RE: ISLAM more than just a religion . . . . .
January 11, 2011 at 5:18 pm
(This post was last modified: January 11, 2011 at 9:50 pm by GANIMEDE.)
This is the big difference between East and West:
"The Islamic world has not undergone anything like the Enlightenment which changed Western Civilisation profoundly. People in Europe during enlightenment challenged the primacy of dogma with reason and rational thought as opposed to dogma".
Thank U ziggystardust !
The Enlightenment is an ongoing process. It is long not complete.
In addition to benefiting from the French Encyclopedists, Western Europe benefited from Classical Revivalism: Politics is NOT the same as religion. The sober and scientific philosophies associated with democratic principals and the rights of the individual, began with the Athenian Greeks. Our civilization owes a great debt to this period in our history. And it was the invention of Movable Type Printing around 1500, and the spread of cheap and available books and pamphlets, that got the Enlightenment started. And it was the Merchant Class in Europe, (The Capitalists), which closely associated their cause with that of Indivual Liberty, the right to hold Private Property and the principals of establishing a classless society. (See "French Revolution: Liberté, égalité, fraternité"). It was they who went to war against the monopolies of the Catholic Church in Europe. The American Revolution followed on their heels. It is no accident that, even today, Islam forbids : "Usury and the charging of interest".
Today we enjoy the greatest democratization of information ever witnessed in human history: The Internet.
The ENLIGHTENMENT must continue. The Internet, and other high-tech means of universal free communication, is the best hope for true Liberty, Justice, Freedom and Individual Dignity. . . . . . Only the FREE FLOW of information can save us from the curses brought upon Humanity by the likes of Islam and Fundy-Christianity and by the lies, swindles and abuses practiced by corrupt governments: Thank you Julian Assange!
"The Islamic world has not undergone anything like the Enlightenment which changed Western Civilisation profoundly. People in Europe during enlightenment challenged the primacy of dogma with reason and rational thought as opposed to dogma".
Thank U ziggystardust !
The Enlightenment is an ongoing process. It is long not complete.
In addition to benefiting from the French Encyclopedists, Western Europe benefited from Classical Revivalism: Politics is NOT the same as religion. The sober and scientific philosophies associated with democratic principals and the rights of the individual, began with the Athenian Greeks. Our civilization owes a great debt to this period in our history. And it was the invention of Movable Type Printing around 1500, and the spread of cheap and available books and pamphlets, that got the Enlightenment started. And it was the Merchant Class in Europe, (The Capitalists), which closely associated their cause with that of Indivual Liberty, the right to hold Private Property and the principals of establishing a classless society. (See "French Revolution: Liberté, égalité, fraternité"). It was they who went to war against the monopolies of the Catholic Church in Europe. The American Revolution followed on their heels. It is no accident that, even today, Islam forbids : "Usury and the charging of interest".
Today we enjoy the greatest democratization of information ever witnessed in human history: The Internet.
The ENLIGHTENMENT must continue. The Internet, and other high-tech means of universal free communication, is the best hope for true Liberty, Justice, Freedom and Individual Dignity. . . . . . Only the FREE FLOW of information can save us from the curses brought upon Humanity by the likes of Islam and Fundy-Christianity and by the lies, swindles and abuses practiced by corrupt governments: Thank you Julian Assange!
The existance of a "God" is a moral impossibility.
