Watch Out, the Pope’s On the Case!

Captain’s Quarters notes that Pope Benedict XVI has “returned to the role of defender of the faith” in calling for more religious tolerance in Islam:

Apparently, Benedict has given up on appeasement. In this speech, he gets far more direct than he did a year ago, demanding reciprocity from Muslims in very clear and pointed terms. His condemnation of Islamist terrorism will add to the sense of Benedict’s challenge to Islam, which supports a similar challenge made a day earlier by a senior Church of England bishop regarding conversions.

Ed’s analysis is right on, and he correctly notes the similarity of Pope John Paul’s assault on Communism and Pope Benedict’s speech about Islam. Both communism and Islam are “intellectually failed systems” that maintain adherents by use of force.