Re: OT: needed: witty facts re: positive aspects of Islamic culture
| From: | Lars Finsen <lars.finsen@...> |
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| Date: | Wednesday, April 9, 2008, 9:19 |
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Den 9. apr. 2008 kl. 03.18 skreiv Mark J. Reed:
> I would also like to point out to Stevo that many of the Middle East's
> great cultural advancements were actually made *after* they had
> adopted Islam. So you can't really blame their subsequent decline on
> the religion, except perhaps indirectly via the Crusades.
And I reckon the cause for the advancements isn't the adoption of
Islam either, but rather the new political situations that the
islamic wars created. New strong governments making room for science
and literature.
On the other hand, the Islamic states didn't just preserve Greek
knowledge, they built on it and made many curious and/or interesting
contributions.
As far as I can gather, the early centuries represent a liberal phase
of Islam. There was even figurative art. Later, conservatism took
over, and advancements ended.
LEF
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