Russell Coker <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > > I'm no fan of the Bush Administration's adventures, but there aren't > > all that many similarities. The current adventure is about oil, about > > Bush's fantasies that he's promoting democracy, and about domestic > > American politics, especially Bush's perceived need to look tough. By > > contrast, the Crusades were motivated much more directly by religion, > > Talk to someone who lives in those regions and try and convince them > that the crusades were based on religion.
I'm sorry; I was imprecise. What I meant was that religion was an official justification, but you are quite right that it was hardly the only motivation. My point is that you don't get anywhere by trying to say this is "just like" the Crusades; there are so many differences that it doesn't help the understanding. Moreover, it makes it harder to effectively fight against the imperialism. By saying it's "just like" the Crusades, one alienates those who are perfectly aware that it isn't. Much better to just focus on the manifest evil of what's going on, and explain why it's wrong, without trying to draw extremely tenuous historical parallels.
