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Politics : Formerly About Applied Materials -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: zonder who wrote (67030)	12/11/2002 12:39:45 PM
From: Fred Levine	Respond to of 70976

I did not clarify. Muslims living in the Iberian peninsular, and other places, were given the choice of exile, conversion, or death. That is why there is no viable Muslim influence after 1492. Altho Christians and Jews were tolerated as people of the book in Islamic countries, any prosilytizing was forbidden. In addition, there were killings of people of new religions in these territories--e.g.,the Bahai's. I'm only into Lewis's first chapter and that is my source. Lewis makes a fascinating point that Europe is a European invention, as is Asia, Africa etc. This goes along with a point that I have repeatedly made here, that categories are human constructions to help us organize the world. We took a ferry up the Bosphorus in Istanbul, crossing back and forth from Asia to Europe. My young son can claim to having been to Asia nearly a dozen times. <bg> It's peculiar to think of a line in the water as dividing continents.. Mpre importantly, you are correct that time, exposure, and economics have moderated all religions. I don't hear Jews requiring the execution of idol worshippers even tho it is required in the 613 laws. Crusades are no longer discussed by any reasonable person (Bush did use that unfortunate term). However, altho jihad is not in the mainstream of Islam, it is still a significant influence. Just look at Nigeria and the recent religious strife there. To repeat, in many( nearly all) Muslim countries, including Iran, there is strife between the religious and the secular factions. The massacre at Hama by Assad was to kill the Muslim Brotherhood --his adversaries. I never understood the mass killings of Algerians by the fundamentalists, but it is a fact. Therefore, why should the USA, as the great satan, be immune from a jihad? Given this, and 9/11, I do see us at war. I can't imagine a religious jihad being settled by economic and political actions. However, the economic and political actions are necessary to build, encourage, and create moderate ME countries. Unfortunately, these actions seem to keep a rich power elite in power. fred