Posted on 09/01/2010 4:32:58 PM PDT by markomalley
... instead of using them as a crude instrument to bludgeon the truth about the essential differences between them and modern-day radical Islamic terrorism.
From Dennis Prager's most recent column, "The New Moral Equivalence":
Little has changed regarding the Lefts inability to identify and confront evil. Its moral equation of good guys and bad guys was made evident again in recent weeks by hosts on three major liberal networks: ABC, National Public Radio (NPR), and the Public Broadcasting System (PBS).Yes, again, do study them, so you can learn how the mean and nasty Crusaders, completely unprovoked and against everything good and right, swept across the Middle East and destrouh, wait, that's Cuomo's line. A great place to start for a fine (and free!) overview of the topic is Jimmy Akin's essay, "The Crusades 101", which opens with this:First, on May 25, PBS host Tavis Smiley interviewed Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the ex-Muslim Somali writer and activist for human, especially womens, rights in Islamic countries. After mentioning American Muslim terrorists Major Nidal Hasan (who murdered 13 fellow soldiers and injured 30 others at Fort Hood) and Faisal Shahzad (who attempted to murder hundreds in Times Square), this dialogue ensued:
Ali: Somehow, the idea got into their [Hasans and Shahzads] minds that to kill other people is a great thing to do and that they would be rewarded in the hereafter.
Smiley: But Christians do that every single day in this country.
Ali: Do they blow people up?
Smiley: Yes. Oh, Christians, every day, people walk into post offices, they walk into schools, thats what Columbine is I could do this all day long. There are so many more examples of Christians and I happen to be a Christian.
There are so many more examples, Ayaan, of Christians who do that than you could ever give me examples of Muslims who have done that inside this country, where you live and work.
Then, on August 22, Michel Martin, host of NPRs Tell Me More, in discussing whether the Islamic Center and mosque planned for near Ground Zero should be moved, said this on CNNs Reliable Sources with Howard Kurtz: Should anybody move a Catholic church? Did anybody move a Christian church after Timothy McVeigh, who adhered to a cultic white supremacist cultic version of Christianity, bombed [the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City]?
And third, on August 26, ABC 20/20 anchor Chris Cuomo tweeted this to his nearly 1 million followers: To all my christian brothers and sisters, especially catholics before u condemn muslims for violence, remember the crusades . . . . study them.
Understanding the Crusades requires an appreciation of the events that led to them. Since the legalization of Christianity in the early 300s, European Christians had been conducting pilgrimages to Palestine in order to visit the holy sites associated with the life of our Lord. These pilgrimages were major exercises of piety, for in that age travel to the Holy Land was difficult, time-consuming, expensive, and dangerous. Some pilgrimages took years to complete.Continue reading, "The Crusades 101".
Christians also went to Syria, Palestine, and Egypt in order to live ascetic lives. This was the age in which Christian monasticism blossomed, and numerous Christians were anxious to go to the Holy Land and Egypt in order to lead lives consecrated to God by asceticism. They also undertook the hardships of the journey. For both pilgrims and ascetics there was one factor ameliorating the journey: the path to Palestine went through Christian lands.
In A.D. 612, the Arabian Muhammad, son of Abdallah, reported receiving a prophetic call from God through the angel Gabriel. At first, he made few converts. However, after being driven from his native Mecca in 622, he found refuge in the city of Medina, where his followers increased. Mounting a military campaign, Muhammad conquered several pagan, Jewish, and Christian tribes and was able to seize control of his native Mecca, as well as all of Arabia. He died in 632.
Following his death, Muhammad's successors--the caliphs--continued an aggressive campaign of expansion. In less than a century they had seized control--among other lands--of Syria, Palestine, and North Africa. Though today we are used to thinking of these lands as Muslim, at the time they were Christian. It has been said that the expanding Muslim empire consumed half of Christian civilization. Even Europe itself was threatened. Muslims seized control of southern Spain, invaded France, and were threatening to invade Rome itself when their advance was defeated by Charles Martel at the battle of Poitiers in 732.
It had been a hard century.
Gimmie a break.
Hey Cuomo, if I study the Crusades, will you study the centuries of muslim aggression, the Moorish invasion of Spain?
Smiley is a pretend intellectual. He’s about as deep as a birdbath.
Muslims converted the middle east, which was predominantly christian, with the sword. They slaughtered their way into Europe three times, to be militarily defeated each time.
But we're supposed to feel guilty about a series of defensive actions intended to keep the Holy Land open to christian pilgrims.
I try so hard not to say "he's an idiot" but I can't see any way around it this time. He's an idiot and I could do this all day long.
If that kind of thing happened "every day" then we wouldn't be remembering 13 people being murdered 11 years ago, we'd be talking about the 13 people murdered today.
I don't even remember the last time a postal worker went "postal". I really don't remember anyone ever saying "In the name of Jesus, die like a dog!"
Even more importantly on the rare occasion when something like that does happen we are outraged... not dancing in the streets. We throw the perps in jail or shoot them outright, not declare a holiday.
The barbarians aren't just at the gates, they've got shows on PBS.
And our tax dollars keep the hammerheads on the air.
David Horowitz explains why the Left and Islam are bedfellows.
As an Italian, that idiot should know that Muslims invaded Italy many times. His ancestors must be turning over in their graves.
It is like a circle dance...the muslims are holding hands with the left and the left are holding hands with the Democratic party.
Horowitz boils it down to this:
The Left believes world socialism is inevitable.
The US delays the inevitable.
Anything that weakens the US will hasten world socialism and is therefore moral.
Islam opposes the US and if given adequate resources, will weaken the US.
Therefore, support of Islam is moral.
People have to know that voting for the Democratic party is a vote for the traitorous extreme left. We have to tell everyone we know.
Cuomo is not an Italian. But you knew that.
Thanks to AA, Tavis will never be questioned by his employers.
Or a cookie sheet.
The first crusades were justified, and the Templars were innocent.
Oh yes, I think I do remember the Columbine killers were yelling "Jesus is great! Jesus is great!" as they gunned down their classmates.
Silly me.
Smiley is a complete ignoramus. The Columbine shooters were SHOOTING christians.
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