Kill the Pope!

That’s the message from lots of Muslims today, including some in London. The Daily Mail reports:

A notorious Muslim extremist told a demonstration in London yesterday that the Pope should face execution.

Anjem Choudary said those who insulted Islam would be “subject to capital punishment”.

His remarks came during a protest outside Westminster Cathedral on a day that worldwide anger among Muslim hardliners towards Pope Benedict XVI appeared to deepen.

Yesterday he said: “The Muslims take their religion very seriously and non-Muslims must appreciate that and that must also understand that there may be serious consequences if you insult Islam and the prophet.

“Whoever insults the message of Mohammed is going to be subject to capital punishment.”

He added: “I am here [to] have a peaceful demonstration. But there may be people in Italy or other parts of the world who would carry that out.

“I think that warning needs to be understood by all people who want to insult Islam and want to insult the prophet of Islam.”

On the bright side, Scotland Yard said there were only around 100 people at the kill-the-Pope demonstration.

Of course, calls for the Pope’s murder weren’t limited to England. In the photo below, demonstrators in Indonesia carry a sign that says, “Crucify the Pope.”

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I’m not a Catholic, so the Pope has no unique significance for me. Still, what strikes me most about these demonstrations is how confident even the most militant Muslims are–notwithstanding their childish talk about “Crusades”– that Christianity is a religion of peace. Would it be possible to push that assumption too far? I’m not sure.

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