I pointed out in “Islam and the Vatican” that interreligious dialogs between Christians and Muslims have been recognized by many of their participants for many years as being pointless. All the ground has been plowed. One of the greatest challenges prospectively facing Pope Benedict XVI is what the Vatican’s policies will be regarding relations with the Muslim world.

AlphaPatriot reports that Muslim clerics have already started advising the pope:

Pakistani clerics have a message for the new pope:

Islamic leaders in Pakistan are urging the new head of the Catholic Church to combat “grudges” against Muslims in the Western world.

A Pakistani religious leader says he’s praying that Pope Benedict the 16th “will play a vital role to promote religious tolerance, reconciliation, religious freedom, human dignity and peace in the world.”

And a cleric in the city of Karachi says the pope should “try to restrain the forces that have grudges against Muslims.”

“Promote religious tolerance.” “Religious freedom. “Human dignity”. Very nice.

Meanwhile in Pakistan, a mob of 400 people tracked down a man, chasing him through fields and up a tree. Someone in the angry lynch mob got the man out of the tree - by shooting him dead.

And what was his crime? Rape? Murder? No, it was blasphemy — they thought that he had burned a copy of the Koran.

Religious tolerance for thee, but not for me. I’ll start listening to Muslims giving me advice about religious toleraance when Christians can openly, publicly worship in in Saudi Arabia.