Posted on 02/10/2011 3:45:34 PM PST by jd777
May I begin, by saying, I love this country, the United States of America, It is the greatest hope in the history of our planet, save the works of the prophets of God. I add that I have never voted for a Democrat - and I probably never will - although JFK did cut taxes and I wish he had lived longer. Also: I believe that we were endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable rights, foremost being the freedom of speech. Jim Robinson, Thank you.
So: If I be banned for what I am about to write, then I be damned.
I ask that the admin's allow me this Post.
Now:
Our tremendous pride and the influence of Holy Mother the Church notwithstanding - 1000 years after the birth of Christ - Europe was lost in the midst of a DARK AGE. When Charlemagne was brought to Rome and became the first Holy Roman Emperor- He was unable to read or write- in any language. He was illiterate and so we're all of his kings. Do not ask me to footnote this fact, for I presume the church in ad 800 was not anxious to publicize that their first Holy Roman Emperor could not read.
But how could this be? Well, There was no education. Cast your minds back dear freepers to AD 1000. Before the university in Paris, or Oxford and Cambridge. The only education was offered by the Catholic church and you had to take holy orders to recieve it. The only subjects taught were (1) a tiny bit of Philosophy - all classical philosophy was lost - and (2) Theology. The study of the nature of God. They had conferences where Bishops would literrally discuss how many angels could fit on the head of a pin.
When French scholars in the early 11th centrury went down to Moorish Spain -Al andalus - They were amazed to find the 2nd largest library in the world. The largest library in the world at that time was in Baghdad. The largest library in Christain Europe was in Avignon where they had 2000 volumes. The great Library in Cordoba had 400,000 volumes.There - europeans recived their own heritage back. Jewish scholars in al andalus translated the great works of Socrates, Plato, Aristole, Pythagoras etc FROM ARABIC into European language and gave them to their awestruck visitors.
Forget the books. The hundreds of thousands of Books. For one moment. The building. Of the Library, itself. And the Great Mosque nearby were 1000 times greater than anything ever built to that time in all of Christendom.
Now I'm sure some of you are indignant at reading this, but that can not compare to the vehemence the Pope and his bishops felt at hearing this news. How could this be? 1000 years after Christ's birth? It must have been like the Jews in captivity in Babylon who said to their leaders: "I thought we were the chosen people - what happened? "
What does one do when presented with facts such as this - well, you think fast, in Babylon they wrote the TALMUD - In Rome they cried: "CRUSADE"
The history of the Crusades is beyond the scope of this post- but what did occur is evidenced by what happened in Europe after 1099. Europeans received "zero" from Islam - So the haters cry - and how true - We did not have a "ZERO" in our number system. Arabs gave us "0" - along with all our other arabic numerals. But it didn't stop there. Al-JABR aka Algerbra was received. Basic Calculus and Trignometry. And with that came Engineering - Lost since Ancient Rome. The Templars set about building - and within 150 years they built all the great cathedrals of France - The pointed arches. That they first saw in the great mosque of Cordoba - recapitulated in Chartres. The only buildings in europe after the fall of rome were like stone huts with thick walls. The arabs showed them how to build thin walls that reached up into spires.
But the gifts went on - the Code of Chivalry - a gift of SALADIN. who sent a horse to Richard the lionheart after his own horse died in battle. Courtly Love - sung by the troubadors - really the Taribs of North Africa. Medicine - My god, Medicine. If you were injured during the crusades pray you had an arab doctor - because there was no medicine in Europe. The arabs gave us "the Canon of Medicine" - It was taught for 500 years in European Universities - after it was given to us. But you tell me - who wrote the Canon of Medicine? Please, look it up
So, if parts of the Islamic world have now experienced their own dark age. May we not return the favor? Was not the legacy of the Knights Templar the two riders on the same horse? That we fought together, but we were brothers all along and knew it not? Are not we all the Children of Abraham?
Therefore, I plead for peace,
In closing I wish to say. God Bless the United States of America. The Constitution of our great nation. and the memory of our first true conservative Thomas Jefferson.
and oh yeah, go TEA PARTY!
I am calling for Obamas resignation.
Most of the positional base 10 numeral systems in the world have originated from India, where the concept of positional numerology was first developed. The Indian numeral system is commonly referred to in the West as the Hindu-Arabic numeral system or even Arabic numerals, since it reached Europe through the Arabs.
A decimal place system has been traced back to ca. 500 in India. Before that epoch, the Brahmi numeral system was in use; that system did not encompass the concept of the place-value of numbers. Instead, Brahmi numerals included additional symbols for the tens, as well as separate symbols for hundred and thousand.
