It usually comes up when a Christian is bashing the Islamic community for their terrorist extremists, and someone brings up the Crusades. "Yes, but that was a long time ago," is often the answer.
Do Christians realize that this flaggrant and flippant dismissal of past injustices is highly offensive? I know many Jews and Wiccans who find this sort of attitude to be very disgusting. I know African Americans feel the same when Christians dismiss the fact that the Bible was used to justify slavery for so very long.
Some of the Christians even deny that the Inquisitions happened at all, when there's mountains of historical evidence that millions died at the hands of both the Catholic and the Protestant churches!
I'm just wondering how it is fair to call Islam a "bad" religion because of its terrorists, but it's okay to dismiss Christianity's sordid history even though everything done during those times (war, burnings, slavery) was and is officially sanctioned by the Bible!
2007-01-17 04:55:48 · 23 answers · asked by Aeryn Whitley 3 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Aeryn for President!
And yes, while those things did happen a long time in the past, the effects of them are still being felt now. It was because of the Crusades that the West has such a bad relationship with the Islamic world. Keep in mind that, up until the Crusades, the Islamic world was the center of the world for scientific, mathematical and medical advances.
We can debate this till the cows come home. And I don't think anybody wants to knock Christians down for it. All we're asking is that you admit the mistake, that you are fallible, and that perhaps Christianity may be right for you, but not necessarily for everybody else. We'd all get along just peachily then. (Hmm, is "peachily" a word?)
2007-01-17 05:08:37 · answer #1 · answered by dead_elves 3 · 1⤊ 6⤋
I don't know that much about the inquisitions - other than it was total evil. (as a Christian it makes me upset to know that people could be so deceived about the obvious teachings of their own faith, and therefore all the more careful) I think the point is that anyone can be brainwashed into doing something that is actually a violation of their faith - especially in a society where nobody could read and write, where the people were starving, and where everything was owned by the nobility. Most 'crusaders' were peasants, and there was even a children's crusade. That's not to say that they were not sincere believers, but those 'directing' the action were often manipulating power brokers - many from the ruling classes whose land was no longer able to support the large numbers of peasants living there. Human beings are complex and those with great power often greatly corrupted. Same thing is happening today in Islam. Lenin used the same principles to gain control of Russia - tell the people about the equality of all, and then turn them against each other (so they were not equal after all) same thing has happened in many places in history - not just Christians. Powerful people will always take advantage of the disadvantaged and manipulate them to accomplish their goals.
2016-03-29 01:43:45 · answer #2 · answered by Cindy 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'll tell you why.
This all leads to the same answer I've been giving over and over. It's human fanatism to declare THEIR religion as the one and only truth. The holier-than-thou attitude is a selfish way to justify self mediocrity. There's no such thing as a "good" or "bad" religion. There's just general stupidity and misinterpretations of the parables, whether it's the bible, coran, or whatever it is you're reading. Only those with deep theological studies are the qualified ones to interpretate those deeply phylosophical books.
The average joe will only take things literally and then get all mixed up because he doesn't understand crap. And whatever doctrine leads you to hate, kill or enslave other beings can't come from God, since he's all about love and peace.
Terrorists are everywhere. Is wrong to say that only Islamic people are terrorists. Just as we claim Christianity to be the one truth, so do they about the Islam. And yes, the crusades, the indulgencies, "saint" inquisition, ... those are the medieval black pages of christianity. And they are there for everyone to see. But we don't have to go that far. Jim Jones in the 70's, David Coreh in Waco Texas around the early 90's, The "christ" man from Ponce, Puerto Rico, an ex drug addict in 2006... and thousands of other harmful religious groups, those are recent black pages of our christian pride. And they all use the name of God. And they all claim themselves as Christians. Those are terrorists too, IMHO.
Human stupidity has nothing to do with the divine purpose. The problem is that they use organized religions as their shelter for such censorable actions.
2007-01-17 05:25:20 · answer #3 · answered by M'lady 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
A. Learn what "past" means. Which year did the crusades and inquisitions happen and what year is it now? Gee, that's a long time. What are we supposed to do about it now? Try moving on!
B. Which Inquisition are you complaining about. DId you know there were four? Two were sanctioned by the church, two weren't. The Spanish INquisition (the more famous of the four) was actually started by the king of spain and stopped by the Catholic church. But, of course, you'd rather believe Monty Python and lies then actually look this information up.
3. People call Islam bad because of recent events. RECENT, meaning current, events have shown things like the radicals of that religion using suicide bombers. These are RECENT events and are still in our control to change. Unlike PAST events that happened well over a century ago.
4. Very few Christians will deny that Christianity has had a less then sainltly past. However, we are grown ups and have moved on. Unlike some who use the past that cannot be changed as fuel for hatred.
