While I disagree with many things written in other posts, Redstate has an eloquent rebuttal to the fuss over the Pope’s recent comments.
Myself, I don’t blame the Pope for the violence that has sprung up in the wake of his remarks, because I happen to believe that all people of every religion are perfectly capable of controlling their own reaction to being insulted. People say insulting and degrading things about Christianity all the time. As a human being, I have the choice as to whether I will respond to that by shooting someone of their religion, or threatening to behead their spiritual leader, or whether to respond in a fashion befitting the principles of a civilized society (and, incidentally, the teachings of the Progenitor of Christianity). I also assume that Muslims are capable of the same level of moderation, and expect the same behavior of them that I expect of my Christian brethren.[...]
The Westerners who are currently criticizing the Pope, on the other hand, are tipping their hand that they subconsciously engage in the very bigotry they are accusing the Pope of espousing. By declaring, effectively, that “the Pope should have seen this coming,” they are clearly implying that acting with violence is just what Muslims do[....]
It should be noted that I suspect many, if not most, Muslims, while they may be insulted and offended, leave it at that. I suspect that it is just a very vocal minority who are pushing the public expression of disapproval further. And, of course, these are the folks who get the press coverage because it makes good TV.
One of the sad realities we live with is that objective, well-rounded media coverage is difficult to obtain given that media companies have a profit incentive to work under.