It was the Muslim extremists who started marching in the streets of London, whipping others into a frenzy to march in other streets, that rocked this city a little over a year ago.

Protesters carrying signs with slogans that read, "Massacre those who insult Islam," "Bomb the UK" and "Europe, you will pay, your 9/11 will come" lined the streets near Hyde Park.
All of this fervor was in response to editorial cartoons depicting the Islamic prophet Muhammad, first published in Denmark and subsequently run worldwide.

One year later, American film director James Cameron produced a documentary in which he claims to have found the bones of Jesus -- a challenge to accepted Christian dogma that Jesus ascended into heaven. Christians believe Jesus was resurrected from the dead. Without that resurrection, Jesus basically becomes like Gandhi -- a really nice guy.

There were no street protests, peaceful or otherwise, from Christian communities around the world...


Read the Rest

Labels: Religion of Peace?, Salena Zito

Salena Zito takes a look at how the Democratic front-runners are all betting on the same strategy for '08 - becoming the anti-war candidate:

Howard Dean is not one of the candidates doing aerobic positioning around the war so he can become the Democrats' presidential nominee. Yet he is the guy who created the space that everyone wants to fill: the anti-war candidate.

Dean staked out that role four years ago. And while the bulk of the electorate was not ready for his anti-war message then, it was even less ready for the way he delivered it.

Who could have predicted then that Dean was at the forefront of a movement that would become the litmus test for those who would seek to be the Democrats' nominee four years later?

Many of the candidates in the mix are jockeying around the war in Iraq. And with that dance comes an exercise in linguistics...

Read the Rest, over at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Labels: Election 2008, opinion, politics, Salena Zito