A History/Religion Question...

[Beady]

...that I thought I'd ask here, rather than in the Religion forum, 'cause this strikes me as a saner place.

Anyway, there are a lot of threads about the Afghan man condemned to death for apostasy. For some reason, the thought struck me that Islam is about 600 to 700 years younger than Christianity. So, where was Christianity 600 to 700 years ago? Seems to me, Christianity in the 1300s and 1400s wasn't too easy on apostates, heretics and other nonbelievers, either.

Could Islam be going through some sort of "stage" common to proselytizing-type religions?

 

[Nick Bogaerts]

I don't think that makes any sense whatsoever. Religions don't start from nothing. What does it mean that Islam is 700 years younger than Christianity? Did Islamist scholars started from scratch when Muhammad founded his new sect, and had to go through seven hundred years of thought to catch up with the religion off which they just split? By the same token, Methodists are only three hundred years old. Are they rampaging all over the place? Will they only reach the wisdom Catholics display in another millennium and a half?

 

[Beady]

By the same token, Methodists are only three hundred years old. Are they rampaging all over the place? Will they only reach the wisdom Catholics display in another millennium and a half?

Last I looked, Methodists were Christian, in much the same manner Sunis are Muslim. Their history, therefore, includes the excesses of the larger group.

And what's this about Catholic "wisdom"?

And how are you able to use unknown future events as an argument against certain interpretations of the past? Are you actually stating that something never happened because something similar will never happen?

 

[Nick Bogaerts]

Last I looked, Methodists were Christian, in much the same manner Sunis are Muslim. Their history, therefore, includes the excesses of the larger group.

Precisely: the history of Islam includes the life of the prophet Isa, which Christians call Jesus.

And what's this about Catholic "wisdom"?

Sarcasm.

And how are you able to use unknown future events as an argument against certain interpretations of the past? Are you actually stating that something never happened because something similar will never happen?

I'm not following you.

 

[Beady]

I'm not following you.

That's self-evident.

 

[hgc]

That's self-evident.

When you say, "that's self-evident," do you mean that he's aware that he's not following him? Because that's exactly what he said, which you quoted. So, what are you saying? I'm not following.

 

[Mephisto]

For some reason, the thought struck me that Islam is about 600 to 700 years younger than Christianity. So, where was Christianity 600 to 700 years ago? Seems to me, Christianity in the 1300s and 1400s wasn't too easy on apostates, heretics and other nonbelievers, either.

Could Islam be going through some sort of "stage" common to proselytizing-type religions?

I see what you're saying, Beady, but I think you're mistakenly attributing a sort of predictable "lifecycle" to religion.

I don't think it's so much that different religions go through similar phases, but more how those religions feel threatened at any given point in history. The crusades came about because the "holy land" was threatened. The Inquisition came about because Catholicism was losing its tenous grip as the intellectual/spiritual authority.

If religions all go through similar phases where they can predictably become "proselytizing-type religions," it would be evident among Wiccans, Satanists and Jehovah Witnesses.

 

[bruto]

I see what you're saying, Beady, but I think you're mistakenly attributing a sort of predictable "lifecycle" to religion.

I don't think it's so much that different religions go through similar phases, but more how those religions feel threatened at any given point in history. The crusades came about because the "holy land" was threatened. The Inquisition came about because Catholicism was losing its tenous grip as the intellectual/spiritual authority.

If religions all go through similar phases where they can predictably become "proselytizing-type religions," it would be evident among Wiccans, Satanists and Jehovah Witnesses.

But what if (Ed forfend!) the Jehovah's Witnesses became the majority, ruling religion in some region? I remember some wag remarking that the Taliban were basically what the JW's would be if they ever took over a country. It's kind of harsh, but not entirely off base, perhaps. The life cycle of a religion can't be entirely separated from its political influence.

thread drift joke: I heard that atheists rioted in the streets of several European countries the other day, when it was revealed that a Danish cartoonist had a blank sheet of paper on his desk.

 

[Skeptic]

...that I thought I'd ask here, rather than in the Religion forum, 'cause this strikes me as a saner place.

Anyway, there are a lot of threads about the Afghan man condemned to death for apostasy. For some reason, the thought struck me that Islam is about 600 to 700 years younger than Christianity. So, where was Christianity 600 to 700 years ago? Seems to me, Christianity in the 1300s and 1400s wasn't too easy on apostates, heretics and other nonbelievers, either.

Could Islam be going through some sort of "stage" common to proselytizing-type religions?

Very likely in my view.

The problem is, we don't have 600 years to wait.

Then again, who knows? It could turn out like in "Futurama" in the episode Bender becomes a born-again robot ("10 sin, 20 go to hell"): "If only he'd chosen one of the mainstream religions... like Oprahism, or Voodoo..."