While Time Magazine slept

Time Magazine "suddenly" discovers a voice in the wilderness: "Pope Benedict XVI talks with members of a Muslim delegation from the U.S. at the end of his weekly Wednesday general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, March 1, 2006." (Alessandro Bianchi/Reutrs/Corbis photo)

"Suddenly, when he speaks, the whole world listens," gushes a breathless Time Mag, enthralled with its belated discovery of Papa Ratzi, the Pope who loves cats and Mozart. Long before Cardinal Ratzinger became Benedict XVI, the great student of history and human nature was warning the West of the gathering Eurabian storm. But only when Time notices the "hard-knuckle intellect with a taste for blunt talk and interreligious confrontation" is this voice in the wilderness "suddenly" heard:

Few people saw this coming. Nobody truly expected Benedict to be a mere caretaker Pope -- his sometimes ferocious 24-year tenure as the Vatican's theological enforcer and John Paul's right hand suggested anything but passivity. But this same familiarity argued against surprises.

We guess it depends upon what your definition of "few" is, not to mention your capacity for surprise. Take the late Oriana Fallaci, for one, the renowned Italian journalist indicted in her native country for vilifying, as the law says, a "religion admitted by the state," in this case Islam. We've often quoted Fallaci's transcendent words regarding her spiritual connection with "her soulmate," as she told the WSJ's Tunku Varadarajan last year:

I am an atheist, and if an atheist and a pope think the same things, there must be something true. It's that simple! There must be some human truth here that is beyond religion.

Time continues in its self-congratulatory mode of sudden discovery:

The new Pontiff was expected to sustain John Paul's conservative line on morality and church discipline and focus most of his energies on trimming the Vatican bureaucracy and battling Western culture's "moral relativism."

Don't you love the scare quotes around moral relativism?

Although acknowledged as a brilliant conservative theologian, Benedict lacked the open-armed charisma of his predecessor. Moreover, what had initially propelled John Paul to the center of the world stage was his challenge to communism and its subsequent fall, a huge geopolitical event that the Pope helped precipitate with two exhilarating visits to his beloved Polish homeland. By contrast, what could Benedict do? Liberate Bavaria?

"Open-armed charisma" aside -- eye of the beholder? -- can you say clueless? While Time Magazine slept:

But this year he has emerged as a far more compelling and complex figure than anyone [Anyone in your Pauline Kael bubble of denial, perhaps] had imagined. And much of that has to do with his willingness to confront what some people feel [It's those "some people" again, but this time what they "feel" makes a lot of sense] is today's equivalent of the communist scourge -- the threat of Islamic violence.

But [But? Again, where have you been?] by speaking out last September in Regensburg, Germany, about the possible intrinsic connection between Islam and violence [Doh], the Pontiff suddenly [Yawn] became a lot more interesting. Even when Islamic extremists destroyed several churches and murdered a nun in Somalia, Benedict refused to retract the essence of his remarks. [Hey, big boy, when was the last time YOU retracted the essence of your remarks?] In one imperfect [Sez who?] but powerful stroke, he departed from his predecessor's largely benign approach to Islam and discovered [No, hon. He's been there forever. It's YOU who belatedly "discovered"] an issue that might attract even the most religiously jaded. In doing so, he managed (for better or worse) to reanimate the clash-of-civilizations discussion by focusing scrutiny on the core question of whether Islam, as a religion, sanctions violence.

You think?

Update: We're putting you on hold, Time Magazine. Instapundit is on the line.

Update II:  Pajamas Media links.

Comments

[hnav]

another fascinating post...

isn't Time Magazine known for it's recruitment of liberal democrat partisans?

and bloggers who are devoted to the democrat party?

[miss kelly]

TIME deserved that Sissy-slap, good job! Clueless indeed. The Pope has been talking bluntly for years about the limitations of the Islamic religion, the lack of reciprocity in treatment of religious minorities in Muslim countries, and that admitting Turkey to the European Union would be a mistake (Turkey is culturally distinct from Europe, to put it nicely). These assessments and statements go back years, to his Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger days. He's also tirelessly reminded Europeans of their rich Christian heritage. At least Time gets it a little bit, which is more than we can say for Newsweek, CNN, NY Times, network news, etc.

