h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

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Of course, they were doing that in the middle ages too, but still...

To misquote PeterPan: : "...A Cod-piece(substituting piece for the word )."
y'know, the about-that era and also somewhat earlier, early-predecessor to the modern Athletic cup .

You are perfectly welcome to doubt Martin Luther's atheism, I dont put much faith in the idea myself, Della.

What I was getting at is that just as, no more so than today, it was not politic to question the received knowledge that was propogated by the church.

As to the Holy Roman Empire, you, your German lecutrer and anyone else can say what they damn well please, that was the name of it,so....

I dont see you as very christian, sex outside wed lock, lying, threatening people, bareing false witness. Not things normally recognised as prescribed christian actions but you call your self a christian so....

Now are we suprised that a christian web-site paints a rosy picture of relations between Gallileo and and the Vatican. Well if what they say is true why did the Vatican feel the need to apologise for the way Gallileo was treated?

Are catholics that ridden with guilt that they now apologise for things that their predecessors never even did

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I shouldn't think so! Asserting the atheism of Martin Luther was clearly a wind-up, but a particularly silly one, IMO.


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so what? I can call myself a three toed tree sloth, doesn't mean I am one.

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Sex outside wedlock, I will concede, but the rest is your feverish invention, as you actually well know. Aren't your insults actually in contravention of some kind of rule? I'd yikes, but for some odd reason, none of mine are ever upheld. Funny, that... I have my theories about that, as do others I won't name, but I am saying no more in case I get another 'hiatus'...

"Islam sprang forth causing the cessation of learning in that part of the world."

WHAT!!!???

Islamic scholars kept learning alive for hundreds of years while Europe festered in early mediaeval turmoil.

Islamic scholars were more efficient at preserving much of the intellectual legacy of the classical world than us Europeans and also built on it with scientific and medical advances of their own.

I can only assume that the above remark is built on islamophobia and that the author has somehow managed to ignore these widely known historical facts.

What a plonker!

(Sorry, I just corrected the spelling.)

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I absolutely concur, Brochfael_Canwrtir.

As do I.

I'm going to opt for personally just trying to stay out of that whole "Were the ancient people in the MiddleEast a bunch of chowder-heads?' type of debate. Most countries regardless of where had moments of being incredibly lunk-headed in their histories, though many of them continue to claim that the other ones are the 1s who are-er/dumber still on a certain level, sometimes...
" away!"

On the subject of efficieny of the Arab/Ottoman/Muslim scholars of the medieval period I have to say that I dont consider themn to be efficient at all.

I think it's far more accurate to say that the European people of the time under direct religious instruction from various denominations christian rulers wantonly destroyed books, supressed learning and trashed art owrks especially architecture.




The subject of the Christian habit of destroying knowledge and replacing it with lies

"Martin Luther could have been an atheist but living in the times he did he would have known there was no way he could get away with saying so.

Where Della is the "assertion" that you have stated I made about Martin Luther regarding atheism?

Its not in the post Ive copied above, anyone who would care to check can flick back a page and see the actual post for themselves.

As I said you DO bare false witness time and again particulary against me. I do wish you would stop telling such lies about me Della it really is not very nice at all.


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Sometimes modern people are kinda nutty too, I think.

" Aren't your insults actually in contravention of some kind of rule? I'd yikes, but for some odd reason, none of mine are ever upheld. Funny, that... I have my theories about that, as do others I won't name, but I am saying no more in case I get another 'hiatus'...

Are you trying to suggest that the mods and italics are more lenient with me than with the average researcher. That they are taking my side and punishing you unfairly.

All you did was post a couple of death threats, falsely accuse me of things Id not done and insult people who stuck up for me against those false accusations. They put you on pre-mod for this where-upon you operated a second account whilst you were on pre-mod in direct contravention of the house rules.

You break the rules they follow the rules and act in acordance with those rules and you some how think they have it in for you

, You don't mean me, do you? I've honestly got no idea what your talking about 'cuz thornthedruidguy is the only account I've got on here. - (& perhaps?)
-Not my argument . So nevermind...
, " away!"

<- It sounds messy.

http://www.facingthechallenge.org/galileo2.htm is a site that pushes the bible, therefore what they say has an agenda attached to it.

Regarding the sudden drought of learning and cessation of development that seems to have begun after the rise of Islam and the subsequent comments that Islamic scholars were so good at keeping learning alive, or at preserving the intellectual legacy of the world-well maybe they did keep things going and maybe it did last for a few hundred years. Then what happened? Are any of you driving a car made in Bagdad? Does anyone have anything that says 'made in Iran'? How about made in Iraq? What products do they manufacture today? From where did technology spring? You can bet your bippy it wasn't from any Islamic University. What do we get from this part of the world?

Huh. (note that I didn't put 'huh?'). , ?

: : Sudden biased aside/comment to follow :
'Western Civilization'= 'Surveys'
'Eastern Civilization'= ???
Both= somewhat of a mess.

The various Islamic states didn't just preserve Classical culture, they greatly added to it as well. See anything beginning with 'al', such as 'algebra' .

I have no idea really why Islamic learning appeared to stop. Perhaps it was simply the west's relative boost that made it appear so, or perhaps there's some truth in the whole Ottoman Empire killing innovation and decaying slowly over centuries cliche.

The economic part of the west's boost is explainable largely because they got to the Americas first, and got their empires in the Indian Ocean and South China Sea, being traditional Arab trade routes. The Arabs never got into naval warfare in a big way really, certainly not outside the Mediterreanean, so their little trading dhows got pummeled by massive Portugese carracks (which in turn got whipped by the Chinese coast-guard junks, but that's another story). The Atlantic trading economy went on to completely eclipse that of the Mediterrean, which didn't see any sort of decline but just didn't grow anything like as much. And then of course, after all that, steam power and the industrial revolution kicked off in Britain.

As for how important this economic change of pace was as regards the scientific and engineering worlds, search me guv'nor.

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Mongols sacked Bagdad, among other things. They got hit by the central asian barbarians and knocked into a dark age--the same thing that happened to Rome.

We got a lot from them--coffee, the lanteen rigging, rudders, etc. before the mongols knocked them into their own dark ages, which never got a chance to end.

Sadly, Blicky, my new policy is to not answer your stupid accusations, which means that they'll stay there forever, and newbies will believe them. But I really cannot be bothered rehashing ancient history... I started work at 7 am today, and I am too tired to put up with your nonsense.

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Note to newcomers. All the above is a farrago of nonsense. But I am ignoring it all from now.

Unfortunately, I must for now.

<Unfortunately, I must for now.>

I don't see why, RDO. Personal issues are always at the back of any faith-based argument; they have temporarily come to the fore and will fade back soon enough