Crusades: Are they relevant in today's world?
The Crusades were of great importance in the medieval world, however, I am interested in whether you think the Crusades still have any relevance in today's world. Our politicians and diplomats are extremely careful not to use the word Crusade in describing any interaction with Muslim countries. Many people today have the view that the current situation in the world is similar to a Crusade. From what we have learned about the Crusades - would you say that people that hold that view are mistaken or correct? Back up your opinion with facts from class. Remember to keep all opinions diplomatic and appropriate for a world-wide viewing audience. Your viewpoints could come back to haunt you when you run for President in 20 years.posted by bcoffman | 4:01 PM
16 Comments:
Describing our situation with any country is saying that we are fighting for religious purposes. I feel that our conflict with the Middle East is more one sided with the fact it is a holy war. A small part of the reasons that the Muslim countries are in a fued with us is because of the fact that we aren't converting to the Muslim faith. Like we discussed in class the United States has been told that on more than one occasion. I believe that the people who say this is a Crusade are neither right nor wrong, because I feel that part of the reasons that the middle east is fighting with us is because of our faith. On the other hand I believe the United States is not in Iraq or Iran for any religious reasons. Therefor this war would not be considered a Holy War.
i feel that the crusades dont have much direct effect on todays world, other than the fact that the majority of islam is mostly in the middle east and christianity is more of a western religion. this meaning that the crusades just split the religions apart and they dont interact with each other much. todays war with iraq could be considered a crusade, a somewhat one-sided one at best though. this is because us going to war with iraq and being involved in it had nothing to do with, and still has nothing to do with religion, its just that they attacked us so we attack back. from their viewpoint however, they attacked us because they felt that we had no right to be there before. this mostly had to do with their religion, and how people who werent followers of their religion should be when they are there. after time, this lead to them threatening us and attacking us. so i guess it just depends on whose eyes you look at the situation through
I believe that the Crusades have an extreme importance in today's world, just as any part in history would. One of the reasons the Crusades are important, especially today, is because history repeating itself is not only boring, but a sign that the world is not progressing. However, I don't think that the current situation in the world is like the crusades other than the fact that a Muslim country by majority is involved. A war between Muslims and a predominantly Jewish country is not called a crusade, correct? Simply because our country is predominantly Christian does not make conflict in the Middle East a "crusade", by definition. It is not Christians killing Muslims but rather a country fighting another country, which is not the Crusades. I also see that, just like the word "Jihad", the word "Crusade" is misused in modern times, mostly because people do not understand what the Crusades were, which would be have been a war about religions, not a war about politics and government.
By defintion, crusade is a holy war, and if I am not mistaken, the war going on right now is the war on terror, not Islam. I don't think the term Crusade is appropriate to describe what is going on in the world right now. Our country encourages freedom of religion, and I think, although there may be prejudice in the world, the majority of people and politicians accept people and nations of all religions. The war in the Middle East is being fought to fight terror and, in the end, is meant to benefit the people of the Middle East. So, no. I do not think the War on Terror is a Holy War.
I must agree with Quentin and Raquel alike, though the crusades do allow us to learn from our mistakes, I cannot belive that they have much impact in todays society. Although it was an importance to Europe; in American Socitey we cannot call any war we are involeved in a "holy war". Although president bush is natorious for silly "reasons for war" Im sure even he himself wouldn't start a war in the name of religion.
I especially believe that the war we are currently in has nothing to do with religion. From what we have learned about the crusades they purpose of them was to retake holy land that was in possestion of the muslims, we have no desire to take land from anyone and we (although it may seem this way) not religiously motivaded.
And your silly Mr. Coffman we all know I won't be president in 20 years.
Crusades are not relevant in todays world. They break apart religions and dont interact with eachother. We attack iraq because they attack us.They felt we had no right to be there so they decided to invade.
Todays history is greatly influenced by what happend during the crusades. I feel like there is an eternal feud going on between muslims and christians. the way that they treated eachother during that time is still affecting today. Although i do agree with anna m. this war that were in now is not a holy war, its simply a war to stop something that is plauging the united states, and other countries. although most of the extremists we are after are muslim, its not their religion were fighting, its their way of life.