[Gayle Miller]

Benedict is a truly beloved Pope who would absolutely clap his hands with joy and appreciation at the sight of Tiny and Baby (or my Sam and Tim), particularly while enjoying Mozart - and whose intellect, grasp of history and absolute faith are an encouragement to us all. While the excellent John Paul did much to renew my connection to my Church, it is the magnificent yet humble Benedict who has fully returned me to Its arms!

[Pierre Legrand]

Pope Benedict has reawakened the faithful to the fact that it was the Catholic Church by and large who last saved Western Civilization from the same people who now fly airplanes into buildings. It appears that the Catholic Church is being called again to defend civilization since our politicians are too busy courting the Islamic vote to bother with naming the enemy. The politicians are still fighting a tactic because naming the true enemy is so discomfiting.

Good to see you get the attention you deserve!

[Knucklehead]

I canceled my subscription to Time back around '92 or so. I just couldn't stand their tripe anymore. I make a point of picking it up in various waiting rooms from time to time. They never fail to disappoint. Late to every stroy, hopelessly shallow in their coverage, and relentlessly convinced of their timeliness and importance. What clowns.

Glad to see you smack 'em, baddabing wit a pipe, right upside the head. And very well done.

[Ron C]

Funny, snarky post.

But I think both you and Time missed the point of Benedict's Regensburg address. Paraphrased: Islam has not been tempered by reason as was Christianity in the historical "rapprochement between Biblical faith and Greek inquiry." He then proceeds to lament the "dehellenization" of Biblical faith and western culture.

More or less interesting/scandalous than how his remarks have been characterized? I don't know, but I encourage everyone to read his actual address. http://www.zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=94748

[TallDave]

"by speaking out last September in Regensburg, Germany, about the possible intrinsic connection between Islam and violence [Doh], the Pontiff suddenly [Yawn] became a lot more interesting. Even when Islamic extremists destroyed several churches and murdered a nun in Somalia, Benedict refused to retract the essence of his remarks."

Gah... do they really not see the irony in this series of statements?

This is like calling someone a murderer, then refusing to retract the essence of your remark after he murders someone else in retaliation for your comment.

[Teresa]

"In doing so, he managed (for better or worse) to reanimate the clash-of-civilizations discussion by focusing scrutiny on the core question of whether Islam, as a religion, sanctions violence."

Why do I get the overall impression that Time considers this to be "worse"...

Oh and a side note to Time... who was it that flew airplanes into buildings? put bombs on trains and busses? constantly preaches "death to infidels"? Yet it's the Pope who has reanimated the "clash-of civilizations" discussions... I want an explanation of the logic used to come to this conclusion.

[hnav]

LGF has noted Time is giving 'time' to those enabling the problem...

http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=23414_TIME_Cover_Story_by_Muslim_Brotherhood_Front_Man&only

"And Where He's Still in the Dark
Benedict's definition of what it means to be European ignores the positive contributions of Islam
By TARIQ RAMADAN"

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1561146,00.html

[Buddy Larsen]

Couldn't agree more with the sentiments re Time Magazine, and infinitely more importantly, re Pope Benedict XVI. Thanks for the lift, folks!

[Always On Watch]

Even when Islamic extremists destroyed several churches and murdered a nun in Somalia, Benedict refused to retract the essence of his remarks.

In other words, the Pope didn't bow to terrorists and offer appeasement! And the Muslims in Somalia showed the world that the words read by the Pope are still true.

My blog article on Time Magazine's latest propaganda issue focused on the commentary by Tariq Ramadan. I confess that when I read the lead story on the Pope, all I could discern was blah, blah, blah. Thank you for posting this insightful analysis about what "the leading news magazine" discovered. [cough]

After reading this blog article, I'll now go back with my highlighter and do some marking of the article about the Pope.