quote:

Originally posted by RnakR yes to but 700-1400 has nothing to do with muslim now !

Yes it does. I've studied Muslim history and am proud of the technological advances my "brethren" were responsible for in those centuries. I also know that it was CORRUPTION, not extremism that led to the downfall of the Muslim empire.

Yes, as a modern Muslim, generations of my family chose to coexist with the modern Western life and be peaceful and hospitable people. THAT, I believe, is the Muslim of today.

So YES, the 700-1400 AD Muslims have A LOT to do with Muslims now, in terms of success and intelligence.

If you are referring to the less than 1% of the entire global Muslim population that is extreme, fanatic, and violent then use caution when you refer to "Muslim" as a general concept because other people (not me because I understand you) may find it offensive.

It's disheartening when people start thinking that the group of fanatics are greater than 1% just because of the amount of air time that Western media places on that nominal group.

From the replies I've read, there's lots of deflection of the issue, i.e. pointing fingers at the West. I don't think that weakens her example of how Jews have handled adversity, which pretty much sums up everything she says. I guess that's why she chose not to use Christianity as an example (Spanish Inquisition, Crusades, etc are not exactly high points in their history). As for the scientific progress, I think she's talking about the contribution to MODERN science, which is a flimsy argument for other reasons imho.

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people like us don't live to 100 years.