All that was lost with the Islamic invasion—yes, it’s interesting how civilizations can be lost. Not to mention the destruction of Hindu culture by Islam. The Hindus were highly advanced, and cultured, but no one ever seems to remember this though. We can all blather, however, about Islam’s “Golden Age”, and how wonderfully superior it was.

As Islam killed, or forced the original people of the Middle-East to convert, the area stagnated. Then, the conquering Moslems turned their attention to the barbarians in the west. They thought it would be an easy conquest, but, by Allah, those barbarians would not submit! Didn’t they know that their Islamic masters had the right to rule them?

As for chivalry, it was born of a combination of Christianity, and the old, pagan warrior spirit, heavily influenced by the Crusader kingdoms, where courtly love arose, in response to the situation where many noble ladies had to handle their husband’s castles and estates, while the latter were off fighting the Saracens, or in prison, awaiting ransom. Islam, with its institutionalized contempt for women had little to do with it. (Sufism did have a lot of romance—about beautiful boys). Certainly, Mohammed himself was not chivalrous, and evidenced great contempt for women throughout his life. He ordered one poetess murdered in front of her children, and another old woman to be pulled apart by camels.

Chivalrous, he most certainly was not.

Oh, yes, and a lot of people in the Middle-Ages knew the world was round. What’s more, they knew a hawk from a handsaw, as Shakespeare would say. And, speaking of the Bard, they also had a rich, musical and dramatic culture, which eventually produced Shakespeare, and great world literature. Where is Islam’s Renaissance? It’s Shakespeare? Its great plays? Its music? Its art?

#3. George Jochnowitz . . . There are only two systems of belief nowadays that are accepted with blind faith: Marxism and Islam.

#41 Lynn S . . . I’m telling you that the Bible accurately portrays the history of a people both good and evil, right and wrong, no sugar coating, no excuses.

#43. Fantom . . . I would have no problem with banning the koran . . . Is is hardly debatable that the koran is a weapon of mass destruction. Therefore common sense restrictions on it’s ownership and use are called for.

#58 Alex . . . I find it interesting that any reference to Saudi Arabia is censored from this website and this thread in particular.

#66 deguello . . . The lady might be drunk,but at least she is still alive unlike England,which like most of europe, is nothing but a mausoleum for an exhausted,morally dead civilization content to serve as a pc Disneyland for intellectually pretentious tourists,and a haven muslim terrorists.

#57 Kathy . . . Without the right to express fearless and irreverent criticism, to pronounce ideas that are objectionable to the established order, and to debate openly everything people wish to discuss, societies will lose not only their creative verve, but also the crucial ability to identify challenges and articulate solutions.

Like that.