greed, jealousy, virtually any possible excuse or no excuse at all. They engage in complex and compulsory rituals that consume much of each working day and reduce their ability to provide for themselves. With knives they gouge off the hands and feet of each other as punishments for crimes and imagined crimes.

They do this while using the Internet, driving cars, and attending colleges.

They aren’t “undeveloped”.

They’re just muslims. (more)

If you are black you can be a victim, but if you are white you probably deserved to be carjacked, tortured, raped, and eventually killed. Hot Air has video. Christopher Newsom (23) and Channon Christian (21), real victims, get little MSM reporting. La Shawn Barber has more. Where's Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson?

This was a production of The Coalition Against Illegal Immigration (CAII). If you would like to participate, please go to the above link to learn more. Afterwards, email the coalition and let us know at what level you would like to participate.