Response to Dhimmi no more

Submitted by Amir Sani (Canada), Oct 21, 2018 at 22:56

I wrote:

"Based on your own definition if conservatism had always won since 1600s, we would still be living under autocrat monarchies and religious intolerance of the Catholic church."

And Dhimmi no more responded:

The Catholic Church? Seriously? So Henri Pirenne must be a liar. As a matter of fact he believed that the Arab invasions and the rise of Islam in the 7th century dragged Europe in the Dark ages and the Middle Ages. It was not the Germanic invasions or Christianity."

Not sure how that contradicts my statement about liberalism. Regardless of what caused the dark age in Europe, the Catholic Church was indeed the symbol of religious intolerance in Europe in 1600s. If you are talking about the Islamic world, it is still stuck in its religious intolerance because it has not embraced the ideas of classic liberalism and is sticking to its 1400-year old traditions. So your example actually confirms my point.

Dr. Pipes responded that his definition of conservatism is "supporting the traditions and adopting to new circumstances." But new circumstances are generated from new ideas, and those will not come without freeing one's mind from traditions.

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