Do you agree there have been a lot of atrocities committed in the name of God?

Question

People who professed to know God and Christ but who did not? Do you think true Christians should admit this and try to heal the rift and bitterness this has caused? Especially with Jewish people who have suffered much from this through history? What say you?

Tony, you are misinformed indeed!

Answer 1

Yes, just like many atrocities are committed in the name of the king. His soldiers extorting the people etc. Weak people have always been known to claim a higher authority than themselves as they do evil deeds to others.

I readily admit that these atrocities have taken place, while at the same time pointing to the scriptures and their overwhelming message of love and peace and goodwill toward others as the proof that those people are not acting in the true spirit of God's principles.

I do believe that the gospel message that we are commanded to spread can overcome these misunderstandings in the minds of the ignorant. If they believe that God was behind these acts and they shun Him because of it, hearing the true gospel will change their lives. The truth will set you free. So let's get out there and share the truth with those who have never heard it!

Answer 2

I don't want to sound unsympathetic, but it sounds like arbitrary categorization to me. We can use any common characteristic to group people together and then impute the sins of others to the group. We could, for example, blame Christians, Germans, blonds, men, Indo-Europeans, Europeans, police officers, or newspaper editors for the atrocities comitted against the Jews during WWII. But doesn't it make more sense to blame the people who actually commited those atrocities? I am not about to take responsibility for crimes comitted by people thousands of miles away, decades before I was born, who bear no connection to me either in religion, idealogy, nationality or heritage.

"Christian" is just another category, and it is probably one of the most subjective terms in the English language. Almost anyone can be called a "Christian," simply because Christianity was endowed at birth in European countries for so many centuries. If you look at the diversity within the Christian religion, you will notice that there is not a single characteristic that all "Christians" universally hold in common.

Personally, I believe that the responsibility for atrocities should be laid at the feet of the perpetrators. Millions upon millions of people have been murdered in the name of atheism - far more than in the name of religion. But that does not mean that the atheist who lives next door to you should accept responsibility for the atrocities commited under Stalin and Mao. There is no real connection between the two.

Answer 3

Yes. The Crusades which were carried out by the vatican. Many Jewish men and husbands were slaughtered, and their wives and daughters raped by Roman soldiers. The offspring of this atrocity was half-jewish,half-Roman children who not only did not, but could not fit not fit into either Jewish or Roman society. They were used in the vatican's attempt to capture the city of Jerusalem. This 12th crusade was known as the "Children's Crusade". About fifteen years ago the vatican finally acknowledged this horrendous crime against the jews and made a formal apology to the jewish state. The problem the jews have now, of course, is with the descendants of Ishmael who are and have been for over 1800 years, the religious and spiritual dupes of the Vatican which created Islam.

Answer 4

More people have been killed "in the name of God," than for any other reason in history. If you believe everything you read in the Bible, then you could not miss the fact that it primarily speaks of the bloody beginnings of Judaism, and Christianity... that's only the historical events.

Take the crusades... or even ancient history, where Greeks killed each other over pagan gods... WW2, both Germans and Americans prayed to God as they walked into battle...

The whole thing is a conundrum for a religion that professes to love your neighbor...

Answer 5

When looking back at the twisting of religious fervor to obtain worldly gain by committing the very sins outlined by our spiritual leaders, it is sad to think that people think this was "committed in the name of God", because God is love, patience, and understanding. He made all of us and would not make this tree of life so foolish as to have the branches fight amongst themselves.

Once we realize that there is no "them" or "those people", that we are all a reflection of God's light, that we are ALL cells in the unified field of God, then ANY war or struggle is a fight amongst ourselves.

Maybe striving to find that unity within all of us can help heal that rift?

Answer 6

Yes I agree that there have been a lot of astrocities committed in the name of God. Like the Inquisition for one. But blaming God for these atrocitites is wrong. God did not do these atrocities. He did not tell these people to do them. Humans did the atrocities THEMSELVES in the name of God. But God did not tell these people to do them, they did it themselves by free will and chosing to do them, either by right or wrong. Also it is not only Christians that committed astrocities in the name of God. What about the things going on in Iraq? They are not Christians. What about what Saddam Hussian did to his people? Every culture has committed atrocities in the name of God or a higher being.

Answer 7

Tony said:
"or the Jewish God who killed Christ and denied him."


so NOW it's G-d that's responsible for killing Jesus?

wtf

out of control

people blaming the Jews are out of control!

I cannot believe that in this day and age that there are still so many ignorant people

and I can't believe that us Jews, and apparently now G-d as well, are being blamed still

Answer 8

Yes, I do agree that many atrocities have been committed in the name of God. Those who have done such things will be judged accordingly, I believe.

I addressed this actually, in a two-part poem I wrote. In the first part, I wrote:

God, so many are dying;
They think they fight in Your name.
We can't believe that this is right.
It can't be what You intended!

In the second part, which is God's answer (I believe it was given to me by God. I don't presume to speak for Him, but the words came to me), I wrote:

I see the ones who abuse My Name,
seeking to use it for their greed.
Please know that it was never what I wanted;
I wish for you to come to Me freely.

That's what I believe. It wasn't what God wanted, EVER, but it happens nonetheless. Those who abuse God's name, as I said, will be punished severely.

Answer 9

What about the people who have committed atrocities in the name of Allah? I believe people (whether they believe in God, Allah or the Flying Spaghetti Monster) make their own decisions, then they try to cop out of the responsibility by claiming something else made them do it.

Answer 10

Personally, I don't "get" the notion of a "true Christian"; but, sure, people of the Way have been the cause of much misery, and failure to own that is unjust. On the other hand, much good has come out of the church, too.

HTH

Charles