Why should Christians learn about Islam? Why teach on it? Why discuss it? Why stir up yet another debate or controversy? One time, during the debates over the formation of the U.S. Constitution, someone proposed that the United States be prohibited from having a standing army of more than 15,000 men. I forget the exact …
Complete Reversal
“The impotence of the Islamic world confronted with Europe was brought home in dramatic form in 1798, when a French expeditionary force commanded by a young general called Napoleon Bonaparte invaded, occupied, and governed Egypt. The lesson was harsh and clear—even a small European force could invade one of the heartlands of the Islamic empire …
Something to Push Against
“Creative freedom can defeat itself because novelty can be felt only in relation to a perceived norm, just as rhythmic freedom can only be felt against a regular meter. When the norm is obscured by heedless violations, interest gradually disappears” (Jacques Barzun, The Culture We Deserve, p. 155).
An Unthinkable Reverse
[Around 1718] “We have an Ottoman document . . . the first Muslim document in which Muslim and Christian methods of warfare are compared, to the advantage of the latter, and the previously unthinkable suggestion is advanced that the true believers should follow the infidels in military organization and the conduct of warfare” (Bernard Lewis, …
Why Creative Writing Courses Are Usually Full
“Such is the fated result of an assumption deeply buried in our collective mind. It grew there early in the last century when the artist as a social type came to be glorified as a hero, a seer, a genius. Geniuses must be allowed to do as they please while the rest of mankind gratefully …
Fun Juxtapositions
Sometimes the news brings you fun juxtapositions. The last one I heard about was a local newspaper carrying two stories — one about the removal of Christmas trees from the SeaTac airport, and the other about the terrorist organization Hamas helping Christians in Bethlehem decorate the town for Christmas. Heh. But this is a new …
Blindsided
“Apart from that, the Renaissance, the Reformation, the technological revolution passed virtually unnoticed in the lands of Islam, where they were still inclined to dismiss the denizens of the lands beyond the Western frontier as benighted barbarians, much inferior even to the more sophisticated Asian infidels to the east. These had useful skills and devices …
Knowledge Extract
“But what we are experiencing is not the knowledge explosion so often boasted of; it is a torrent of information, made possible by first reducing the known to compact form and then bulking it up again—adding water. That is why the product so often tastes like dried soup” (Jacques Barzun, The Culture We Deserve, p. …
Islam and the West
“For many centuries, the world of Islam was in the forefront of human civilization and achievement . . . And then, suddenly, the relationship changed. Even before the Renaissance, Europeans were beginning to make significant progress in the civilized arts. With the advent of the New Learning, they advanced by leaps and bounds, leaving the …
The Cape and Beret Problem
“By the 1700s, moreover, ‘art’ and ‘artist’ had subtly acquired new meanings. The good or great artist was now understood to possess more than high technical competence, and he had gradually come to feel a special kind of self-regard. The graphic artists particularly demanded freedom of action; when commissioned they would no longer tolerate being …