Are we still living in the dark ages but with more sophisticated weapons?

Question

IF Jihad actually means 'holy war', then I assume that all battles perpetrated by certain members of Islam are jihad because their beliefs are a way of life for them. But what does that say about the other faiths that have, throughout history, fought for what they wanted?

Muslims used to expand their kingdom by moving into a territory already occupied by others. If those 'others' did not want the Muslims to move in beside them peacefully, then the Muslims would move in by force. (Islam vs. Israel for over 1000 years) This is the same thing the British monarchy did to Ireland in 1169. Which is why there are Catholic / Protestant conflicts continuing today (over 800 years later) in Northern Ireland.

Catholics that swept across Europe like a plague destroying anyone that was not of their faith. English settlers wiped out nations to make their own place in the New World.

This is a worldwide and historical problem that has affected many cultures. People need to wake up and realise that peace will only come when all those that feel they have been seriously wronged are vendicated through justice. Only when we are allowed to report the truth will anyone be able to do what is right. Until then, we will all continue to live in the dark times.

What is your opinion?

Answer 1

Ah - now this is the stuff of Y!A - some intelligent thought to mull over! (not that I mind all of those 'name that tune' questions...)

Thank you.

first, some boundaries... this from Wiki:

"This concept of a "Dark Age" was created by Italian humanists and was originally intended as a sweeping criticism of the character of Late Latin literature. Later historians expanded the term to include not only the lack of Latin literature, but a lack of contemporary written history and material cultural achievements in general. Popular culture has further expanded on the term as a vehicle to depict the Middle Ages as a time of backwardness, extending its pejorative use and expanding its scope."

As to the set of your question -

I feel that humans have been doing this for a loooong time. You mentioned the Islam vs Israel thing. There is now some evidence that the original 'Tribes of Judah' lived somewhere on the Russian Steppes, and that volcanic activity may have set them to both picturing their 'god' as a violent and vengeful guardian (apparently volcanic ash can make incredibly fertile soils when it breaks down) and - eventually - throwing them out of their garden with a violent eruption - leading to their need to wander.

Sometime about 4,000 years ago their wanderings brought them to the Eastern shores of Mediterranean sea. Here they found an egalitarian earth-worshipping peoples who lived in the region, living off of the land and the sea. The wanderers decided that all of this 'mother earth' worship was the reason for them being denied their original homelands. A volcano is clearly an archetypal masculine god (thrusting and erupting an so forth), as the sea is an archetypal female ( fluid, covering, nurturing, bringing forth life from the depths etc etc)... And so the wandering tribes slaughtered the lot for their heinous crimes, making this their new home in exile.

We have been at it ever since.

Any reason or excuse. Usually ones of belief. Much of the trouble in the Middle East right now had its conception way back then... and it's birth pangs in the 20th C when America's fear of 'communism' and Marxism meant that they would meddle in other countries affairs - for instance toppling Mohammed Mossadegh's liberal government in Iran and replacing him with the brutal and corrupt Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi. And then, when Iranians were finally looking for an alternative, Jimmy Carter allowed the Shah into the US for medical reasons. The repercussions of that are still being felt today.

Now these same controlling forces have convinced vast swathes of their populations to live in fear of attack by terrorists and to never question their edicts, because to do so is a declaration of traitor-hood (cf: Bush's "You are either with us, or you are with the enemy" speech).

So in that respect - to hearken back to your question - yes, I do think that you make a salient point. These ARE the Dark ages... the media (rather than Latin discourse) is all but dried up - it is largely in the hands of the right-wing political elite - and is giving out very little real information.

There are many that will just dismiss all of this as conspiracy theorising. But that is really because they would sooner not know. Daring to know - to really know - is a scary thing.

Answer 2

whats all this holy war stuff? isnt all conflict the result of different groups / nations trying to control resources? land, oil, whatever.

moving out of the dark ages with the hope "that the truth will set us free" was the hope of the enlightenment, otherwise known as modernity. the basic idea here is that "truth" is an objective reality which exists independanty regardless of whetehr it is known to us or not. eg. a virus exists regardless of wheteher we have a microscope or not. all we have to do is devise a suitable scientific experiment to see it.
however i would suggest you read about post modernity to understand the serious limitations of the modern, scientific view of truth.
the main problem is that actually most human "truth" is what we agree through language in our group. in other words truth is a malleable story.
unfortunately the reassuring truth you seek simply does not exist and freedom must be found elsewhere.
p.s. notions of freedom are also bound up in modern thought as much as scientific experiment is. hardly a coincidence that the U.S. constituion was drawn up in the same era as early science is it? try wikipedia'ing "deontology"

Answer 3

I think you are the first person whom ever expressed the truth online without favoring either side.
It's true that christianity and islam both got their power and membership though conquest, murder, even rape, and anilation of those who refused their religion.
The only reason America is a strong and free country today if by keeping religion out of the goverment., and schools and now with people like Bush in office that is being threatened.
Education and non govermental influence in church and non church influence will be the only way toever acheive peice.
Religious fanatics will always use religion to get their means just as bush is doing today and islamic terrorist are doing.

Answer 4

History repeats itself if it wasn't learned from the first time. So in answer to your question, Yes.

Answer 5

In a nutshell....yes. It seems that we, as a whole, never learn from the lessons of the past.

Answer 6

YES!!! We are!!! and not just war, Human Rights for instance. Russxxx

Answer 7

Well, then it has nothing to do with sophisticated weapons. It is as it has always been. Religious conflict.

Answer 8

and then we all saw the light!