Criticizing Islam is racist?

[abaris]

I shudder to think what it would be like to really disagree with you about something. Well, at least I'll have a worthy opponent.

Well, don't.

Especially the people settling on the shores of the Mediterranean largely preserved the classical Greek heritage and were not shy to build upon it. The Western world just stopped dead in their tracks. There's also a distinct line between the Western world and the Byzantine empire.

One of the reasons being the peoples involved. One of the reasons being their understanding of religion being more liberal than what Rome dictated. It offered more space for exploration. What we now understand as, and make blanket statements about is largely dictated by uneducated people, who basically were nomads from the desert, coming into power. All these movements, feared by the West, have one thing in common. All of them are melting pots of rural or urban disadvantaged people, who didn't get the opportunity at higher education and see no future for themselves where they live. That's why I said, it's political as well as religious. It's an outlet for violent reactions for perceived wrongs. Religious fanatics build on that. Pretty much in the same way as rightwing populists build on our growing disadvantaged populations. And they both point fingers at and are scapegoating each other.