Hong Kong - I believe Pope Benedict XVI's apology was more than enough, but most of China's Muslim community does not seem to agree. According to Chen Guangyuan, president of the Islamic Association of China, "Benedict insulted both Islam and Prophet Muhammad" and "has gravely hurt the feelings of the Muslims across the world, including those from China."
"We strongly request Pope Benedict to immediately retract his words and apologize openly and in person," Mr. Chen demanded. An English-language newspaper in Hong Kong wasn't happy either. Its editorial said the Pope "should apologise personally and heal the wounds of his own words."
Muslims are again proving to be surprisingly thin-skinned. The West must apologize for every little impolite thing it utters about Islam while the Islamic world can say anything it wishes about Christianity and the Western world. If the Bible, and not the Koran, were flushed down a toilet, do you think any Muslims would be outraged?
Unless the Muslims enter the twenty-first century and abide the rules of modernity - freedom of expression being one - there's really no point of having any dialogue. It won't even be possible to have one to start with when one side demands no less than complete surrender when the other side is perceived as making an offense.
No, the West shouldn't go out of its way to offend the Muslims, even though the latter never hesitates to do the same to the former. The West, however, shouldn't impose self-censorship on itself just because some jihadists may strike.
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