no one should apologize...

for telling the truth.

As much as I do not approve of the human rights, pro-life stance and other positions of the pope and his church, I don't believe he should apologize for telling the truth by citing a medieval tract of a dialog between Emperor Manuel Paleologus and a Persian scholar.

"The decisive statement in this argument against violent conversion is this: not to act in accordance with reason is contrary to God's nature. The editor, Theodore Khoury, observes: For the emperor, as a Byzantine shaped by Greek philosophy, this statement is self-evident. But for Muslim teaching, God is absolutely transcendent. His will is not bound up with any of our categories, even that of rationality. Here Khoury quotes a work of the noted French Islamist R. Arnaldez, who points out that Ibn Hazm went so far as to state that God is not bound even by his own word, and that nothing would oblige him to reveal the truth to us. Were it God's will, we would even have to practise idolatry." Benedict XVI

A more pointed and direct quote from the tract is below:

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached.... God", he says, "is not pleased by blood - and not acting reasonably is contrary to God's nature. Faith is born of the soul, not the body. Whoever would lead someone to faith needs the ability to speak well and to reason properly, without violence and threats.... To convince a reasonable soul, one does not need a strong arm, or weapons of any kind, or any other means of threatening a person with death...." Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Paleologus

Islamists, Christianists, fundamentalists of all kinds put words into the mouth of god that make their beliefs the only truth they think everyone should support. I quote the pope again, "Were it God's will, we would even have to practise idolatry."

So, if that is not the will of god, wouldn't there just be one religion with one god by his/her design instead of many religions with many dogmas, rites, and theologies?

just asking...