Using the term "medieval" in politics

As political races heat up in the US, we hear repeated references to one group or another being "medieval" in attitude or behavior, but is that accurate? Here are some comments from David M. Perry at The Guardian.

No, Carly Fiorina, a degree in medieval history doesn't qualify you to fight Isis.

"Carly Fiorina received a BA from Stanford in medieval history and philosophy almost 40 years ago. The Republican presidential candidate claims that her degree prepared her to fight Isis, “because what Isis wants to do is drive us back to the Middle Ages”. While the Middle Ages do shape contemporary events, Fiorina almost always gets the lessons of history wrong. When we use the word “medieval” to characterize something we don’t like, we are trying to impose chronological distance between ourselves and things we find unpleasant. Thinking of these distasteful or evil aspects of the modern world as belonging to the past makes it harder, not easier, to understand their root causes and fight them. That hasn’t stopped Fiorina from incorporating her quip about Isis driving us back to the Middle Ages as a standard part of her stump speech. Moreover, touting her “medieval” credentials is a way for her to play to culture warriors who believe Christianity is under attack.

As a medievalist, I believe we need to study the past in order to respond to the present, but we must learn the right things. Isis is inspired by medieval and pre-medieval Islamic ideas about power, purity and what they believe to be the “true nature of Islam.” Medieval Islam, like all religions, contained many different ideas and practices. Some were comparatively tolerant and open to innovation and differences; others were more restrictive. Looking into the history of any religion finds examples of both the best and worst of humanity within it.

It’s vital to recognize, though, as John Terry writes in Slate, that the viciousness of Isis emerges from its modernity, not its artificial links to the past. “Isis is nostalgic for a make-believe past, and those among them who know plenty about Islam’s first decades have conveniently revised medieval history to fit modern ideological needs.” Isis depends on modernity. Their growth was made possible by modern wars – from the division of the Middle East post-World War I to the most recent wars in Iraq and Syria. It’s only in this ultra-modern context that a group like Isis could grow and flourish. If Fiorina really wants to draw on the Middle Ages for inspiration, Perry  suggests: 1) support universities, scholars, writers and artists, as their contributions outlive us all; 2) peasants, oppressed for too long, always rebel; 3) don’t go to war in the Middle East without a good exit plan."