Okay so Christians have killed people in the past. Why should I be held accountable for this?

Question

People kill for a number of reasons. Just because I support religion does not mean I support killing in the name of religion. If you are white and your ancestors had slaves, are you personally accountable for the horrible things they did?

Answer 1

You shouldn't.
And no.

Answer 2

Good Grief!! Portugal and Spain were the worse slave nations long before the America's were introduced to the terrible practice.....why is no one pointing fingers at them??/

I am Norwegian....Vikings terrorized everyone....BOO!!

that was then...this is now...if you do not learn from the past you are doomed to repeat the past......

if you do not like the history then what are you doing to correct the mistakes??

As Christians we certainly would not allow a group to run off and do the crusades or the Inquisition....

To condemn Christianity because of the actions of a few idiots that thought they knew better than God......in reading the Bible one can see that their actions during the crusades and the Inquisition were not supported by the Bible.....

My husband is half Mohican Indian, should he be mad at me for being white and Christian?

The European cultures that wandered the globe in search of gold and riches, nations to conquer .......There is too much finger pointing to even worry about today....Let us learn from the past and not repeat the path that lead to those actions...


God Bless

Answer 3

okay...let me figure out what you are saying. Yes people do kill for many reasons, but very few are GOOD reasons. And killing in the name of God or Christianity very rarely is one of them. And remember, Christians in the past are not like Christians of modern day. Many things have changed. No, you are never personally accountable for the act of another person. God judges their sin on themself only. But if you influenced that act, then yes you may be accountable in some ways. But no, if you were not influental, then, you are not accountable. Just learn from their mistakes and move on living to fix their mistakes.

Answer 4

Other people explain why great atrocities of religions are often blamed on the followers... I mean, your religion's adherents started the concept with original sin, and some still practice it today blaming "all Jews" and sometimes "all people" for how the book a bunch of Romans wrote ends.

Answer 5

You are accountable for your own sins. If you caused some one to sin or helped them then your also accountable .The sins of the father or mother are not held against the child , but sometimes the consequences may be

Answer 6

I don't hold you accountable for that. However, if the god of the Bible truly exists, I hold him accountable for the atrocities that he performed and commanded to be performed. Things such as killing every man woman and child on earth save for eight lucky ones. Atrocities such as commanding the Israelites to kill every man, woman, and child among the Amalekites. "Now go and strike Amalek and destroy all that they have. Do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey." - 1 Sam. 15.3 When people do this today, we call it genocide and consider it an abomination. When God commanded it during the Bible times, it was considered holy!
.

Answer 7

What would give you the Idea that you in particular are being held accountable for sins committed in the past by others?

Answer 8

No individual Christian, or Heathen or other Pagan, or Muslim, or Jew, or Hindu, or Taoist, or __________ is responsible for the actions of another. We are each responsible for our own actions (and inactions).

That said, it doesn't serve any of us to deny the violent history we have.

It doesn't serve any of us to deny (or more commonly, justify) any violent tendencies that we, as individuals, exhibit.

And it doesn't serve any of us to deny those parts of our collective attitudes (whether they come from ethnicity or religion) that promote, encourage, or accept violence towards others, whether in action or in thought. The INACTIONS part is important. When we do not work to rid our groups of violence, we have contributed to it. When we do not speak out against bigotry, we have given our seal of approval to it.

IMO, any group that maintains that it is intrinsically superior to others is, at the very least, giving an (inactive) nod to the potential for violence against others.

Any group that is not willing to acknowledge their violent past is standing in the way of healing. We have all wronged each other. Denying that (because it wasn't ME, personally) does nothing to help mend the grievous wrong done.

An acknowledgment of past wrongs goes a long way towards helping the decedents of those wronged to accept that the attitudes that led to violence against them are not still there.

And brushing it off as "well, yeah, but that was then, and this is now"...what that seems like to those of us who are still at the effect or ethnic or religious bigotry, is that it is a self-serving way to avoid taking a good hard look at yourself, right here and now.


And speaking of your initial complaint, how do you feel about Islam? Is that religion, and all of its followers, to be held responsible for the actions of a few?

Many of us (Christians FAR more followers of other religions) demand that non-violent Muslims decry the violence of the radicals. And it seems that any perceived reluctance to do so, or a lack of volume and frequency in doing so, is "proof" that Islam is not really a religion of peace.

So, shall we Pagans demand that Christian decry their past violence, and use a reluctance to do so as "proof" that Christianity is not really a religion of peace?



I know, I know...."But that's different!"

~smirk~




We each need to claim, personally, the history that we have. Denying it will not serve us. It all too often only results in turning a blind eye to current bigotry.

Answer 9

Inheritance doesn't mean you pick the best.Japan apologized to China for the wrong doings by them, way back during World War II.That's the reality of life.Of course, you are personally not responsible or accountable but your faith- system is.Therefore.you have nothing to get upset about,and the faith-system should be quite capable of answering it.

Answer 10

Killing in the name of religion is still going on today! Even in Christian religions. I only choose to support a religion that will not get involved in politics and wars. That is a true Christianity.

Answer 11

The same reason why white Americans should be held accountable, at least in a cursory fashion, for slavery: because the ramifications of the past actions still influence today, and, if we ignore those wrongs we have done before, we are more capable of committing them again.