The systematic destruction of art and historical and religious sites continued this month with another crime against humanity by Islamic State militants. The extremists reject images of the human body as violations of Islamic teachings and despise earlier civilizations that were not based on their Islamic traditions. So, after destruction priceless artifacts and art in the museum in Mosul, IS destroyed the the ancient Assyrian archaeological site near Mosul. The loss is truly incalculable for humanity.
My kids have students the Nimrud civilization as one of the great periods of human growth in science and culture. It is part of the world’s heritage in an area legitimately called the cradle of civilization.
Nimrud was the second capital of Assyria. IS appears has eradicated Assyrian art and artifact, erasing evidence of an ancient kingdom that began in about 900 B.C. and rose to become a great power. Nimrud was destroyed in 612 B.C. but its remnants located on the Tigris River remained as one of the most important historical sites in the world. Until the Islamic State arrived.
I have previously discussed the anti-intellectual bent of the IS. It is not surprising that a movement based on medieval values and religious orthodoxy would despise any alternative historical or religious values. In order to force others to live by this extreme code, one has to prevent them from being exposed to any rational or alternative values, even historical sites that are a proud part of their heritage. The actions are reminiscent of the infamous destruction of the famous giant Buddhas of Bamiyan.
In a sense, Nimrud represents everything that ISIS stands against: the advancement of medicine, astrology, agriculture, trade and commerce. It was a civilization that took a great leap forward as opposed to ISIS that seeks to return areas to medieval conditions and religious practices. The despicable destruction of this site shows ISIS to be a threat to the very core of humanity. This was not just their history that was bulldozed. It is the history of us all. It was the record of humanity’s effort to make sense out of the world and to advance our knowledge of science and medicine.
What is equally distressing is that ISIS has secured allies among Sunni tribes who have watched such sites being destroyed as well as the systematic slaughter of captives. The U.S. and its allies are seeking to get these clans to switch sides after they supported an organization that has committed countless atrocities against religious minority and historical and religious sites. The Iraqi government has offered amnesty for these militiamen in order to fight ISIS, particularly in the fight of Mosul. Yet, it is becoming increasingly clear that ISIS intends to leave little but destruction in its wake.
david
Read your history. Christianity was chosen by Constantine because it was a far more effective weapon than the current pantheons of gods. It was easier to understand, having only one unquestionably all powerful god. It gave direct power to the emperor without the involvement of other gods and demi-gods. It was owned by the government as the government had created it, interpreted it, and wielded it. Five hundred years or so, give or take a century, Christian soldiers were moving onward slaughtering those that weren’t Christians.
Religion has always been the other leader in the cave. First there is the biggest and strongest, then there is the craftiest. The priest was the one that could predict celestial activities and weather by using his or her head, passing down through generations knowledge to set themselves above the superstitious and afraid. Eventually the strongest combined the two and the divine right of rulership came about. Christianity was not the first. It was a rehash of Egyptian concepts and other concepts that have been observed since time began.
There is nothing that ISIS is doing today that Christians did not do before with the same fervor and in fact, worse. It was the people, above all, attempting to free themselves from these most barbarous aspects of religion that evolved Christianity to its original message, a message that has been there since time began. It is the same message in the cave that comes from the mother to her child. All the rest is nothing more than power and the pursuit of power, sometimes momentarily necessary and sometimes just for the power itself. In order to kill your enemy you have to see them as lesser or a danger, or both.
In this case ISIS is lesser and is a danger. Evolutionarily speaking, in a societal context, ISIS is less. As a danger they are beyond being allowed to continue. It is quite simple, wax em.
issac wrote: “There is nothing that ISIS is doing today that Christians did not do before with the same fervor and in fact, worse.”
You are painting with such a broad brush, it is impossible to verify the veracity of this statement. I can’t even imagine what you have in mind that would be worse.
theebl, Then we can create words like “He is Stalinesque in his views on religion.”
PhillyT:
Islam is by its own scriptures meant to use violence to expand and make all non-believers submit.
Not so Christianity.
It has its sins, as you point out.
Of those you posted, slavery was never a principle of Christianity, but some slavers did use Chrisitanity to defend it. The slave-traders on the African side were Muslim, BTW.
neither can you hold Christianity responsible for the KKK and lynchings, though their perpetrators used religion in defense.
Many more Christians spoke (and fought) in opposition to all those behaviors.
We need some atheists in power. Then things would just be a enlightened wonderland of justice and peace.
This post and the McGill post are ink blot tests. It gives the atheists a chance to take a shot @ Christians and Jews and show their real motivations. They must be OK w/ Buddhists, I never hear them rant against Buddhists. Come on, some atheists out there must hate Buddhism!!
Oh, and by the way, I condemn what ISIL has done 100%. But just as “no true chrisitian” would behave in such a barbaric manner, neither would any “true muslim”. You know, just to be clear.
PhillyT wrote: “… But just as “no true chrisitian” would behave in such a barbaric manner, neither would any “true muslim”.
I don’t see it that way at all. The founder of the Christian religion did not come wielding a sword and expanding an empire through bloodshed and beheading people. In contrast, that is exactly what the founder of Islam did. So the true followers of Christ might be expected to take a path whereby their end is being slain, either on a cross or through some other means. In contrast, the true Muslim might be expected to follow the path their leader did, swinging a sword and killing people, basically doing exactly what the Islamic State is doing. What difference is there between what the Islamic State is doing and what Muhammad did? None that I can see, other than that their fight is not centered in Saudi Arabia.
