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My personal musings about anything that gets on my radar screen--heavily dominated by politics.

2006-02-27

More On The Shrine Of The Golden Dome

My thoughts this weekend were largely occupied by the wanton destruction of the Holy Site in Samarra. The shrine itself was over 1200 years old, though the Golden Dome was only completed about 100 years ago.

For perspective, 1200 years ago saw the British Isles wracked with factional/tribal warfare, barely able to sustain anything resembling governance, much less creating structures that are still standing today.

1200 years ago, in America, the indigenous tribes were doing their thing, independent of influence from the white man, also not building this sort of shrine (though some of their homes--I'm thinking MesaVerde here--still survive today).

The Scandinavians were starting to explore via the seas, but mostly for conquest, with little ideological or cultural end in mind.

My point?

That there once was an Arab world that created beauty, that welcomed progress, and that was at the forefront of development in the civilized world. At a time when the "western world" was nothing more than a diverse collection of tribes and feudal interests, the Arab world was making progress in the arts, in science, and in exploring the world.

And these days there is now a part of Islam that would plunge the entire rest of the world back to that time--even other parts of the Moslem world that are "inconvenient" to it and its ends.

They say that those who forget history are doomed to repeat it;

What should we make of those who would destroy history?
Posted by: Michael / 2/27/2006 01:38:00 AM

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