Islamic Tolerance for a Nation's Heritage

http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/12/19/183434.html

Above is a link for an article on the destruction of numerous archived letters, maps, books, and other documents in Egypt. The cause was a fire that is believed to be a case or arson and appeared to be deliberately set in order to destroy the materials.

I am reminded of the destruction of the Bamiyan Statues shortly before the US invaded Afghanistan. These statues had been built under the sponsorship of the Kushans, an Iranian (not Persian) Buddhist Dynasty that ruled much of modern-day India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. Islamic societies are inherently fearful of anything that reminds one of a country’s pre-Islamic past and often take actions to remove the "idols".

I often note the similarities between the Islamic and Evangelical/Fundamentalist Christian mindset. One of the manifestations of this way of thought is the treatment of symbols or practices of a people's pre-Moslem or Christian past; often they are either destroyed or ignored. I would also note that early (Long before Evangelicals and Fundamentalist existed) Christians destroyed pagan temples or sacred groves. The difference is that after a few generations Christians tend to lose their concerns about these symbols or practices, with traditional Christian bodies giving some of them a Christian purpose, (As with Christmas being dated near the Solstice) and Evangelicals ignoring them outright. Christianity, though, cannot posses the complete control of a society that is part of Islamic culture so inevitable many will ultimately decide to be nominal Christians or not be a believer at all. In a Christian country the past is never truly forgotten and can be appreciated. The Norse saga Beowulf is another example of this; although those who wrote down the work added in some Christian elements, the concepts of honor, bravery, and service held in esteem by pre-Christian Europe are recorded for posterity. The same goes for the events recorded by Greek, Roman, Celtic writers and bards and other European peoples.

Neither of these can compare to the fury that we see with Muslims. Little is known about the attempt made by Saladin's son to destroy Egyptian pyramids. This was unsuccessful due to the sheer bulk of these monuments and the Ayubbid Dynasty, thankfully, did not posses high explosives.

The world joined together in trying to persuade the Taliban to refrain from destroying the Statues to no avail.
These works, which sat along the Silk Road for hundreds of years, were treated like garbage. While Europeans can still be reminded of who their pre-Christians ancestors were and what inspired them, the various peoples of Muslim countries do not have this luxury. I cannot imagine an Afghan tribesman being able to speak of any attributes of his Iranian ancestors or of that society, but you can bet your bottom dollar that an old Irishman on the barren Western Coast of Ireland can recite a few lines about the hero Cuchulainn or from the Cattle Raid of Cooley.*

On the Egyptian arson, true to form, Israel received its share of the blame. They were accused by at least one person of desiring to remove any records of the Egyptian border with Israel.
See below for a quote from the article – this from an Archaeology Professor who would hardly be considered an Islamist and no doubt did not relish this destruction. Even he needed a non-Muslim to blame.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A professor of archeology, Mamdouh al-Masry, held the Supreme Council for the Armed Forces (SCAF) accountable for failing to contain the fire and arrest the culprits.
“Was setting the complex on fire intentional in order to eliminate evidence of the borders between Egypt and Israel? Is Israel up to something especially after the Islamist victory in parliamentary election?” he said.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Arab Spring has unleashed the mob. More of this will follow.

* Unfortunately the vast majority of today's youth and middle-age adults will have no knowledge of these or similar subjects. The loss of this part of the heritage of Europeans and their cultural descendants is also a sad chapter. Here, though, the villains of the piece are not religious fanatics but Leftists bent on removing any and all traces the Western world's culture. They exert a tremendous effort to suppress and/or ignore the personalities, events, stories/literature, and more of what made the culture of the West. The Left cannot allow a culture that promotes individuality, heroism, sacrifice, and God forbid masculinity The only instance where they may would be in  its degraded form from a Muslim (Or a 18-24 year-old male who acts completely unfettered and thus proves to feminists that men are immature pigs).
This subject will have to be treated more thoroughly in a later post.