Pope Benedict XVI took a bold step in last week’s speech – he spoke the truth about Muslims and the danger they represent to the rest of the world.

The exact sentence (taken from a 14th-century Byzantine emperor) was…

“Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhumane, such as his command to spread the faith he preached.”

Little has changed since the 14th-century and Muslims worldwide, insulted by the Pope’s courage and candor, did everything they could to prove him correct. They murdered a Somalian nun, al Qaida declared a holy war on “the worshipper of the cross” and the Pakistani parliament passed a resolution condemning the Pope. There were the usual and predictable protests worldwide, burnings in effigy and outrage from Muslim leaders that someone might publicly call this murderous lot to be evil.

Unfortunately, the Pope weakened and apologized saying he was “deeply sorry” for offending “the sensibility of Muslims.” He should apologize for putting sensibility and Muslim in the same sentence.

The New York Times and the Washington Post were quick to leap to the side of the Muslims. Apparently, as they pointed out, Israelis are reacting disproportional when trying to find and kill terrorist Hezbollah members, but nuns being gunned down in the street is a proportionate response to a single quote in a long speech.

I would surely love to see the proportional response charts the New York Times keeps and would have loved it even more if the Pope had stood strong by the truth.