Religion of Peace Now Burning Churches

The Muslims have to be careful or they're going to lose their reputation as a "religion of peace" (yeah...right). The tolerant members of the faith are now firebombing churches in Gaza.

A small explosion caused minor damage Friday in a courtyard outside a Greek Orthodox church in Gaza City, church workers said. The early morning blast appeared to have been caused by a small, homemade explosive device, which damaged a door and caused minor damage to the floor and walls, church workers said. No one was wounded.

A second explosion hit the church hours later and a concussion grenade was thrown near the church in the afternoon. Neither of those blasts caused any damage, but church officials worried that the attacks were retaliation for remarks that Pope Benedict XVI made Tuesday that angered Muslims.

"This is the first time this has ever happened to our church," said the church's priest, Rev. Artinious Alexious. "We don't know why they have done this. We are Greek Orthodox and have no relation to the Pope."

It's very simple, my Greek friend, the only qualification you have to have to make you a target of tolerance is that you're an infidel.

But the Greek church in Gaza was not alone in attracting tolerance. Captain Ed reports on two other churches in the West Bank that were hit, in his article which has, in my view, the title of the day: Pope Apologizes For Being Prophetic

Two churches in the West Bank were hit by firebombs early Saturday, witnesses and clergy said, and a group claiming responsiblity said the attacks were meant as a protest against comments by Pope Benedict XVI about Islam.

The firebombs left black scorch marks on the walls and windows of a Roman Catholic and an Anglican church in the West Bank city of Nablus. Father Yousef, a priest at the Anglican Church, said several firebombs hit the church's outside wall.

I have a feeling that like the Danish cartoons that ended up resulting in many deaths and much destruction, this is going to continue to escalate and will push us closer to the eventual war between civilization and those who would return us to the seventh century.

UPDATE: A second day of attacks on churches:

GAZA CITY (AFP) - Assailants angry at Pope Benedict XVI’s comments on Islam targeted several churches across the Palestinian territories on the second day of attacks directed at the Christian church.

In Gaza City, a group calling itself the Islamic Organization of the Swords of Righteousness claimed responsibility for unleashing a volley of gunfire on the oldest church in the city.

“We carried out this shooting because of the pope’s statement, and he must apologise,” the caller, who refused to give his name, told AFP Saturday.

The attack came a day after a grenade exploded outside the same church and four days after the pope criticised connections between Islam and violence, particularly with regard to jihad, or “holy war”.

In the West Bank town of Nablus, gunmen threw Molotov cocktails at four churches of different denominations, Palestinian security sources told AFP.

In one incident, gunmen opened fire inside an empty Catholic church after the building’s entrance door was burnt down, the sources said.