2007-01-17 05:07:31 · answer #4 · answered by sister steph 6 · 2⤊ 2⤋
Pastor Billy says: darling the crusades were a shared experience and a reaction to Muslim aggression. Before the Holy Land fell into Mohammedan hands it was entirely Christian. I hope you don't think the Mohammedans were the only victims.
Mohammedans would regularly take all Christian prisoners whether they be civilian or military especially all who could not pay for their freedom and press them into slavery. Those sent to the galley ships new they were given a death sentence by their Muslim oppressors. History tells us that the Islamic world has had it's own Inquistions for example in the Sudan (which is still going on to this day), in Afganistan, in India etc..
Do you realise more people have died during the last century under the leadership of irreligious than all the previous centuries combined before it. With regards to historical evidence that millions died during the Inquisitions please provide some.
Yes you are correct when saying some Christians attempt to distance themselves from the crusades and Inquisitions however those same person(s) have a false understanding on what actually happened, the purpose of both. They additionally have an identity crisis when it comes to acknowledging when there Christian sect first developed and separated from the Western Church, the Catholic Christian Church.
2007-01-17 05:04:52 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 2⤋
Why because you're equating apples to oranges.
Not one Christian has said/written that they deny the crusades and inquisition. As a matter of fact, because of these past atrocities it's hard to swallow the atrocities that are happening now in the 21st Century. The human race is to learn from the past as to not repeat it.
What part of be-headings, honor killings and stoning isn't from the crusades and inquisition era?
Since Muslims are so morally more advanced than the rest of us, why are these actions of 5th, 6th and 7th centuries still practiced?
Why is the Muslim Moral Majority so...silent?
Instead of protesting in the streets about a mindless caricature, why not protest about the Muslim enslavement in the Sudan, or the stoning of rape victims, or the oppression of Muslim women in Afghanistan or the honor killing of women by their male relatives? After all...supposedly, these actions are non Islamic so... where's the uproar?
2007-01-17 05:36:03 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 0⤋
You're right. It's not fair, and it's not okay.
What is more helpful, and more honest, is to see the histories of both religions as what they are--complicated, often intertwined, and flawed attempts to live up to an ideal of how humans should relate to God.
The Crusades and Inquisitions are definitely a terrible part of Christian history, but they are not the only example of how Christians related to other religions or how they exercised power.
Some other important issues to remember: Compared to most women in greco-roman society, women in the early Jesus movement enjoyed a much more egalitarian position. Likewise, although the Bible was used to justify slavery, it was also used to bolster the abolitionist position as well. The Civil Rights movement also had roots in the African-American church.
Very similar things could be said about Islam--Toledo, the community in Spain remembered for its policies of religous tolerance for Christians and Jews, was under Muslim rule. Some scholars even argue that the complicated issues surrounding women in Islam (traditional garb that covers Muslim women) were attempts to protect women from harassment, rape, etc.--behavior that was acceptable in the context in which Mohammed received his revelations.
For every Jerry Falwell and Bin Laden, there are millions of Christians and Muslims who seek to live non-violently and practice their religions in ways that build up humanity, rather than doing humanity irreperable harm.
That's what Christians should realize when they critique Islam as a "violent" religion and dismiss the violent heritage of their own tradition.
2007-01-17 05:14:31 · answer #7 · answered by carwheelsongravel1975 3 · 1⤊ 3⤋
What they fail to recognize is that someday the actions of Islamic extremists will also be "in the past". In fact, on some plane they almost certainly already are, if you believe that time is it's own dimension. It's completely plausible that we are the past for someone else. Just because it's our present doesn't mean it's the only present.
And I agree with you completely. There's a question on here about burning people at the stake, and someone said, "That didn't happen for very long." Talk about ignorance!
)O(
2007-01-17 05:10:17 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 2⤋
Yet another place of biblical disagreement. Some verses claim that the sins of ancestors affect us (ie, Ex 20:5 - among the ten commandments, Deu 5:9) and some claim that each person is only responible for their own sin (ie, Deu 24:16, Ez 18:20). Perhaps the first is akin to karma and the second only applicable in actual court (there are arguments to this effect). In any case, it seems that most Abrahamic believers would put more importance in Ex 20:5. So the fact that something is in the past becomes somewhat irrelevant.
2007-01-17 06:02:17 · answer #9 · answered by neil s 7 · 0⤊ 2⤋
"I'm just wondering how it is fair to call Islam a "bad" religion because of its terrorists, but it's okay to dismiss Christianity's sordid history"
because not a single one of us was alive 600 years ago and Islam is slaughtering thousands of families TODAY right now as we speak.
"was and is officially sanctioned by the Bible!"
Feel free to mention those verses and I will shred your weak argument apart :)
2015-04-18 16:13:59 · answer #10 · answered by ? 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