Cities of Light: The Rise and Fall of Islamic Spain

This is a beautiful film. It is rare for a documentary to be so relevant to our times. It tells us that it is indeed possible for the three major religions to work together and make magic; magic great enough to plant the seeds of the Renaissance, on which modern civilization is based. It also tells us how easily we can turn that magic into menace; menace great enough to threaten the world for generations. If we examine our current world, the seeds of destruction are being planted, and the casualty will be peace, harmony, understanding between peoples, and the great progress human civilization has made over the last few centuries. The question we should ask ourselves is this: Is it possible for our civilization to regress into an era of hatred, intolerance, prejudice, and injustice, and plunge the world into a new "Dark Age"? This film tells us that it did happen, time and time again, in Spain during the last two millennia. At the same time, it shows us that if we have the will, we can also work together and make the world an infinitely better place. The question it forces us to ponder is: What direction will we choose? As democracies, what direction will we make our leaders take?