Irony

I'm reminded of a scene from Monty Python's Life of Brian:

Brian: 'Look, you've got it all wrong! You don't NEED to follow ME, you don't NEED to follow ANYBODY! You've got to think for yourselves! You're ALL individuals!'
The Crowd (speaking in unison): 'Yes! We're all individuals!'
Brian: 'You're all different!'
The Crowd (in unison): 'Yes, we ARE all different!'
Man in crowd: 'I'm not…'
The Crowd: 'Shhh!'

This week, life imitates art:

The Pope: "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." (quoting a 14th century emperor, in the context of a discussion of the danger of human reason without the application of God's word)

Muslims: "You dog of Rome! How dare you say that Mohammed's religion is evil and violent! If you don't apologize and acknowledge Islam as a respectful, peace-loving faith we will attack you and burn down your churches."

The Pope has backed away from the statement, saying that he didn't really mean that Muslims are violent and evil, though their reaction seems to prove exactly that. If it weren't so depressing it might actually be funny.