Whilst masticating on , TIM RICHARDSON (1:123/140)
wrote to STAN HARDEGREE:

TR> You know.....you hear about all the wonderful things that Western
TR> Civilization got from the Arab World:

TR> A calender, for instance (big deal!). And the claim is made that 
TR> it was the Arab World that invented `Algebra', and made such 
TR> advances in mathematics in ancient times. Not to mention all the 
TR> historic figures of the ancient Arab World.

TR> But.......what with their herculian efforts to spread Islam for 
TR> so many centuries, how (one wonders) did they ever find time to 
TR> discover (or `invent') algebriac mathematics?

Religion spreading by the sword is now primarily monopolized by Islam, but
Islam wasn't the first religion to come up with that idea.  Fortunately, it
seems other religions grew out of that phase of their development. 
Unfortunately, there are an awful lot of Muslims in this world, so even if 
only a small percentage of Muslims are the "convert or die, or at best
pay dhimmi taxes" type, we're still talking about a large number of
people with access to weapons capable of killing many more people in each
attack than swords.  And I have no clue what percentage of Muslims are of
that ilk

Individual Muslims would still have time to study science and other things,
just as Christians like Galileo were able to do their research while their
countries were seeking and gaining colonies.

TR> How can you ascribe such wonders of mathematics to a people who 
TR> are still using the abacus as adding machines in their market 
TR> places in this day and age!

That's a good question.

TR> What sort of `excellence' can be attributed to a people who are 
TR> murdering whole groups of people in bomb attacks, in the name of 
TR> an obscure religious purpose! `Its for Allah'!

People throughout history have done evil in the name of religion.  Religion
is no different than anything else involving humans - it can be used as a
force for good, or a force for evil.  How religion is used depends on the
individual believer, and if that believer is powerful person (king,
dictator), or a respected religious leader, that person can inspire many
others to do evil or good in the name of the religion he follows.  There's
nothing excellent about killing innocents in the name of "insert deity
here" solely because they believe differently than you do.  It always
amazes me how believers of any religion can say that their deity is
all-powerful, yet for some reason they believe said deity needs their help
to force new believers into the fold. I don't think God needs anyone's help
- individual believers just have to be good people.  If being a good person
inspires other people to inquire about a person's religion, and someone
chooses to try to join the faith because of that behavior, great.  That's
how religions should be spread, IMO, by positive examples that attract new
believers.

TR> And all these `historic' figures of the ancient Arab World? Take 
TR> Mohammad, for instance;

TR> Have you ever wondered how Mohammad ever happened to be born in 
TR> the first place? Take a look at Arabic women! They are required to 
TR> cover themselves from head to foot, so one wonders how an Arab 
TR> male ever sees the `woman of his dreams'!

Was that the case before Mohammed, or are those rules of dress he came up
with?  Jews and Christians believed in modest dress, but not to that extent
(save for nuns, who are allowed to show their faces.)  *adh*

--- Msged/2 6.0.1