ISIS has continued its blood soaked campaign to impose its view of pure Islam on the world and to destroy all evidence of art and civilization in its path. The destruction of ancient works and structures has appalled the world. The Islamic extremists have now murdered one of the world’s leading experts on the history and art of the region — 82-year-old archaeologist Khaled Asaad. By all accounts, Asaad refused to tell ISIS where art was hidden. ISIS has been destroying large works while selling smaller works on the black market. Images show ISIS supporters laughing and rejoicing as their ancient history and art is destroyed with sledgehammers as the professed will of Allah. The standoff between Asaad and these murderers put the conflict between civilization and these Islamic extremists into the sharpest relief. It also shows who many Muslims continue to put their very lives at risk to protect their history and art. Indeed, they are protecting the art and history of the very nadir of civilization.
ISIS beheaded Asaad and then hanged his body from a column in the town’s main square. He had been interrogated by Islamic State for over a month on the location of the antiquities after they seized Palmyra.
Asaad spent over 50 years working at the UNESCO World Heritage site with experts from around the world. He was renown for his knowledge and passion for archeology. His books include “The Palmyra Sculptures” and “Zenobia, the Queen of Palmyra and the Orient.” He was one of the greatest experts in the world on Syrian archeology and personally discovered several ancient cemeteries, caves and the Byzantine cemetery in the garden of the Museum of Palmyra.
Few academics or intellectuals are ever called to put their very lives at risk for the preservation of knowledge and art and history. Those like Asaad are on the frontline in a war between science and ignorance; between civilization and barbarism; between free thought and religious orthodoxy.
His headless body hanged from a pillar as another indelible image to the world by ISIS of its intent to destroy the very existence of civilization in its twisted view of Islam. For academics around the world, Asaad will remain an image of a different kind: a man of conviction and courage who died in the effort to preserve his nation’s history and very identity from those who would erase it. He died as he lived in showing that civilization transcends the lives of any given generation. This educated and enlightened man died at the hands of religious extremism and ignorance. In doing so, he left the world with a challenge to meet this ISIS threat united and unafraid and unbent.
Islam doesn’t hate the Western Civilization. Extremist Islamacists, such as ISIS hate the west. Simplistic overreach Pogo.
The key is to understand that Islam hates Western Civilization and anything it might taint.
(Except its cellphones, electricity, cars, the internet, air conditioners, indoor plumbing, air flight, mass produced food, and other things.)
But other than that, what have they done for us?
Similarly, the Most Blessed Feminism hates Western Civilization and anything it might taint.
Friends! Comrades! WELCOME!
Paul,
I would not exclude Republicans from that group.
Dave and Issac, yes it’s been that way for quite sometime now. It’s disingenuous at best and hypocritical at worse.
And yes it IS off topic.
Annie
It’s how the Republican mind works. When Republicans do it and no one does it like a Republican, it’s OK. When a Democrat does it, well, it’s the end of the world. Drift through past posts and notice who digresses the most. The gumshoe typically refers to his decades of hands on experience. The other one is pure vitriol. The gumshoe has humorous posts flagged. Did you catch the Firesign Theatre post. Read this quickly as it will also be flagged. Out of sight, out of mind.
BamBam! Pogo is off topic!!! @2:24PM! 👀
bam (and consequentially Nick):
Didn’t you just hijack the thread by talking about hijacking the thread?
“I just fail to see how a discussion regarding the topic of hijacking is in any way, shape or form even remotely connected to an article about a man being murdered for trying to spare art work from destruction.”
Someone doth protest too much?
This man lost his life defending the history of a culture that for better or worse, should be preserved. The only way progress can be measured is to have a point of origin. ISIS is trying to eliminate that point of origin. Progressives have been doing that in this country for 100 years. The result is the same however the method. So power in the ME goes back 1500 years and in the United States it goes back 250. Now that’s progress!
Yes, PARTICIPANTS, plural. Thank you BamBam. Now I expect in future you will diligently reign in the “meanderers”.
“how a discussion regarding the topic of patriarchy is in any way, shape or form even remotely connected to an article about a man being murdered for trying to spare art work from destruction. ”
“Smash the Patriarchy” = Feminism
“Smash the Artwork” = Communism, Islamism
Fire the Head of the University for Admitting Gender Differences in Math = Feminism
Cut off the Head of the Professor Saving Artwork = Islamism
You cannot publicly disagree with gay marriage = Feminism
You cannot publicly disagree with Islam = Islamism.
Hence, we Progressives WELCOME our Islamist friends!!
Paul C
As I mentioned, I understand the natural and expected ebb and flow of discussions; however, was there ever a discussion regarding the barbaric loss of life, contained in this article, about a poor man who was murdered just because he was trying to preserve historical artifacts? I guess I missed that. As a former professor of Interpersonal Communications, I am also quite sure that the need to remind participants to stay on the topic at hand is not a foreign concept.
bam bam – whether I had my students stay on topic or let them go depended on the discussion. Sometimes it was fun just to see where the discussion ended. Sometimes it would continue down the hallway after class ended.
Now, 16 comments
To be accurate, I responded to multiple people. DBQ and Pogo addressed me, one person. No one has been appointed thread monitor here, we are not in elementary school, we are not directed by Professor Turley regarding the number of comments or even the digression from the topic. I suggest people would be better served here if the childish hall monitor behavior ceased.
“You come across as a cement block, simply there, in the ground, with no concept of past, present, or future.”
Isaac,
When it comes to our founding principles I AM a cement block. You on the other hand would be a pile of sand blowing in the progressive wind. As DBQ so eloquently put it,
“History IS what it is and if you try to pick and choose, you lose the entire perspective of historical events and even the creation of “masterpieces”. They are a conjoined and commingled whole from which WE have arisen and from which we must learn.”
Olly – not sure if this helps but Progressives (Democrats, Socialists, Communists) dislike all parts of the the 1st and 2nd Amendments.
Numbers don’t lie, only people do.
Being a baseball fan, I love statistics. To date:
Chief Consort has made 2 comments
DBQ has made 4 comments
A certain person has made 15 comments.
I seriously doubt Nick Spinelli knows what goes on the mind of Professor Turley.
Yes indeed BamBam, it has NOTHING to do with the topic of this thread. Do you extend your observation to DBQ and especially to Pogo, who actually introduced the subject of the Patriarchy? If so, point taken.
bam, One of the best comments I’ve read in a long time. I bet JT just applauded. Kudos.