tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3381224391260954323.post4552527559514200403..comments2023-05-26T01:08:22.886-07:00Comments on The Religion Virus: 1001 Inventions: The Once-Great Islam's Great DeclineCraig A. Jameshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10569974341270668010noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3381224391260954323.post-37900337662013229612013-06-29T15:55:20.420-07:002013-06-29T15:55:20.420-07:00To Anonymous of Sept 6, 2010
Your rant is historic...To Anonymous of Sept 6, 2010<br />Your rant is historically inaccurate and your meme is intellectually dishonest. The Crusades were comparatively small relative to the constant jihads conducted against Europe by Islam during the same period as well as before and for centuries afterward. Moreover, before the then relatively recent conquest of the middle east by Islam it was largely a Greek or Helenic society based on trade and commerce, not conquest by the sword. The Crusades were a counter attack across thin stretch of coastline, not some massive invasion by hordes. That was done by the Mongols. <br /><br />The Abbasidian Caliphate rule was briefly ended for three years in 1258, when Hulagu Khan, the Mongol khan, sacked Baghdad, resuming in Mamluk Egypt in 1261. <br /><br />Islam effectively destroyed its own abilities to advance during the Abbasidian Caliphate when it closed "the gate of ijtihad", independent thought. The clerics outlawed concepts such as cause and effect, killing the use of scientific inquiry for almost a millenium. You cite "the hateful ignorance that is the hallmark of fundamentalist Islam today", but the cause is an adherence to the Koran, Sira and Hadith doctrine books, using some very twisted logic. <br /><br />Your education is wanting. Unfortunately accurate and complete histories are not taught in US primary schools nor our colleges and universities. But that is a different discussion. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3381224391260954323.post-23008961639797522012010-11-07T08:08:17.664-08:002010-11-07T08:08:17.664-08:00Baz – I didn't mean to disparage the British M...Baz – I didn't mean to disparage the British Museum at all. It is a truly wonderful institution, one that I visit every time I'm in the UK. In fact I picked on it because it does illustrate my point (that Britain was once a much larger empire), and because such an august institution can take a bit of ribbing without coming out tarnished. I tried to think of other examples of the once-great cultures (just think about your world history and you can easily identify a couple dozen) that are now much reduced. Almost to the last one if you criticize them or make fun of them, you'll get howls of protest and be accused of cultural insensitivity or racism.<br /><br />I picked the British Museum because my last name is James and my family roots are in Wales, so I'm poking fun at my own culture, and it is still an institution that ranks as one of the finest in the world. So your point is well taken, but I'd like to think an upstart author like me is not going to put much of a dent in the Museum's reputation.Craig A. Jameshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10569974341270668010noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3381224391260954323.post-17716213872388993012010-11-07T07:37:20.882-08:002010-11-07T07:37:20.882-08:00Hey! Get your facts right, please! Just because yo...Hey! Get your facts right, please! Just because you're anti-religious, which is a perfectly worthy endeavour in itself, doesn't mean you are let off when you get things wrong!! <br /><br />The British Museum existed in 1753, well before British Imperialism had generated a world-wide Empire. That only came to realisation in Victorian times, 100 years later. Besides, it isn't and never WAS Britain specific. The Museum was founded to celebrate and preserve a whole human history of culture and achievement, which it aims to do to this day...<br /><br />Google "A History of the World in 100 objects," which the director of the British Museum, Neil MacGregor, has just presented to the nation by means of a daily spot on BBC Radio 4. It started with an object from 2 million years ago; I don't think even the Brits have a "national" heritage spreading back THAT far!!Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13157020913728470813noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3381224391260954323.post-12580342414156459362010-11-05T10:17:13.489-07:002010-11-05T10:17:13.489-07:00"...religion insists that faith is more impor..."...religion insists that faith is more important than facts..."<br /><br />Science was the topic I studied least in school. Is it any wonder I went on to become a pastor? But I could not escape reality for long. Thank humanity for science.Scotthttp://www.scotthorlbeck.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3381224391260954323.post-24828782750678852812010-09-06T15:54:14.278-07:002010-09-06T15:54:14.278-07:00Anon – it's an interesting thesis you make, th...Anon – it's an interesting thesis you make, that Islam imported its anti-science attitude from Christianity. But I don't believe it's true. I stand by the main message of my blog, that fundamentalist religion is incompatible with science. ALL fundamentalist religions, whether Muslim, Christian, Jewish or any other religion that makes claims that science can refute, will inevitably evolve anti-science memes.<br /><br />In other words, it's a case of co-evolution, not one of an inherited or adopted trait. Christianity and Islam both evolved anti-science memes independently, <i>and each would have done so without the other</i>.Craig A. Jameshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10569974341270668010noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3381224391260954323.post-30543052410792470912010-09-06T11:27:26.715-07:002010-09-06T11:27:26.715-07:00Craig, you should ask WHY Islam has experienced su...Craig, you should ask WHY Islam has experienced such a decline from its auspicious beginnings. There was this little thing called The Crusades, still ongoing, apparently. Dar-al-Islam was overrun by hordes of ignorant barbarians from the West, who destroyed their libraries, killed their scholars and stole anything that could be carried off. From the 10th century till now, Western powers have been suppressing any advances in the Muslim world and fighting any attempts to stabilize the region so we can continue to play them against eachother and steal all their stuff. It's important to recognize that the hateful ignorance that is the hallmark of fundamentalist Islam today has its roots as an import from western Christianity.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com