Thanks Fractal Trader. Gosh, it's almost as if they sobered up from their bloodletting intoxication as a consequence of The Crusades.
Posted on 10/22/2014 6:05:08 PM PDT by Mrs. Don-o
Yes some do say this. But the flaw in this reasoning is that mohamed himself was an even worse plague than Al-Ghazali.
The astrolabe was invented by the Greeks.
He was inviting them back to the philosophic dialogue that transcended their civilization as they studied the Greek philosophers.
In the 11th century, missing writings of the Greek philosophers were discovered in Spain. The bishop of Toledo gathered Muslim, Jewish and Catholic scholars and proceeded to work on translating all of the newly found philosophic writings into Latin. This effort led to the flowering of Europe's universities as each worked to complete the translations and then adapt the philosophy.
At the same time as the West worked to incorporate the knowledge, the top Muslim imams decided that they would no longer allow the study of the Greek philosophers.
This philosophic dialogue within Europe caused the flowering of the Renaissance. And the demise of thought within the Muslim has stunted their knowledge and they are stuck in the 11th century.
Pope Benedict invited Muslims to join the dialogue the had at one time transformed their culture.
But they said no.
Radical Islam doesn't need a "Reformation". Radical Islam IS the Reformation.
I’d thought better of you, Mrs. Don-O.
Odd that your church reaches out so, to what you term the “Reformers” of Islam today, while the heirs of the Protestant Reformation reject them.
The cognitive dissonance must be deafening.
Mrs. Don-o has a point. The Puritans were iconoclasts, not above the use of violence, banned Christmas, etc.
If “Reformers” are the people who want to “rediscover” the “original form of the religion” based upon a narrow reading of the scriptures then early Protestants and Muslim extremists today share a few traits.
I did not say the Islamic Reformation was or is morally, spiritually, or intellectually equivalent to the 16th century Christian Reformation. If you assumed I was saying that, it is not so. Whatever the net result, the 16th century Reformers were trying to draw nearer to Jesus, and Jesus is the true Savior of the World. Their faith communities retain much that is of truth and value, and retain as well many of the means of salvation which Christ gave to His church, and--- as the Catechism teaches --- Protestants and Catholics are brothers and sisters in Christ.
None of that is true of the Islamic Reformation. They are trying to draw nearer to Muhammad, not Jesus; and their very founder, in practice and in precept, was in a large measure demonic.
The Catholic Church --- as a previous poster mentioned --- tried to reach out to Islamic scholars pn the basis of reason in 2006 when Pope Benedict gave his Regensberg address. That yielded, as far as I know, nothing except rioting on 3 continents and 19 dead, including an elderly Italian pediatrician missionary nun in Yemen who was shot in the back.
Nevertheless, we maintain our missionary outreach in any Islamic country that will allow it. And the intellectual outreach to Protestant world has been much more fruitful. It enables me to enjoy the friendship of co-believers like yourself.
Have a good and a godly day, Regulator. Please pray for me as well. I am having some moderately disabling health difficulties right now, just as we in TN are involved in a big push to amend our Constitution in a pro-life direction. If you know any Tennesseans, please urge them to go out there and vote for Proposition One. Early voting is October 15-30.
Thank you.
While the Greeks invented the astrolabe, it was the Arabs that really put it to good use. Trying to find the direction of Mecca proved to be a huge boon for improving the quality of mapmaking, easing travel through the unending sand dunes of the Sahara and the Arabian Peninsula.
They must know, they just don’t want to tell it.
What are you babbling about?
Ten posts and you still won’t answer my question?
Are you afraid to answer it?
It’s been at least three days. Are you afraid to answer it? Will you keep ignoring it?
Here’s the question: Are you against making tourists pay to see the Sistine Chapel as is done everyday?
Thanks Fractal Trader. Gosh, it's almost as if they sobered up from their bloodletting intoxication as a consequence of The Crusades.
Islam as practiced has waxed and waned throughout history. Unlike some other FReepers, I think that the movement to show Islam in a better light is of benefit to the West.
We need to strengthen moderate Muslims who make up 80% of Muslims worldwide and weaken the radicals who kill for fun and glory.
We need more critical studies of Islam, the Koran and Mohammed, particularly ones that undermine the radicals position without openly attacking all of Islam.
Tell that Lebanese idiot to ask millions of dead and enslaved Hindus, Christians, Jews, animists and Zorastrians what they think of Muslim Medieval “civilization”.
What an ass.
Although Tamerlane used Islamic ideas and forms to promote his program of conquest, I have the distinct impression that his primary goal was restoration of the Mongol empire built by Genghis Kahn, not the promotion of the Caliphate. The link below describes 3 great conquerors in detail. Tamerlane is the most recent, and the information provided after you click “more” is quite detailed and complex. He was not shy about destroying a number of important Islamic cities.
http://asianhistory.about.com/od/profilesofasianleaders/p/TimurProf.htm
I agree with much of what is being said about the dangers of militant Islam. However, their success and survival has actually been aided by some of those seeming silly rules. For example using the left hand for bathroom purposes and the right hand for eating, which is often from a communal pot or tray, reduces the spread of a number of serious bowel centric diseases like cholera, disentary, etc. Arising in the desert with limited water for washing made that even more important, and ensured the survival of Mohammed’s armies.
I read that book, and it made great sense to me.
May St. Michael take a little look at Islam, and sharpen his sword.
True!
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