[marron]

"Had 'Abd al-Rahman's men prevailed that October day, the post-Roman Occident would probably have been incorporated into a cosmopolitan, Muslim regnum unobstructed by borders...

Imagine Sudan stretching from the Sahara to the Baltic and the North Sea.

one devoid of a priestly caste

Thats funny.

animated by the dogma of equality of the faithful, and respectful of all religious faiths.

Thats dishonest to the point of delusion. Its dishonest to the point of comedy.

The West had to learn the dogma of equality, and respect for all religious faiths. The point is that they did it. They learned tolerance and respect for the other at sometimes great cost but they learned it.

Islam never did. Islam never will without become something that is no longer Islamic. Christianity percolated slowly through western culture over the centuries and created what we see, a tolerant and intellectually curious people. Islam has never done that. It never can and it never will.

[rmlew]

Indeed. Christians have gone from intolerant (Inquisition, 30 Years War,...) to suicidally tolerant.