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smooth, show me the error of my ways instead of exposing yours.
i've heard that theory before... and i think there is a lot of truth to it as far as the narratives of the west attacking muslims in the past being used for modern day rhetoric. but i can't help but think that the crusades are being used to foment the real cause of the problem instead of the crusades actually being the root of the problem.
i know it's a tired way of debating things... but hitler used careful arrangement of centuries of selected history to legitimize the persecution of the jews. were the jews of old to blame for the problems hitler was talking about in his present day? no, but he created and used that hate to promote his own agenda.
i simply do not believe that the crusades are what caused the present strife. they may be cited as such, but i believe that is only a distractant. and to say "we" participated in the crusades... the world has changed so much and the U.S. is so far removed from those medieval institutions, i have a hard time swallowing it.
if the overarching narrative for the present day events goes back to the middle ages... then i submit that "we" should have a similar beef with the arab world. the saracens/moors (i know all those groups aren't strictly arabs in totality) tried to conquer europe before they were stopped by charlemagne. they got as far as france in the west and the balkans in the east.
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If you will not fight when your victory will be sure and not too costly, you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance for survival. There may even be a worse case. You may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves.
~ Winston Churchill
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