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Politics : The Arab-Israeli Solution -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: joseph krinsky who wrote (889)	4/2/2002 10:28:41 PM
From: Hawkmoon	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 2279

Joey... Who cares what they have accomplished in the past 50 years... That's like their saying 1000 years ago, "what have the Christian nations accomplished?" THE POINT IS, that Islam, in its earliest manifestation, was a very enlightened religion in comparison to how Christianity was practiced. It was FAR MORE TOLERANT towards other religions than were early Christian practitioners. The Moors of Spain tolerated the Jews, while the Catholics embarked upon their "inquisition" directly after the Moorish defeat by Ferdinand and Isabella. Of course, over the years Islam has become less tolerant as it has been overshadowed by Christianity and internal corruption. But that early history of enlightenment and tolerance NEGATES your preposterous statement that Islam is a murderous religion. What is murderous are the extremists who have warped it to their own end. Just as Christian extremists once warped that religion for their own evil. And one of the reasons the Catholic church saw its power decrease was due to the reformation and the age of enlightenment, when ideas and science were no longer repressed for the purpose of holding the masses in check. The same can be said today, as moderate and modernist Muslims struggle to overcome the regressionist extremists within their faith. The Muslim world has only had 70 years of "independence" (pertaining to those countries which were once part of the Ottoman Empire).. They have lost a lot of ground as a result of the repression they suffered under the Ottomans and various ideologies, from democratic capitalism to theocractic totalitarianism, have been attempted in various Muslim nations. Lest you forget, Turkey is one of the more faithful allies of the US.. and it is predominantly Muslim (with a secular goverment). It is on the cutting edge of what could eventually amount to a greater increase of democracy throughout the region. What you should remember is that, while Europe was struggling through the dark ages, the Muslims were the center of intellectual learning and enlightenment. But between invasions by the Crusaders on one side, and the Mongols on the other, many centers of Muslim intellectualism were utterly destroyed. And you might also remember that the Mongols absolutely devastated the Muslim world. Had it not been for the "buffer" they provided in absorbing the greatest force of that invasion, Europe would NEVER have stood a chance. You've stated that Islam has always been a murderous religion and I have successfully refuted your argument. It matters NOT whether it was 1000 years ago, or 10 years ago... The reality is that at one time Islam was responsible for MUCH of the technological developement that the ignorant west later absorbed and expanded upon. Hawk