Word: islam
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...possible that Benedict has misconstrued what Manuel meant about Islam's being spread by the sword. The ancient emperor may have been alluding not to sword's-edge conversion, but merely (if "merely" is the right word) to Islam's early intent to conquer the world, whose inhabitants would eventually come around to the true faith of their own accord. In that case, it?s probably accurate. That was the plan in the first generations after Mohammed, and that may be enough to scare anyone who thinks that it has been sustained since then...
...That was not an option that Chrisitianity granted to Islam when the roles were reversed in Southern Europe. The best-known forced conversion of Manuel?s century or any since was not executed by Muslims, but by the Spanish Christian monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella, who served Spanish Moors (and Jews) a convert-or-leave edict in 1492 and then backed it up with the Spanish Inquisition...
...None of this speaks to what appears to be the larger critique implicit in Benedict?s speech, that Islam does not truly honor reason (although at some point he will have to square it with the fact that its adherents developed algebra and kept Aristotle?s works alive for centuries). But it does suggest that forced-conversion narratives, whether made by today's bloggers or 14th century Byzantines, are a pretty weak tool for building an argument for generalized Islamic depravity...
...Pope's PR Machinery Broke Down If it was so easy to foresee that Benedict's remarks about Islam would set off a furor, why didn't the Vatican anticipate...
...Does Islam Flout Reason? Why the Pope's Case Is a Flimsy One Viewpoint: The issue is important, but Benedict has presented neither the evidence nor insight to make his argument stick...