Quote:
Originally posted by TheEnforcer@Jun 13 2004, 11:06 AM
By that kind of loogic Christianity should have been wiped off the face of the earth when things like the Crsades and Inquisition were happening, which is just as bogus.
Any fool who believes they are doing God's, or any other imaginary friend they may have for that matter, will can find something in EVERY religion that can justify their murderous, hateful, and other evil actions. Doesn't mean the entire religion fells or acts in that manner.
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I don't know where you are going with that.
Islam started a war with "the west" in the 7th century AD. Maybe you can tell me why Muslims occupied Spain for 700 years and were not completely driven out until 1492 . Maybe you can tell me why Muslims were at the gates of Vienna in 1683. Fortunately, the Muslims were taught a lesson by a rising west and went home defeated. The crusades were a part of that long history. The first crusade began because Byzantine was under attack by the Turks and requested help. The Muslim Turks had already conquered much of Byzantine and were headed toward the capital, Constantinople. The pope at the time took his army, called for others to be formed, and counter-attacked.
Prior to the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648 the nation-state system in Europe did not exist in the same way as it does today. A king might raise an army, a feudal lord might raise an army, and yes, even a pope might raise an army. So there ya go.
Of course "the west" has been no better. At the time of World War II, Africa was completely occupied by western colonial powers. I'd say that the west was at war with Africa for a long time. That despite the fact that many westerners were opposed to colonial occupation and only a small minority actually participated in the colonialism. Maybe some Africans claimed they weren't at war. Maybe some colonialists claimed they weren't wat war. What else would you call it?
There is a fundamental difference between Christianity and Islam though. Christians have to twist or ignore the New Testament in order to conquer in the name of their religion. Muslims have to ignore the Sharia and the Koran not to. How can a state of war between Islam and everyone else be said to not exist when it's holiest books and laws preach killing all the infidels and when many, many millions of Muslims believe in those tenets? How do you separate the "good Muslims" from the "bad ones"? Sort of like trying to separate the good Germans from the bad ones during world War II.