Let’s see if we can think of a little barbarism done under the guise of christianity. I suppose we could mention the Inquisition, the KKK, The Crusades, the witch trials, slavery in the U.S., lynchings…Is that enough? What history book are you reading?
PhillyT wrote: “… we could mention the Inquisition, the KKK, The Crusades, the witch trials, slavery in the U.S., lynchings…”
issac was presenting the evolutionary perspective that the Christian religion started out barbaric but has now evolved into a more peaceful religion. His point being that Islam is 600 years younger than Christianity, so if we just give it enough time, it will evolve into something better like Christianity.
Your examples leap forward far ahead of the early beginnings of Christianity. Furthermore, your examples have problems in terms of an equality of comparison. For example, contrary to liberal popular commentary, the Crusades were defensive military action against Muslim conquests, not too unlike what we are involved with today. As Pope Innocence said, “How does a man love according to divine precept his neighbor as himself when, knowing that his Christian brothers in faith and in name are held by the perfidious Muslims in strict confinement and weighed down by the yoke of heaviest servitude, he does not devote himself to the task of freeing them? … Is it by chance that you do not know that many thousands of Christians are bound in slavery and imprisoned by the Muslims, tortured with innumerable torments?”
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2005/mayweb-only/52.0.html?start=3
In regards to the Inquisition, that is a blight upon one particular sect of Christianity (Roman Catholic), but even it was engaged without the barbarism we see now in the Islamic State. They had to turn toward the secular governments to effect any capital punishment, and without the secular government, they killed nobody. The KKK likewise is but one sect of Christianity, and the slavery and lynchings they did were borrowed from the secular culture in which they lived, not the other way around. In some 86 years, the number of lynchings numbered 3,446. ISIS has far exceeded that count in just months. Hardly a fair comparison at all.
I have no problem with the statement that all religions have their black moments and skeletons in their closet, but the equivalency argument is bogus. The Islamic State has a religious ideology derived from the Qur’an and the history of Muhammad that compels them to do what they are doing. It has a culture that is best described as barbaric. If we are to survive, it is perhaps time to stop thinking about them as “equal” to everyone else. They are committing crimes against civilization.
Issac wrote: “Mankind waited 1500 years to see Christianity transform from the same butchery and barbarism into where it should be…”
What are you talking about? Originally, Christianity was basically a persecuted sect of Judaism. The Christians were not butchering anyone. They were the ones being butchered. As government began to accept Christianity, some pagan temples were destroyed, but others were converted to churches. I am not aware of any “butchery and barbarism” like we see with the Islamic State. What history book are you reading?
What further evidence does anyone need that these are barbarians and should be treated as such. I know that goes against every equality argument ever made, but at some point, you have to acknowledge that there is a difference between the civilized and the uncivilized.
Mankind waited 1500 years to see Christianity transform from the same butchery and barbarism into where it should be, a benign philosophy to be chosen or not by independent and free thinking human beings. However, Western Civilization was not capable of policing itself for most of those 1500 years. Does civilization have to wait another several hundred years until Islam evolves into what all religions should be, absolutely no threat to anyone? It seems that Islam itself is doing next to nothing to police itself. Perhaps this is a moment for the countries not guided by religious nonsense to step in with a larger presence and wax those that step across the line that evolution has given us. Thuggery is thuggery and thugs are thugs. There is only religion if thugs are allowed to wear it. They’re thugs, wax em as soon as possible.
Someone needs to remake A Clockwork Orange w/ Muslims.
Civilization.
Islam.
Choose one.
Always enlightening to learn that the basic core problem is fundamentalism, not Islamic terrorism . Why just look at these fundamentalist Christians trashing our museums, historical artifacts, flying planes into skyscrapers in Islamic countries, etc.
And what about the Crusades? Oh, the Crusades! So we are indeed fortunate to be so wisely counseled not to get on our High Horse.
This is what you get when you let ISIS/Daesh take power.
“Unfortunately, this abhorrence of progress and science isn’t limited to ISIS. We have plenty of “orthodox” Christians who also want to do away withi science right here in the USA.”
I don’t think a counter-Amish campaign will do much to counter al Qaeda, ISIS, and the rest of the Qutbists.
It would be good if civilizations in the West would buy and collect artifacts from the Muddle East and put them in museums in London and New York. Stuff some ISIS “warriors” and put them in there too.
I wonder if this has anything to do with Obama advertising a military spring offensive on Mosel? ISIS gets good heads up military info from US administration.
Mosel Sunni tribes may not like who leads the charge. Major General Qasem Suleimani, the legendary Iranian spymaster and leader of the
Quds Force – the elite special operations wing of the hardline Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Is orthodox synonymous with fundamental in religion? I see fundamentalism as the mindset that allows such regressive thinking to flourish. It’s all in degrees and cultures as to how fundamentalism manifests itself in any given society, or religion. The obsession with an anti idolatry belief is a basic tenet of fundamentalism. If fundamentalists have enough power political and militaristic power, that’s when we see how dangerous fundamentalism really can be.
Countries cry to get their ‘heritage’ back and then things like this happen. Luckily, all of this stuff has been photographed, some has been duplicated. I hate that it has been destroyed, but it is not the end of Western Civilization.
But don’t you understand they have grievances! The West made them do it! All this hatred comes from a Muslim orthodoxy! Why is that so hard to say.
Unfortunately, this abhorrence of progress and science isn’t limited to ISIS. We have plenty of “orthodox” Christians who also want to do away withi science right here in the USA.
The power of fanatics who have big guns and see human life as worthless is almost limitless; couple that with religion and you have a hazardous brew.