Why Thomas Aquinas Distrusted Islam
The 13th-century scholar Thomas Aquinas, regarded as one of the most eminent medieval philosophers and theologians, offered a biting critique of Islam based in large part on the questionable character and methods of its founder, Mohammed.
According to Aquinas, Islam appealed to ignorant, brutish, carnal men and spread not by the power of its arguments or divine grace but by the power of the sword.
Aquinas, a keen observer of the human condition, was familiar with the chief works of the
Muslim philosophers of his day–including Avicenna, Algazel, and Averroes–and engaged them in his writings.
Since Islam was founded and spread in the seventh century, Aquinas—considered by Catholics as a saint and doctor of the Church—lived in a period closer to that of Mohammed than to our own day.
In one of his most significant
works, the voluminous
Summa contra gentiles, which Aquinas wrote between 1258 and 1264 AD, the scholar argued for the truth of Christianity against other belief systems, including Islam.
Aquinas contrasts the spread of Christianity with that of Islam, arguing that much of Christianity’s early success stemmed from widespread belief in the miracles of Jesus, whereas the spread of Islam was worked through the promise of sensual pleasures and the violence of the sword.
Mohammad, Aquinas wrote, “seduced the people by promises of carnal pleasure to which the concupiscence of the flesh goads us. His teaching also contained precepts that were in conformity with his promises, and he gave free rein to carnal pleasure.”
Such an offer, Aquinas contended, appealed to a certain type of person of limited virtue and wisdom.
“In all this, as is not unexpected, he was obeyed by carnal men,” he wrote. “As for proofs of the truth of his doctrine, he brought forward only such as could be grasped by the natural ability of anyone with a very modest wisdom. Indeed, the truths that he taught he mingled with many fables and with doctrines of the greatest falsity.”
Because of the weakness of Islam’s contentions, Aquinas argued, “no wise men, men trained in things divine and human, believed in him from the beginning.” Instead, those who believed in him “were brutal men and desert wanderers, utterly ignorant of all divine teaching, through whose numbers Muhammad forced others to become his followers by the violence of his arms.”
Islam’s violent methods of propagation were especially unconvincing to Aquinas, since he found that the use of such force does not prove the truth of one’s claims, and are the means typically used by evil men.
In his Summa contra gentiles, Aquinas ends his argument against Islam by offering a backhanded compliment to Mohammed, noting that he had to keep his followers ignorant in order for them to remain faithful.
It was, Aquinas wrote, “a shrewd decision on his part to forbid his followers to read the Old and New Testaments, lest these books convict him of falsity.”
The Pentagon, refusing to transfer the data on terrorist targets in Syria to the Russian military, continues to fight against the Islamic State terrorist group "in word only", Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov told reporters on Monday.
He thus commented on a recent statement by the Pentagon spokesperson Michelle Baldanza who confirmed that the US military did not intend to share with Moscow the information on IS targets until Russia changes its policy towards Syrian President Bashar Assad. "We are not going to cooperate with Russia on Syria until they change their strategy of supporting Assad and instead focus on ISIL (IS)," Baldanza said.
"The hackneyed thesis has once again confirmed that the Pentagon will fight against IS in word only, instead of taking real action," Konashenkov said. "The statement by the US Defense Department spokesperson Michelle Baldanza about the [US side’s] refusal from any cooperation in the fight against Islamic State is a broken record, and it’s high time to change it," he said.
We will never be fully rid of the DC Media. Like the garbage-in/manure-out maggots they are, the DC Media will always be a rancid part of the circle of political life. The political left is, if nothing else, relentless, and they will never fully give up the propaganda perch that is this corrupt institution.
That doesn’t mean that the righteous war to politically-exterminate them should be any less relentless, because it is already resulting in quantifiable benefits. The influence these serial-liars once enjoyed to sway public opinion and set the parameters of the national debate, is evaporating.
In no particular order, here are six battles the DC Media waged relentlessly and handily lost in 2015.
- The Annihilation of Donald Trump
Ridicule, dismissal,
outright lying, coordinated hate-campaigns… Nothing has worked. Using New Media, social media, and a brilliant understanding of how to manipulate a crooked institution, Donald Trump has used, abused and weaponized the American political media to a point where the Republican nomination is now his to lose.
Moreover, in the most recent head-to-head poll, Trump is only -2 points behind Hillary Clinton; this is after 2 months of the worst press he could imagine, and 2 months of the best press she could imagine.
Trump hasn’t even begun to train his fire on Clinton, and this terrifies a corrupt political media used to Republicans who, for decades, have agreed to play
and lose by their rules.
- Gun Control
Feasting off a pile of dead Sandy Hook Elementary schoolchildren, the DC media was sure they had a two-fer: A propaganda bonanza that would end with law-abiding citizens being disarmed, and a political victory for The Precious Obama.
Ever since, up to and including the San Bernardino terror attack, the DC Media has exploited every opportunity to restrict our Second Amendment civil rights.
With New Media refusing to cave to the emotional blackmail, exposing the madness of gun-free zones and the serial lies told by the gun-grabbers, and reporting the truth about the huge decrease in gun violence as gun sales soar, fast-forward more than two years and this anti-science propaganda campaign has not only failed, it has
failed spectacularly.
Moreover, gun sales continue to soar to record heights.
- The Washington Redskins
Last time I looked the Washington Redskins are still named the Washington Redskins.
While our delusional left-wing DC Media and their allies in the Democrat Party use this non-troversy to puff themselves up as self-righteous Mississippi Burning warriors (can I still say “warriors?”) , the American people
aren’t falling for it.
Because the maggots can no longer bottleneck the truth, the public knows that the people who are supposed to be offended — not white limousine liberals but, you know, actual American Indians — are not only are not offended, but name some of their own high school teams the Redskins.
- Syrian Refugees
After the Paris terror attacks earlier this year, the common sense call went out to put the brakes on Obama’s suicidal plan to resettle 100,000 Syrian refuges here in America. ISIS has promised to seed this group with terrorists, and did so successfully with at least one of the terrorists in Paris.
Coordinating another emotional blackmail campaign, the entire DC Media Complex banded together to again pretend Mississippi was burning.
The sanctimonious, self-righteous editorials flowed as one “journalist” after another dropped all pretense of objectivity to smear America as racist.
New Media again fought back with the truth. Not only had Obama’s own F.B.I. Director stated that vetting these refugees would be next to impossible, there was also the matter of the female jihadist responsible for 14 murders in San Bernardino. As it would happen, she managed to slip through the very same federal government vetting program the liars in the DC Media had just assured us was flawless.
- The End of the Rigged Republican Debates
After John Harwood’s
appallingly dishonest performance as moderator of the October CNBC GOP primary debate, New Media, the Republican presidential candidates, and the Republican Party rose up and finally said no more.
For decades, the maggots have used Republican primary debates to disqualify our candidates with loaded questions, serial lies, and a premise that says Democrats are right about everything.
The two debates since, including one hosted by CNN, have been professional — have been night and day.
- The Implosion of the Lying Fact-Checkers
Watching one Republican candidate after another wrist-flick the very same fact checks that used to put them on defense, is about as good as it gets.
As it always will with the American people, the Truth is winning. It just needs to get out there. Nevertheless, the DC Media is just going to keep lying. In return, we need only keep telling the truth. These people deserve zero respect. Contempt, scorn, and truth have gotten us
this far.
Let’s use 2016 to double and triple down.
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