Those who wonder about the evolution of extreme Islam would do well to read Michael Novak‘s latest article at National Review Online, which celebrates the 16th-century Battle of Lepanto.
For those who know little history, today’s battle with ISIS in the Middle East may seem new and unprecedented. It is not.
In a.d. 622, Mohammed set out from Medina to conquer the whole Christian world for Allah by force of arms. Within a hundred years, his successors had occupied and pillaged every Christian capital of the Middle East, from Antioch through North Africa (home of Saint Augustine) and Spain. All that remained outside Allah’s reign was the northern arc from Southern France to Constantinople.
What we are seeing in 2014 has a history of more than 1,300 years — a very bloody, terror-ridden history. Except that today the struggle is far, far more secular than religious — a war over political institutions and systems of law, with almost no public argument over religious doctrine.
Novak goes on to recount highlights of hundreds of years of armed clashes between Christian and Muslim forces to decide the fate of Europe.
