Christianity, Like Islam Before It: Back to the Dark Ages

Tags:
Al-ghazali Atheism Christianity Creationism Degrasse Design Evolution Intelligent Islam Religion Science Strategy Wedge
bubbah
  • Affiliate Submitter:
    bubbah
  • International International
  • Comments: 0
  • Views: 267
  • Added: 27-Mar-07

Synopsis: Christians today threaten to send us back into the dark ages by rejecting and even actively fighting against naturalistic science, like what happened with Islam from the 12th Century and onward, after a period of huge leaps in scientific research with Baghdad as the intellectual centre of the world.

This video from Beyond Belief 2006 features Neil deGrasse Tyson discussing Islam's Age of Enlightenment from 800-1100, and the fall from enlightenment from which the religion has never recovered. He draws a parallell to Christianity in the 21st Century and fundamental religious movements that work against naturalistic sciences (such as evolution).

During Islam's Age of Enlightenment, Baghdad was the intellectual centre of the world. Christians, Jews, Muslims and others were freely exchanging ideas, and huge advances in mathematics and science were made during this period. For example, Arab scientists and mathematicians discovered things like the number zero, algebra, and mathematical algorithms (note how both "algebra" and "algorithm" are Arabic words).

During these 300 years, Islam was at the forefront of naturalistic science.

But in the 12th Century, disaster struck. Imam Hamid al-Ghazali declared that mathematics was the work of the devil, and he rejected rationalism and naturalism as valid ways to understand the world.

Revelation replaced investigation.

The intellectual foundation of Islam collapsed due to al-Ghazali's rejection of science, and it has not recovered since.

Today, Christian fundamentalists (with great help from moderate Christians who don't know better) are actively working to undermine science and replace it with religious dogma and superstition. One example is the Creationist/Intelligent Design movement and the Wedge Strategy:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wedge_strategy

Watch the complete video here:

http://beyondbelief2006.org/Watch/ (Session 2)

Christians who accept things like Intelligent Design (or the God of the Gaps) and reject naturalist sciences such as evolution are helping to do the same damage to our scientific progress that al-Ghazali did to Islam.

  1. Categories: News & Events
Comments on

Christianity, Like Islam Before It: Back to the Dark Ages

15 Comments | Add Comment
  • Islam coincides ...

    Islam coincides with science and truth? Why are so many Muslim "scholars" siding with young earth creationists then?

    I suggest you view the claims of various Muslim "scientists." Try watching something from Saudi Arabia tv.

    The Koran, like every holy book from any religion, frequently contradicts known science.

    By particle409 [Affiliate User] 1184901512 Reply Spam Moderate Up Moderate Down
  • ...being prejudice.

    ...being prejudice.

    By FriedChikkin [Affiliate User] 1184864203 Reply Spam Moderate Up Moderate Down
  • No prejudice. Just ...

    No prejudice. Just the simple, inconvenient facts.

    By bubbah [Affiliate User] 1184863635 Reply Spam Moderate Up Moderate Down
  • My apologies then, ...

    My apologies then, I'll leave it at prejudice.

    By FriedChikkin [Affiliate User] 1184863059 Reply Spam Moderate Up Moderate Down
  • Sounds like the ...

    Sounds like the typical Muslim avoiding the issue when facts are brought up.

    Not that Muslims are allowed to take Christians as friends in the first place:

    5.51 "O ye who believe! take not the Jews and the Christians for your friends and protectors"

    (Note that I am not a Christian.)

    By bubbah [Affiliate User] 1184862152 Reply Spam Moderate Up Moderate Down
  • Sounds like the ...

    Sounds like the judgmental, prejudiced rhetoric about Islam and Muslims I always heard when I was Christian... from people whom didn't even know any Muslims or have Muslims friends. I guess its easy to judge from a distance.

    By FriedChikkin [Affiliate User] 1184860425 Reply Spam Moderate Up Moderate Down
  • Islam doesn't go ...

    Islam doesn't go well with science. As soon as Muslim leaders decided to start making it their business, they went down the drain.

    By bubbah [Affiliate User] 1184857953 Reply Spam Moderate Up Moderate Down
  • ...one thing I ...

    ...one thing I loved about Islam is how well it coincides with science and the constant pursuit of knowledge and the truth... and this guy's giving TOO much credit to al-Ghazali's sway over the minds of all Muslims... he wasn't even a Khaliph... and even a khaliph didn't have complete control over Islam...

    By FriedChikkin [Affiliate User] 1184803060 Reply Spam Moderate Up Moderate Down
  • Actually the guy ...

    Actually the guy who named Algebra and Algorithm and considered to be the father of both was Persian, sorry to break it to you but Persian is not Arab.

    By pmentslenchanted [Affiliate User] 1184611824 Reply Spam Moderate Up Moderate Down
  • Yes, the entire ...

    Yes, the entire scientific community.

    Save for a few religious fundamentalists who are members of some religious pseudoscientific organization.

    And yes, science is naturalistic and materialistic by its very definition.

    Seeing as you are now resorting to lies to try to avoid the facts, you are done here.

    By bubbah [Affiliate User] 1184506880 Reply Spam Moderate Up Moderate Down
  • Obviously not the ...

    Obviously not the entire community. I am part of that community. many of my colleagues and I all agree that it is not a "psudoscience". So this remains only your opinion. Also I'm afraid you're mistaken as not all fields of science are "naturalistic and materialistic". It is wrong of you to assume that they are. You are like the Catholic centerists when you do not want to consider or allow new ideas or new thought. I know a few Quantum Physicists that would have such a time with you. ;-)

    By Tesselator [Affiliate User] 1184506396 Reply Spam Moderate Up Moderate Down
  • Creationism is not ...

    Creationism is not science. It is pseudoscience. The entire scientific community agrees on this, as does the US court system.

    Indeed, the Wedge Strategy attempts to undermine science, which is by its very definiton naturalistic and materialistic.

    By bubbah [Affiliate User] 1184504808 Reply Spam Moderate Up Moderate Down
  • I think you are ...

    I think you are misunderstanding the intention and direction of this new (not so new?) scientific field.

    By Tesselator [Affiliate User] 1184502370 Reply Spam Moderate Up Moderate Down
  • Hmm, well I'm one ...

    Hmm, well I'm one of the ones attempting to bring this theory into science and build supportive data and I have no conscious intention to undermine science but rather to add to it. The Wedge document proposes only to defeat scientific materialism and quantum theory and some f the data collected in recent years robustly supports this. Is quantum physics not a true science?

    By Tesselator [Affiliate User] 1184502206 Reply Spam Moderate Up Moderate Down
  • No, it is not an ...

    No, it is not an alternate theory. It is a conscious attempt to undermine science and replace it with faith. Read up on the Wedge Strategy.

    Religious spam is not acceptable, and the title is not religious. It is anti-religious.

    By bubbah [Affiliate User] 1184500797 Reply Spam Moderate Up Moderate Down
15 Comments | Add Comment