The power of the tongue

Today, the newspapers and the media in general is all about the Pope's comments about Islam. The Pope's words reverberated across the world and set people on edge....to the point of violence against Christians by some Muslims in the Middle East. Ironically, the church where I serve, read portions of James 3 yesterday in worship, "...no one can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison" (v6). While I've not read the Pope's entire speech in order to put the comments in proper context, I can see how words chosen could incite a reaction. The Muslim leaders in the world and other Christians are calling for the Pope's apology. Agreed.

But what about calling for the apology of those who bombed two churches in the West Bank following the papal comments? http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14866559/site/newsweek/page/2/

What about an apolgy from the people in India who denouced the Pope by burning his effigy on the streets? Are their reactions justified? Aren't as many apologies necessary from those people as from the Pope himself?