Post by Brad Nelson on Mar 27, 2022 8:29:09 GMT -8
I may not finish this if only because it has more detail than I really want. But what's unusual about this book is that it appears to be a fair and balanced telling of the tale of Islam (at least in its opening chapters which set the stage for the Templars).
You might be shocked to read (and I paraphrase) that Islam is a violent culture whose internal existence can be justified only be barbaric conquest and the enslavement of others; that this is a culture that generally produces nothing of its own. Here's a good section on that:
I think it is no exaggeration to say that Islam is a parasitic culture. The author even notes that the dome of the rock (which I think should be dynamited at the earliest convenience) is a rip-off of Christian or Jewish architecture.
So...it would appear that this is an actual history book and not a political revisionist book. That is so rare it is worth pointing out.
You might be shocked to read (and I paraphrase) that Islam is a violent culture whose internal existence can be justified only be barbaric conquest and the enslavement of others; that this is a culture that generally produces nothing of its own. Here's a good section on that:
Very few Arabs were productive settlers on the land, an activity they despised; a few were great landlords who used native tenants to cultivate their estates; but generally they were nomadic tribesmen, soldiers or officials, all of whom lived off the jizya (or poll tax) and the kharaj (or land tax) paid by the occupied peoples in return for the protection of their lives and property and for the right to practise their own religion. Because the jizya and kharaj could be imposed only on non-Muslims, the Arabs had little interest in making converts to Islam, a contributory reason why Syria, Palestine and Egypt would remain overwhelmingly Christian for centuries to come.
I think it is no exaggeration to say that Islam is a parasitic culture. The author even notes that the dome of the rock (which I think should be dynamited at the earliest convenience) is a rip-off of Christian or Jewish architecture.
So...it would appear that this is an actual history book and not a political revisionist book. That is so rare it is worth pointing out.
