This

I'm reading the Bible chronologically and I'm still in Leviticus, but I get a lot out of mass. I try to live according to the christian ethics and I learn more every week. Even though I was a good rational person before, it really changes you when you consciously try to live according to your beliefs.

I misspoke. 

They did gain power by conquering others. That isn't questioned at all. However, even when they did gain massive amounts of land, they gained connections to other countries (such as China) by exchanging information. 

Heck, the Golden Age is probably the best period in the history of Islam (or one of the best). 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_Golden_Age

"The Muslim government heavily patronized scholars. The money spent on the Translation Movement for some translations is estimated to be equivalent to about twice the annual research budget of the United Kingdom’s Medical Research Council.^[16] The best scholars and notable translators, such as Hunayn ibn Ishaq, had salaries that are estimated to be the equivalent of professional athletes today.^[16] The House of Wisdom was a library established in Abbasid-era Baghdad, Iraq by Caliph al-Mansur.^[17]"

Let's hope the UAE starts a trend of seeking knowledge- the world really would be a better place if the current Muslim community was swapped with the one form the Golden Age.

Much of the time back then, the Muslims were the more advanced, more tolerant culture when clashing with the European west. Ferdinand and Isabella, for example, after dislodging Grenada from Moorish rule, then expelled thousands of Jews or else put them to the Inquisition. Some countries and empires were more tolerant, some were less, and often they would change from century to century. European countries and ideologies also spread through conquest, as well, of course. 

No. As long as any religion is big in a country, religions can't be banned altogether. Well, at least not in any democratic nation. Even if someone wants to ban religion, it simply can't be done if it would anger too many people.

Also, it's not likely to happen anyway. A thought crime is no crime, and religion essentially exists only in people's minds. Religions can, and probably will, eventually be somehow controlled/constrained, but they won't be banned altogether for a good while.

Religion... Banned? In the free world? Not in a 100 years. Nor should it be.

Any religion that seeks the death of non-believers should be banned.

All it's going to do is make countries like the US carpet bomb the holy fuck out of muslim places. It's just going to cause more war and death, not end religion.

https://twitter.com/markantro/status/871419204846669825/