Fiorina sings the praises of Islam, Ottoman Empire 'greatest civilization'

[Deportarian]

http://www.examiner.com/article/fiorina-sings-the-praises-of-islam-ottoman-empire-greatest-civilization

My respect for her went up.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

Sensible and largely correct... aaaaaand that's the end for her in the GOP primary.

[Indy Texas]

Forwarded link to Louie Gohmert and Pamela Geller.

[MisSkeptic]

Does anyone think the content in this article would come back to haunt her?

[Zioneer]

Wow, she's a Republican candidate who actually knows what the Ottomans were. Respect.

[Famous Mortimer]

Does anyone think the content in this article would come back to haunt her?

No. Pretty sure George W. Bush said the same type of stuff.

[136or142]

I love that the writer of that article in attempting to correct her 'half truths' made at least one whopper and one half truth himself:

Her portrayal of non-Muslims as scared to death of new knowledge is simply laughable.

It was Christendom that gave us our systems of libraries, hospitals and universities.
Should I really bring up the burning of the Great Library of Alexandria?

1.It is true that the early hospitals and maybe universities and libraries were built by the Church, if not by other Christian religions as well but, that was after The Renaissance.  Before that, when the Church largely controlled Western Europe, there is no debate that they suppressed knowledge, killed those who claimed things in opposition to Church Dogma, and told people that the only purpose of life was to serve/worship God.  Yes, the Church itself had scientific scholars and all the scientific equipment that was around at the time, but, so what?  They never shared anything they learned with the public.

The number of inventions made in Western Europe during the "Dark Ages" (or 'middle ages' if you prefer) were tiny compared to the number of inventions made in the Arab World.

2.The burning of the Great Library of Alexandria happened during the time of and possibly due to Julius Caesar (if he was behind it, it was an accident.)  

The destruction (not by burning) of the Library of Alexandria by the order of Caliph Omar is almost certainly a myth.  We know this for two reasons: 1.The claim that he ordered this destruction was not written down until many years after he allegedly ordered it and it was written by people who were most likely propagandizing in support of the crusades.  2.The actual infamous burning happened centuries before as did several subsequent burnings and other attempts to destroy the library made by non Muslims. So by the time of this 'order', there almost certainly nothing at the library of any significance anyway.


That said, in regards to Carly Fiorina herself.  She praises the Ottoman Empire here, but she has previously dissed China. She has made disparaging remarks about both the current Chinese government (which I share) and the current people of China (which I don't share.) But, I believe she also dissed The Ancient Chinese Empire(s) which is vastly superior to the Ottoman Empire, in terms of length of civilization, in terms of accomplishment and in terms of inventions.

There are many people who will argue in terms of anything since the renaissance until maybe the invention of the computer that "The Chinese did it first."  I'm not aware of anybody making a similar claim that "The Ottomans did it first."

[Maxwell]

Wow, she's a Republican candidate who actually knows what the Ottomans were. Respect.

The Ottoman Empire isn't exactly the most obscure world history, I would expect most Presidential candidates to know about them. And obviously, Fiorina is correct here.

[Beezer]

Hmm, I think people from the Balkans would beg to differ about the supposed awesomeness of the Ottomans.

[Maxwell]

Wow, she's a Republican candidate who actually knows what the Ottomans were. Respect.

The Ottoman Empire isn't exactly the most obscure world history, I would expect most Presidential candidates to know about them.

Test it here: https://facebook.com/GovernorPerry

Fair enough. Even with the expanded field, though, Perry is one of the dumber people running for President.

[Blair]

There's a reason it was called the sick man of Europe for 100 years, and the blatant genocide denial doesn't help

[Simfan34]

There's a reason it was called the sick man of Europe for 100 years, and the blatant genocide denial doesn't help

In weird Atlas World, saying something nice about Islamic civilisation counts as a bad thing for a Republican.

[136or142]

You must be logged in to read this quote.

I said there was more than one empire. Chinese civilization goes back continuously somewhere between 3,000 and 5,000 years.  I don't know if a single Chinese empire lasted as long as 600 years.

[rbt48]

Well, praising the Ottoman Empire won't win many fans among Armenian Americans.  Though, prior to the persecutions and genocide, many of the intellectuals and government ministers in the Empire were Armenians.

[Landslide Lyndon]

Hmm, I think people from the Balkans would beg to differ about the supposed awesomeness of the Ottomans.

Not only from the Balkans. The Ottoman Empire was a brutal regime, to put it kindly, and calling them one of the greatest civilizations ever is a travesty.

[136or142]

You must be logged in to read this quote.

I said there was more than one empire. Chinese civilization goes back continuously somewhere between 3,000 and 5,000 years.  I don't know if a single Chinese empire lasted as long as 600 years.

Can you really compare an empire to a country's complete history lol?

Since I'm pretty sure there is no other continuous major civilization that goes back so far, absolutely.

[136or142]

Hmm, I think people from the Balkans would beg to differ about the supposed awesomeness of the Ottomans.

Not only from the Balkans. The Ottoman Empire was a brutal regime, to put it kindly, and calling them one of the greatest civilizations ever is a travesty.

A civilization is more than just their government, especially since their people had no chance to elect their government.

[Landslide Lyndon]

Hmm, I think people from the Balkans would beg to differ about the supposed awesomeness of the Ottomans.

Not only from the Balkans. The Ottoman Empire was a brutal regime, to put it kindly, and calling them one of the greatest civilizations ever is a travesty.

A civilization is more than just their government, especially since their people had no chance to elect their government.

Even so, the Ottomans contribution to the arts and sciences are so few and far between that they hardly deserve Fiorina's accolades.

[CLARENCE 2015!]

Hmm, I think people from the Balkans would beg to differ about the supposed awesomeness of the Ottomans.

Not only from the Balkans. The Ottoman Empire was a brutal regime, to put it kindly, and calling them one of the greatest civilizations ever is a travesty.

For one pal- we agree

[Negusa Nagast 🚀]

Hmm, I think people from the Balkans would beg to differ about the supposed awesomeness of the Ottomans.

Not only from the Balkans. The Ottoman Empire was a brutal regime, to put it kindly, and calling them one of the greatest civilizations ever is a travesty.

A civilization is more than just their government, especially since their people had no chance to elect their government.

Even so, the Ottomans contribution to the arts and sciences are so few and far between that they hardly deserve Fiorina's accolades.

What? For a time, the Ottomans were the most scientifically advanced state in the world. This revisionist history BS is quite ridiculous.

He's a Greek mate.

[Blue3]

It seems like she was saying Islamic civilization was the greatest, of which the Ottomans are only one part.

[136or142]

You must be logged in to read this quote.

I suggest you visit this site: http://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/in-search-of-chinese-science

[Simfan34]

It seems like she was saying Islamic civilization was the greatest, of which the Ottomans are only one part.

Carly Fiorina: Secret Muslim?

[Cassius]

Which, among the greatest civilisations in world history, did not partake in it's fair share of brutality? Indeed, almost all civilisations were raised up, to a certain extent, on the back of what people in this day and age might find morally questionable. It did not stop them from being great.

[Mr. Morden]

Looks like she is indeed drawing criticism from Michelle Bachmann and others for having "praised Muslims" so soon after 9/11:

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/michele-bachmann-attacks-gop-hopeful-fiorina-praising-muslims-n411331