The Indian place-system numerals spread to neighboring Persia, where they were picked up by the conquering Arabs. In 662, a Nestorian bishop living in what is now called Iraq said:
I will omit all discussion of the science of the Indians ... of their subtle discoveries in astronomy - discoveries that are more ingenious than those of the Greeks and the Babylonians - and of their valuable methods of calculation which surpass description. I wish only to say that this computation is done by means of nine signs. If those who believe that because they speak Greek they have arrived at the limits of science would read the Indian texts they would be convinced even if a little late in the day that there are others who know something of value.
The addition of zero as a tenth positional digit is documented from the 7th century by Brahmagupta, though the earlier Bakhshali Manuscript, written sometime before the 5th century, also included zero. But it is in Khmer numerals of modern Cambodia is where the first extant material evidence of zero as a numerical figure, dating its use back to the seventh century, is found.[4]
As it was from the Arabs that the Europeans learned this system, the Europeans called them Arabic numerals; ironically, to this day the Arabs refer to their numerals as Indian numerals. In academic circles they are called the Hindu-Arabic or Indo-Arabic numerals.
When they stop wanting to kill me when they see my yarmulke, we can have a discussion.
Before you get banned, :-) thanks for the post. Husband and I were discussing the Crusades tonight at dinner. Amazed at how neither of us knew much about the history during this time. Going to start on some heavy reading.
Dear Islam,
What have you done for the world lately, but to harm it. Time to get over what was, and focus on what is..
Sincerely,
H.D.
re: the Crusades.
Islamic jihad conquered the Byzantine Empire. The Crusades were a minor counterattack.
The real legacy of the crusades are the stories that appeared shortly thereafter of "A quest for the Holy Grail".
If the catholic church had granted salvation - and you could just go down to the local church receive communion and be saved - why was it necessary for these knights to go out to seek some missing religious icon?
enjoy reading - and don't forget to learn of Saladin and Richard the Lionheart.
And alas, now we Americans have received ZerO from Islam.
Look JD, the history of accomplishments in the Islamic world 1000 years ago is interesting, but it's completely irrelevant to the fact that hundreds of millions of modern Muslims aim to destroy civilization.
And whatever miraculous technological acumen the middle east could boast 2,000 years ago, it hasn't advanced much over that time. It remains mired in a mentality that western civilization overcame at least 500 years ago.
THAT is the "gift" islam has wrought.
The first book published on movable type (a western invention, by the way) was a Bible. Music as we know it today arose from Gregorian chants that praised God. Theater was an offshoot of Passion Plays that depicted various scenes from biblical history. And the triumph of individual dignity over the oppression of tyrants arose because every human is possessed of a spark of the Divine.
THOSE are the gifts of Judeo-Christianity.
Equivalency denied.
The Muslims take credit for a lot of things that they discovered after they conquered a people. In truth, they’re idiots.
Islam does not Equal Arab!
In the past - ARABS have gifted Western Civilization with priceless knowledge.
What good has islam done for the world lately?
Thank you for reading - And I do take your point, But perhaps if history doesn’t repeat. It rhymes - 1000 years later its still the same: They’re not going away - and neither are we. So....
Oh, and the more I learn about Thomas Jefferson the less I like him.
So, idiot, what have you supposedly learned that foments such a dislike for Jefferson within you?
......We did not have a "ZERO" in our number system. Arabs gave us "0" - along with all our other arabic numerals.....
=Snip=
Indian mathematics emerged in the Indian subcontinent[1] from 1200 BCE [2] until the end of the 18th century. In the classical period of Indian mathematics (400 AD to 1200 AD), important contributions were made by scholars like Aryabhata, Brahmagupta, and Bhaskara II. The decimal number system in use today[3] and the binary number system[4] were first recorded in Indian mathematics.[5] Indian mathematicians made early contributions to the study of the concept of zero as a number,[6] negative numbers,[7] arithmetic, and algebra.[8] In addition, trigonometry[9] was further advanced in India, and, in particular, the modern definitions of sine and cosine were developed there.[10] These mathematical concepts were transmitted to the Middle East, China, and Europe[8] and led to further developments that now form the foundations of many areas of mathematics.
=Snip=
Click the link to learn more.
There are no Arabic numerals. It's a misnomer.
Even the Arabs call them The Hindu Numerals
You need to check your "facts".
But he wrote our Declaration of Independence. A rather substantial contribution, no?
It sounded better than: Islam gave us "the Canon of Medicine"
Anyway - I gotta go, I'll be back in XX minutes ;)
Incomplete and selective history is self-serving history, often revised by islam, which claims everything under the sun was “discovered” or invented by them.
To POST self-serving revisionist history is...self serving. My question is why?
3@me.
Ha.
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