Political Demagogue
The Turkish prime minister, Recip Erdogan, seems like a dangerous fool if you ask me, because his latest claim that Muslim sailors landed in America in 1178 sounds like propaganda with no purpose other than to aggrandise the Islamic religion.
Now I don't really think it matters too much who first set foot on the shores of America, some people believe the Vikings might have made it all the way across the Atlantic, but the travels of Christopher Columbus and those that followed him are at least well documented
Whereas Recip Erdogan's story is not supported by any evidence, just like the claim that the Prophet Muhammad flew up to heaven on a winged horse.
Muslims found Americas before Columbus says Turkey's Erdogan
Turkey's president Recep Tayyip Erdogan offered little evidence to support his claim
Muslims discovered the Americas more than three centuries before Christopher Columbus, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said.
He made the claim during a conference of Latin American Muslim leaders in Istanbul, pointing to a diary entry in which Columbus mentioned a mosque on a hill in Cuba.
Mr Erdogan also said "Muslim sailors arrived in America in 1178".
He said he was willing to build a mosque at the site Columbus identified.
The Turkish president - whose AK Party is rooted in political Islam - gave no further evidence to back up his theory, instead stating: "Contacts between Latin America and Islam date back to the 12th Century."Controversial article
Columbus is widely believed to have discovered the Americas in 1492, while trying to find a new route to India.
But in a disputed article published in 1996, historian Youssef Mroueh said Columbus' entry was proof that Muslims had reached the Americas first and that "the religion of Islam was widespread".
However many scholars believe the reference is metaphorical, describing an aspect of the mountain that resembled part of a mosque.
No Islamic structures have been found in America that pre-date Columbus.
Mr Erdogan said he thought "a mosque would go perfectly on the hill today" and that he would like to discuss building this with Cuba.
The first people to reach the Americas came from Asia. They are believed to have crossed the Bering Strait about 15,000 years ago.
The first European visitors to North America are widely thought to have been Norse explorers, about 500 years before Columbus.
Muslims discovered the Americas more than three centuries before Christopher Columbus, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said.
He made the claim during a conference of Latin American Muslim leaders in Istanbul, pointing to a diary entry in which Columbus mentioned a mosque on a hill in Cuba.
Mr Erdogan also said "Muslim sailors arrived in America in 1178".
He said he was willing to build a mosque at the site Columbus identified.
The Turkish president - whose AK Party is rooted in political Islam - gave no further evidence to back up his theory, instead stating: "Contacts between Latin America and Islam date back to the 12th Century."Controversial article
Columbus is widely believed to have discovered the Americas in 1492, while trying to find a new route to India.
But in a disputed article published in 1996, historian Youssef Mroueh said Columbus' entry was proof that Muslims had reached the Americas first and that "the religion of Islam was widespread".
However many scholars believe the reference is metaphorical, describing an aspect of the mountain that resembled part of a mosque.
No Islamic structures have been found in America that pre-date Columbus.
Mr Erdogan said he thought "a mosque would go perfectly on the hill today" and that he would like to discuss building this with Cuba.
The first people to reach the Americas came from Asia. They are believed to have crossed the Bering Strait about 15,000 years ago.
The first European visitors to North America are widely thought to have been Norse explorers, about 500 years before Columbus.
Winged Horses (23 April 2013)
Richard Dawkins has upset the God Brigade again with his comments about a journalist at the New Statesman - Mehdi Hasan - who believes, apparently, that the prophet Muhammad really did fly to heaven on a winged horse.
Now another journalist at the Guardian - name of Andrew Brown - leaped to Mehdi Hasan's defence with a furious denunciation of Dawkins, claiming that he's a believer too - but in his own mythology, whatever that means.
Baloney, I say.
For sure, Richard Dawkins ridiculed Mehdi Hasan - who's no slouch himself it has to be said when it comes to criticising other people for their political views - so why should he or Andrew Brown get their knickers in such a twist when they get a taste of their own medicine?
The story goes that Richard Dawkins posted the following tweet on via Twitter last weekend:
"Mehdi Hasan admits to believing Muhamed [sic] flew to heaven on a winged horse. And New Statesman sees fit to print him as a serious journalist."
For some reason, possibly out of political solidarity, Tom Watson, the Labour MP and former henchman of Gordon Brown, tweeted back:
"You really are a gratuitously unpleasant man".
To which Dawkins replied
"Actually no. Just frank. You'd ridicule palpably absurd beliefs of any other kind. Why make an exception for religion?"
"A believes in fairies. B believes in winged horses. Criticise A and you're rational. Criticise B and you're a bigoted racist Islamophobe."
Now I can't see anything offensive about that - I have to say.
Yet Andrew Brown goes on to suggest that what Richard Dawkins is really saying is that people who believe in winged horses or the Norse God Loki - should not be employed by respectable magazines such as the New Statesman.
Which is nonsense - and Andrew Brown must know it's nonsense.
Because that kind of religious discrimination would be unlawful in the UK - though not in many Islamic countries where Sharia law operates, of course - and where believing in anything other than winged horses or the second-class status of women, for example, could prove to be rather injurious to your health.
But if you'll excuse me, I have to dash - as my mate's just arrived on Winged Pegasus and we're popping down the road to the pub for a couple of beers.
Now another journalist at the Guardian - name of Andrew Brown - leaped to Mehdi Hasan's defence with a furious denunciation of Dawkins, claiming that he's a believer too - but in his own mythology, whatever that means.
Baloney, I say.
For sure, Richard Dawkins ridiculed Mehdi Hasan - who's no slouch himself it has to be said when it comes to criticising other people for their political views - so why should he or Andrew Brown get their knickers in such a twist when they get a taste of their own medicine?
The story goes that Richard Dawkins posted the following tweet on via Twitter last weekend:
"Mehdi Hasan admits to believing Muhamed [sic] flew to heaven on a winged horse. And New Statesman sees fit to print him as a serious journalist."
For some reason, possibly out of political solidarity, Tom Watson, the Labour MP and former henchman of Gordon Brown, tweeted back:
"You really are a gratuitously unpleasant man".
To which Dawkins replied
"Actually no. Just frank. You'd ridicule palpably absurd beliefs of any other kind. Why make an exception for religion?"
"A believes in fairies. B believes in winged horses. Criticise A and you're rational. Criticise B and you're a bigoted racist Islamophobe."
Now I can't see anything offensive about that - I have to say.
Yet Andrew Brown goes on to suggest that what Richard Dawkins is really saying is that people who believe in winged horses or the Norse God Loki - should not be employed by respectable magazines such as the New Statesman.
Which is nonsense - and Andrew Brown must know it's nonsense.
Because that kind of religious discrimination would be unlawful in the UK - though not in many Islamic countries where Sharia law operates, of course - and where believing in anything other than winged horses or the second-class status of women, for example, could prove to be rather injurious to your health.
But if you'll excuse me, I have to dash - as my mate's just arrived on Winged Pegasus and we're popping down the road to the pub for a couple of beers.
