By Andrew L. Jaffee

“According to Freud, projection is when someone is threatened by or afraid of their own impulses so they attribute these impulses to someone else.” Some Muslims are doing it again: Reacting ferociously when someone points out that there’s nothing holy about holy war (jihad). Because the Pope used jihad as an example of religion gone awry, he is being compared to Hitler by Turkish and other Islamists. Which just proves that any revelation that current-day Islam has a problem with violence hits too close to home among many Muslims, and will draw a violent response. Think about it: A violent response from those who are angry because they were accused of being violent. Remind you of anything in particular? The Danish cartoon controversy, where Muslims burned, pillaged, and killed because of a newspaper caricature of Mohammed?

Since the Pope is a leading religious figure (obviously), it is natural that he examine the actions of coreligionists, adherents to other faiths, and how different beliefs interact. After all, Christians have been the target of the world’s current holy warriors, the Islamists, in for example, the Sudan, Nigeria, North Ossetia, 9/11, Bali, London, Madrid, etc. Wouldn’t it then be natural for the Pope to speak of jihad? From the AP:

Citing historic Christian commentary on holy war and forced conversion, the pontiff quoted from a 14th-century Byzantine emperor, Manuel II Paleologos.

“The emperor comes to speak about the issue of jihad, holy war,” the pope said. “He said, I quote, ‘Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached.’”

Clearly aware of the sensitivity of the issue, Benedict added, “I quote,” twice before pronouncing the phrases on Islam and described them as “brusque,” while neither explicitly agreeing with nor repudiating them.

“The emperor goes on to explain in detail the reasons why spreading the faith through violence is something unreasonable,” Benedict said.

“Violence is incompatible with the nature of God and the nature of the soul,” the pope said, issuing an open invitation to dialogue among cultures.

This is controversial? Well, it is if you are a repressed, seething Islamist, refusing to admit what is happening in your own religion. Here’s the Turkish reaction, again from the AP:

Turkey’s ruling Islamic-rooted party joined a wave of criticism of Pope Benedict XVI on Friday, accusing him of trying to revive the spirit of the Crusades with remarks he made about Islam. A party official said the pontiff would go down in history “in the same category as leaders such as Hitler and Mussolini” for his words. …

On Friday, Salih Kapusuz, a deputy leader of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s party, said Benedict’s remarks were either “the result of pitiful ignorance” about Islam and its prophet, or worse, a deliberate distortion of the truths.

“He has a dark mentality that comes from the darkness of the Middle Ages. He is a poor thing that has not benefited from the spirit of reform in the Christian world,” Kapusuz blurted out in comments made to the state-owned Anatolia news agency. “It looks like an effort to revive the mentality of the Crusades.”

“Benedict, the author of such unfortunate and insolent remarks is going down in history for his words. However … he is going down in history in the same category as leaders such as Hitler and Mussolini,” he said.

Other Muslim reactions:

In Beirut, Lebanon’s most senior Shiite Muslim cleric denounced the remarks and demanded the pope personally apologize for insulting Islam.

“We do not accept the apology through Vatican channels … and ask him (Benedict) to offer a personal apology — not through his officials — to Muslims for this false reading (of Islam),” Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah told worshippers in his Friday prayers sermon.

A Lebanese government official said the country’s ambassador to the Vatican has been instructed to seek clarifications on the pontiff’s remarks.

In neighboring Syria, the grand mufti, the country’s top Sunni Muslim religious authority, sent a letter to the Pope saying he feared the pontiff’s comments on Islam would worsen interfaith relations.

And in Cairo, about 100 demonstrators gathered in an anti-Vatican protest outside the capital’s al-Azhar mosque.

Pakistan’s parliament unanimously adopted a resolution condemning the pope for making what it called “derogatory” comments about Islam, and seeking an apology from him

Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry also called the pope’s remarks “regrettable.” …

The head of Britain’s largest Muslim body said it was disturbed by the pope’s use of a 14th century passage. The Muslim Council, which represents 400 groups in Britain, said the emperor’s views were “ill-informed and frankly bigoted.”

The saddest thing about this reaction is the unwillingness by Muslims to confront their own extremists, and to play the victim in the war against Islamo-fascism — even though they are the aggressors. How will humanity as a whole evolve while one third of its people cling to a Taliban-like, Stone Age mentality? Just as Canadian Muslims denied responsibility for their comfortable youth trying to blow up other Canadians; just as some British Muslims shirked responsibility, even after members of their own community planned to kill 100’s, perhaps 1000’s, of innocent civilians; just as Sunnis and Shiites are killing each other in Iraq; now, the Pope is being blamed for “insulting” Islam.

Some may ask, “What’s the difference between Muslim intolerance, and that of Christians or Jews?” The difference is that Jews and Christians have plunged themselves into an extreme self-examination, which is now called “political correctness.” Self-examination is good, until it breeds a paralyzing guilt, preventing even self-preservation when faced with the onslaught of, for example, Islamist terrorism. How many watched media coverage of commemorations of the 5th anniversary of 9/11 in which the word “Islam” — even “terrorists” — was not even mentioned? Is a discussion of Western frailty even necessary herein?

Yes, there are a few Muslims speaking out against the ultra-violent ideals and practices now permeating Islamic culture, but sadly not enough to change their community’s plunge into disaster.

The Pope’s recent statements are not an example of anti-Muslim sentiment. The reaction of Muslims to the Pope’s statement is evidence that many adherents to Islam refuse to see the truth. Their religion is in crisis. This crisis has built to such proportions that it will likely take another Hiroshima to shake Muslims out of their victim/underdog mentality, and violent practices and beliefs.