Modern communal hostilities distort opponents’ views as much as medieval ones did.

Evidence

There is little doubt that, although some Christian polemic has to-day learned to argue against rationalist and other opponents on a common ground which they cannot but accept, most communal hostilities in the modern world reflect the same attitude as did the mediaeval ones. There are many controversies in which the participants on each side argue against what they suppose their opponents to mean, and not against what is actually meant and said. There are many groups, especially national ones, that resent and reject outside criticism, and that show more loyalty to causes, the more it becomes irrational to do so. In many ways moderns allow communal feeling to dominate opinion more than the mediaevals did. — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 1494

Categorization

• QUESTION: The claim that moderns let communal feeling dominate opinion more than medievals did is counterintuitive and worth chasing — against the standard progress narrative.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 1494
• XREF: connects to: Modern societies are no more tolerant than medieval ones. — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 78; Sectarian debate reduces opposing paradigms to mirror-inversions of each other.; War and mutual contempt prevented either side from understanding the other’s worship — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 1140 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• Modern societies are no more tolerant than medieval ones. #corroborates (0.85) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 78
• Modern intellectual disputes also reject shared facts and caricature adversaries #expands (0.85) — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 1381
• Sectarian debate reduces opposing paradigms to mirror-inversions of each other. #expands (0.82)
• War and mutual contempt prevented either side from understanding the other’s worship #exemplifies (0.78) — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 1140
• Under conflict, hierarchical talk shifts to simplified claims hard to counter. #expands (0.75) — Holm Gero Hümmler, Ulrike Schiesser, Fact and Prejudice, 582