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What Remains of History That Should Be a Warning to PosterityReader comment on item: A Short Conversation with Daniel Pipes Submitted by M Tovey (United States), Jul 30, 2020 at 12:46 There is the appearance of a crescendo of voices echoing ancient, and not so ancient sentiments, attempting to foster and otherwise instill newly developing emotions of prideful thinking, such as that now making bellicose threats of empire making, all over again. It is a classical form of not learning from history; it is a format of cyclical contentions that are being debated over and over again in this forum, begging the question: when are any of the contentious factious harbingers of world domination going to cease? And yet again, the single answer: no. History, dependent upon which version one desire to give credence to, tells us of empire building in the order of the Greeks against Persia after the loss of the predominance of the Roman Empire after being diluted by Christianization. Islam made its inroads into the former territories of fallen empires for the reasons of, evidently, a greater passion for conquest the likes of which are paralleled maybe with the Mongolian invasions; or maybe in modern inferences and context, the communistic tendencies of the former Soviet Union and the Communist Chinese. If we look at the reemergence of the desires to reinstate a caliphate, the several attempts in these past few years demonstrate a serious recall of the passion for conquest. Elsewhere in this post, we read of the updated notion that PM Erdogan has enrolled himself in the office of caliph and there is the supporting cast off supporters now promoting that very premise: rebuild the caliphate of the Ottomans and reinstate the former glory of Suleiman and the entire process of ummah domination. Even the Jewish academic of the time of Idumean monarch Herod, Hillel, is channeled in the premise that the motion to extend Turkey's influences globally. What is the lesson in that? World dominance must be viewed in the context of all of its failures. In the Hebrew Holy Writ, a counsellor in the court of Nebuchadnezzar pronounced the vision of the dream that monarch had: the vision of the entirety of all the world's empires and the destruction of every single one. All of them had their moment of glory. All of them are now viewed in ruins, the partial remains of which are left in shattered piles of cautionary tales; but who is listening. Evidently, not Turkey; but what of those who are seeking to be Turkey's friends. Why are they so willing? Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments". Reader comments (12) on this item |
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