No More Wimpy Christians

Fr. Neuhaus has excellent thoughts on Benedict & Islam, including proof that Cardinal Ratzinger has made the same point many times. You should RTWT, but I want to point out something he quotes from the NY Sun, comparing Benedict & Islam to JPthe Great & Communism:

The current pope, like his predecessor, is fighting a two-front war. He must take on radicals outside his faith while also convincing his co-religionists of the seriousness of the fight. In this sense, Benedict’s decision to quote the Byzantine emperor Manuel II Paleologus is an apt one. Manuel was the penultimate eastern emperor, who presided over a drastically diminished realm in the face of the mounting threat of Islamic conquest. Manuel was also one of the many emperors who were unsuccessful in persuading western Christians to aid the failing empire. The pressing question is not only whether Islam will take up Benedict’s challenge but whether well-meaning Christians, who have sometimes wanted to feel removed from the battle, draw strength from the pope’s leadership.

That strikes me as right and particularly well-said.