European Reacting To Islamists: This Is The Easy Part

From Reuters:

Pope Benedict said on Wednesday Christians could not allow their beliefs and identity to be diluted for the sake of dialogue with other religions.

"We have to remember that this identity of ours calls for strength, clarity, and courage in the world in which we live," he told pilgrims and tourists at his weekly general audience.

Since he made controversial comments on Islam a month ago, the question of how much dialogue Catholics should have with other religions has become a point of debate in the Church.

..."But this path of dialogue that is so necessary must not lead us to forget the duty to firmly underscore the tenets and identity of our Christian faith that cannot be renounced."

...The leader of more than one billion Catholics has several times expressed regret for the reaction to the speech, saying his words were misunderstood. But he has stopped short of the unequivocal apology wanted by Muslims.

Meanwhile, The New York Times reports that Europe may be re-evaluating its approach:

Europe appears to be crossing an invisible line regarding its Muslim minorities: more people in the political mainstream are arguing that Islam cannot be reconciled with European values.

...[a worry] shared by centrists across Europe angry at terror attacks in the name of religion on a continent that has largely abandoned it, and disturbed that any criticism of Islam or Muslim immigration provokes threats of violence.

For years those who raised their voices were mostly on the far right. Now those normally seen as moderates — ordinary people as well as politicians — are asking whether once unquestioned values of tolerance and multiculturalism should have limits.

So you have Christians on the one side taking a stronger stand for their religion even while leaving the possibility of dialog open. On the other side you have the Europeans, who have decided that there are limits, even to tolerance.

Jack Straw writes that "wearing the full veil was bound to make better, positive relations between the two communities more difficult".

Meanwhile, A British education minister says he supports universities that ban Islamic students from wearing veils.

This is the easy part.
Now let's see what happens after the riots begin.

Technorati Tag: Pope Benedict and Jack Straw and Islam.