Winnie goes on to say ...
Individual Moslems may show splendid qualities. Thousands become the brave and loyal soldiers of the Queen; all know how to die; but the influence of the religion paralyses the social development of those who follow it. No stronger retrograde force exists in the world. Far from being moribund, Mohammedanism is a militant and proselytizing faith. It has already spread throughout Central Africa, raising fearless warriors at every step; and were it not that Christianity is sheltered in the strong arms of science - the science against which it had vainly struggled - the civilisation of modern Europe might fall, as fell the civilisation of ancient Rome
It's interesting that no violent uprisings took place when winne said that.. The only answer is at that time the British Empire had it's boot on the throat of Islam.. the mistake was removing it and allowing it to raise to what it is today..
The Key Phrase in the overall statement is "must delay the final extinction of slavery until the faith of Islam has ceased to be a great power among men."
We need to heed Sir Wiston today as we heeded him in WWII
But no, we would rather fight each other, than save our own lives and way of life. We show lack of unity, corruption and denial every chance we get. How can we fight an enemy who is united by a dominating force (islam), when we can't agree on anything? I fear for the future without men such as Sir Winston.
And highlights for those who missed this excellent posting yesterday: http://209.157.64.200/focus/f-bloggers/1703690/posts
"Manuel certainly knew what he was talking about. He spent some time as a hostage in the court of one Muslim neighbor and he spent a lifetime fighting back against expansionist Islam. Almost nobody pauses to consider that Manuel might have something to teach us. Instead our conversation centers on whether the Pope is to blame for riling Muslims up and what he (and we) can do to mollify them."
So what are some of the lessons that Manuel might be able to teach us? Here are a few:
* Unity is essential against an enemy. If the Paleologoi hadn't been so busy overthrowing each other, they wouldn't have had to seek allies among the Ottomans, and may have been able to put up more of a defense against their common enemy.
* Appeasment doesn't work. As Andronicus and his son learned, there is always someone willing to pay a higher tribute, at which point your value drops to zero. As Winston Churchill was to say many years later, "Appeasment is like feeding a crocodile, hoping that he will eat you last."
* The West must be willing to fight. Manuel spent the last 20 years of his life trying to win help from his European neighbors against the onslaught of the Ottoman Empire. While Europe celebrated the prosperity and artistic expression of the Renaissance, Constantinople was beseiged and humiliated, and ultimately sacked. Although the West won a temporary respite, the Ottomans didn't leave them alone. They continued to attack and conquer Christian Europe until they were turned back from the gates of Vienna in 1683.
"So, will we learn from this tragic emperor or will we continue to pretend that Western Civilization is the real enemy and that we have more to fear from Pope Benedict XVI than from the Islamic radicals who threaten to kill him?"