Karlos wrote:
But I fail to see that Islam improved development of civilisations in the Islamic world since then - so why do you asssume that it would have been different if Islam had spread across Euorpe back then?
I agree that existing societies don't reflect that view.
O.K. ...
Karlos wrote:
However, did you not read any of the text of my post or check any of the articles about the peak of Moorish influence in Europe?
Of course I did...
Karlos wrote:
I can see no reason to assume that such a culture would not have continued to excel if it had been allowed to do so. It's a perfectly simple extrapolation that had this culture survived to usurp the existing ones within europe
And exactly here I see the crux of the matter.
I can't recall one single event in history where an intruding culture has been welcomed by the original culture.
I don't know of any culture that resistance-less adopted the culture of the intruders.
E.g. Germany has been invaded many times in the past - but none of those invaders stayed for ever - let it be the Romans, the Goths, the Huns, the Vikings, the French (Napoleon), the Allies after WW II; and there was always violence involved when they invaded Germany.
So chances that the Germans would have unsolicited adopted the invaders culture were minimal anyway.
Karlos wrote:
and the ensuing conflict with Catholicism not occured (at least not on the scale and duration of the crusades) there would have been no real support for the sorts of extremists that gained the upper hand during that time.
Not quite sure what you mean with "conflict with Catholicism" - are you talking about the conflict between Catholicism and Islam?
If so, please keep in mind, that from 31. October 1517 onwards not all Christians were Catholics...
Karlos wrote:
In my opinion, no existing muslim culture in the world today can claim to be remotely like that which existed during the peak of Islam's "golden age" simply because they've lost the inquisitiveness and ambition for intellectual advancement that the earlier civilisation had.
That's a direct consequence of a change in motivation brought about by centuries of pointless conflict.
That's not a reflection on Islam, that's just a reflection on people.
Agreed, but I think it's much better for a society to be secular than to be attached to one specific religion.
I think it's a bad thing if religion dominates life.
This can lead to prosecution of science and scientists, as it happened in Europe some centuries ago...
