Replies

That note about the Koran giving non-Muslims the choice to pay the poor-rate: I was just reading a book on various religions and whoever wrote the section on Islam had to be a firm believer in it. According to that book, hundreds of years ago the Muslims, when they took over a country, couldn't possibly have been kinder to the Christians who were already there. People only converted by their own free will; otherwise, all they had to do was pay a tax, and they wouldn't have to convert, and would still get the incredible benefits of being under the control of the Sultan. They made the Muslims sound so incredibly tolerant that their "conquering" a country appeared absolutely wonderful - almost like showing up to help out the poor Christians. Apparently the "islam is a religion of peace" crowd looks at the past with the thickest pair of rose-colored glasses I've ever seen.

They made the Muslims sound so incredibly tolerant that their "conquering" a country appeared absolutely wonderful - almost like showing up to help out the poor Christians. Apparently the "islam is a religion of peace" crowd looks at the past with the thickest pair of rose-colored glasses I've ever seen.

I'm taking a history class right now, and we're learning the same thing. Apparently the Byzantines were persecuting their fellow Christians in much the same way the Church did during the inquisitions. The Muslims were seen as "saviors" because they allowed them to practice their own brand of Christianity. Therefore many of the "christians" converted to Islam.

But what better way to conquer your enemy than with "love". I believe they tried to do the same thing with the black race in the 60s and 70s. Look how many blacks converted to Islam. Had many more fallen for it, it might have worked. Thankfully it didn't work, and now we see their true colors...

People only converted by their own free will; otherwise, all they had to do was pay a tax, and they wouldn't have to convert, and would still get the incredible benefits of being under the control of the Sultan.

As always, the devil is in the details. The "tax" was sometimes set so high that it amounted to confiscation of all the person's assets, followed by forced servitude.