Reply #8: Ancient Kingdoms Conquered [View All]

[liberalpragmatist]

In ancient times, kings conquered other kingdoms. The fact that Muslim rulers conquered Spain and the Balkans is no different from England conquering Ireland or France conquering what was Southern France.

I'm not going to argue that Islamic conquests were totally peaceful - war is never peaceful, and of course atrocities occurred. But it's well-documented that under initial phases of Muslim rule, the Holy Land was quite peaceful and had good relations with the Eastern Orthodox Church. Likewise, in Spain and the Balkans, the Muslims were very peaceful and tolerant rulers by the standards of the day.

It's well-documented that the Catholic Church launched the crusades as a political move, aimed at strengthening the power of the Pope and also at weakening the Eastern Orthodox Church. It's also well-documented the Crusaders were EXTREMELY brutal - FAR more brutal than the Muslim rulers of the Holy Land at the time. Christian crusaders killed thousands of Jews in the Holy Land, for instance, in a massive slaughter.

You're clinging to a very anti-Islamic worldview that says that the Christians were totally peaceful and merely acting in defense, while the Muslims were conquering savages. Neither were peaceful or humane by today's standards, but the Crusades were largely aggression on the part of the Catholic Church and it's wrong to imply that Muslims were any more brutal than anybody else who conquered at the time - in fact, they were generally much more tolerant than Christian conquerors.

Might I remind you that under Muslim rule, Spain was the most tolerant, prosperous, and peaceful part of Europe and that it was under Christian rulers that the Reconquista and then the Inquisition occurred?