I dont beleive that crusades are still relevant because we dont still fight wars that are strictly over religion. The war that we are in right now is not only over religion but is happening because of other reasons as well. So i do not beleive crusades are still relevant.
Crusades are definately relavent and they go on as well. For example the crusades in the middle east that have been going on for a really long time.
Although the Crusades had lots of bearing and relativity during that time period, I would disagree with anybody who believes they hold relevance in todays society or the current war in Iraq. I would do so on the basis that first of all the crusades were based on fighting for religious reasons therefore making it a holy war. And all though we are at war with Muslims we are in no way fighting for religious reasons, politicians would be the first to tell you that they stay as far away from using the word "Crusade" as possible. Second of all since we have established that we aren't on any form of a crusade the crusades become completely irrelevant. Sure we can learn from the past and mistakes made but as i said i would in no way compare todays war in any way to the crusades.
Asking if the Crusades are still relevant to today's world is like asking if what we’re fighting in the middle-east is really a war: it may not be politically correct to say so, but it's simply undeniable. Not only are there obvious historic ties between the Crusades era and the current Middle Eastern crisis, but whether we like to admit or not, religion also plays a fundamental role in America’s “war on terror”. The Middle-east has been wracked by violence since the formation of Mesopotamia, and the conflict between eastern and western ideologies has been around almost as long. These aren’t issues that were resolved by the crusades, nor have they been resolved since them. It’s just as Raquel says: we’re seeing history repeat itself. It may have been religion western society was trying to force down the throats of Middle Easterners a thousand years ago, but the principles behind the Crusade occupation of the Holy Land, and the United States’ occupation of the Middle East are identical. By attempting to apply a western political model to an unreceptive eastern society, we’re simply mirroring the actions of our European predecessors, and ultimately mirroring their results. It is because of this that the Crusades still hold so much relevance: they show us that we’re trying has failed once, and warning us that they will fail again.
Crusades don't have any relevance in our world today. We're not fighting wars because of religion differences with Iraq, we're in a war with them because they attacked us and we simply attacked them back. So our war right now can't be called a holy war since we're not fighting for religion. Also, I don't believe that we're wanting to take any land from Iraq, like the Crusades had hoped. Which is another reason for the irrelevance of Crusades today.
I do agree that the Crusades were of great importance to the medieval world, therefore, to the world we now live in. I also believe that the people who say our "current situation in the world is similar to a Crusade" are correct and wrong at the same time. I would also have to agree with Anna's point that "A small part of the reasons that the Muslim countries are in a feud with us is because of the fact that we aren't converting to the Muslim faith." But also, I do not believe that we, as the United States, are in the Middle East for religious reasons. Therefore, it is a "Crusade" and not a "Crusade" at the same time.
I think that the crusades do not impact us today as they did a hundred or more years ago. People are starting to forget what happened, and are beggining to think more of what is happening curerently. An example is of President Bush. While he was giving a speach, he said that the United States must go on a 'Crusade' to stop what is happening to Iraq and other countreis, to make them a better place. The president did not know the full meaning of the term 'crusade', and did not realize it was a holy war. He appoligized for what he said during the speach later on. But the point is that people do not even know what it is anymore, and because of this, i do not think it can be relevant in in today's world, if people do not even understand what it truly meant to humanity.
I think it has a lot to do with to days world. I think it has always effected Islams relationship with Christians. even non radical Muslims must have some feeling toward Christians.
The Crusades have occured even before they were actually known as the "Crusades", and they are relevant in today's world. Spiritual warfare still exsist; and as long as spiritual warfare exsist so does the Crusades. The Middle East is still involved in a war concerning the Holy Land in Isreal. The Muslim countries still want that land; and that is what it all comes down to, the Holy Land. The Muslim countries do not want the Christian nations to support Isreal, which is one of the main reasons why some of the Muslims from Iraq attacked us. It is because they know that the United States is a Christian nation and they do not want us to support Isreal. Therefore the Crusades are relevant in today's world.
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