Mark Steyn: Blunt words about Muslim backwardness

National Post ^ | 6 Sep 2013 | Mark Steyn

[Rummyfan]

In 2010, the bestselling atheist Richard Dawkins, in the “On Faith” section of the Washington Post, called the pope “a leering old villain in a frock” perfectly suited to “the evil corrupt organization” and “child-raping institution” that is the Catholic Church. Nobody seemed to mind very much.

Three years later, in a throwaway Tweet, Professor Dawkins observed that “all the world’s Muslims have fewer Nobel Prizes than Trinity College, Cambridge. They did great things in the Middle Ages, though.” This time round, the old provocateur managed to get a rise out of folks. Almost every London paper ran at least one story on the “controversy.” The Independent‘s Owen Jones fumed, “How dare you dress your bigotry up as atheism. You are now beyond an embarrassment.” The best-selling author Caitlin Moran sneered, “It’s time someone turned Richard Dawkins off and then on again. Something’s gone weird.” The Daily Telegraph‘s Tom Chivers beseeched him, “Please be quiet, Richard Dawkins, I’m begging.”

It’s factually unarguable: Trinity College graduates have amassed 32 Nobel prizes, the entire Muslim world a mere 10

[Rummyfan]

Ten years back, even the United Nations Human Development Program was happy to sound off like an incendiary Dawkins Tweet: Its famous 2002 report blandly noted that more books are translated by Spain in a single year than have been translated into Arabic in the last thousand years.

[IronJack]

They did great things in the Middle Ages, though.

Name one.

[oldbill]

That’s an example.
As are Two,3,4,5, 6,7,8,9, and zero.

[CondorFlight]

“They did great things in the Middle Ages, though.:

In fact, most of what they “did”, they borrowed from the Hindus.

A couple of books (by Ward-Perkins and Emmet Scott) propose that the decline of western Europe in the Middle Ages was not really due to the barbarian invasions; but to the end of trade in the Mediterranean,
which was a direct result of the Islamic conquest.

The books also note the decline of agriculture and urban life in the entire area from Anatolia to Spain, from, they assert, the same cause.

[don-o]

bfl

[dsc]

“Name one.”

Well, they conquered vast lands, murdered huge numbers of people, and enslaved even more.

[M Kehoe]

Good afternoon to you both.

Didn't Mr. Steyn say that we could post his articles in the entirety? Did it change for some reason?

Then again, it was a long time ago, and I could have CRS syndrome.

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[EDINVA]

“... the Arabic numerals were neither invented by nor used by the Arabs. They were developed in India by the Hindus around 600 A.D. ...”

http://www.mediahistory.umn.edu/archive/numerals.html

[Dysart]

Indeed, they are, to one degree or another, members of the same secular liberal media elite as Professor Dawkins. Yet all felt that, unlike Dawkins’s routine jeers at Christians, his Tweet had gone too far.

Some bizarre pathology in evidence here. The closest psychological phenomenon which I can compare it with would be the Stockholm Syndrome effect. The ROP is so far in the head of Leftys they hold them virtually captive. In response the poor saps have cultivated a demented, quasi affinity for their imagined masters. Weird stuff, and they're probably beyond redemption. We've all heard that leftists suffer from mental illness and here it is in the wild for all to view.

Dawkins must be in awe at their irrationality.

[Old North State]

As are Two,3,4,5, 6,7,8,9, and zero.
‘Arabic’ was just the name given to this set of numerals when the West became aware of them through Arab traders on the old Silk Road. The numerals first appear in Sanskrit records from Northern India that pre-date the bible let alone the Koran. You can give credit to Muslims fro transmitting them if you like, but they did not invent them.

[Pikachu_Dad]

Not true

[Rummyfan]

I dunno... I just find it generally safer to excerpt.

[Vince Ferrer]

A couple of books (by Ward-Perkins and Emmet Scott) propose that the decline of western Europe in the Middle Ages was not really due to the barbarian invasions; but to the end of trade in the Mediterranean, which was a direct result of the Islamic conquest.

And Europe recovered once they developed sea routes the muslims didn't control back to Asia and discovered the new world.

[Anitius Severinus Boethius]

They killed a lot of Christians in the Middle-ages. That's a great thing in the mind of Dawkins.

[9YearLurker]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Hindu%E2%80%93Arabic_numeral_system

[TBP]

I like Steyn.

[newfreep]

islam is a satanic death cult with “allah”, a pagan moon idol, as its’ demonic head.

Just like communism (and its’ other brand names), islam is truly an evil empire.

[Squawk 8888]

This was published in the National Post; all NP articles have to be excerpted.

[M Kehoe]

I had been thinking about it for a bit, and now I think I know the answer. Mark is now in many publications, most whom require excerpting.

Oh well, never mind.

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