Islamic terrorists kill in the name of their god. Islam is not the religion of love and peace that many people purport it to be! In this world of ecumenicalism, Christians have become more concerned about 'political correctness', rather than morality and righteousness, thus we see religious leaders willing to accept, adapt or ignore the evils perpetrated by the Muslim faith in order to avoid unwanted criticism from the secular world. Or might it be because Christians have something in common with Muslims…a dark and unspeakable past?
Unfortunately the religious community frequently invokes the rationale that Islam and the Muslim faith does not promote violence, only the extreme radicals within the faith are responsible for the death and destruction. Is this attitude a means of covering up or justifying the horrors perpetrated by Christians against non-believers of the faith, both past and present?
An examination of the Holy Qur'an sheds light on the focus of the Muslim faith, which is either the conversion of the unbeliever or their ultimate destruction. But wait, scriptures of the Old Testament invoke similar requirements by the faithful upon the unbelievers. Is this because the Qur’an and the Old Testament share much of the same writings of the first five books?
In order to understand more completely the role of religion and ‘religiosity’ in controlling the destiny of mankind, I believe the history of the Christian faith, and the role of both the Catholic and Protestant Churches cannot be excluded in the discussion.
The Catholic Church authorized several inquisitions. The first began around 1184 and lasted into the mid 1200’s and became known as the Medieval Inquisition. The Spanish Inquisition began in the latter part of the 1400’s and continued through much of the 19th Century throughout Central and South America. The Portuguese Inquisition spanned a similar time frame as did the Spanish Inquisition, running from the early 16th Century through the early 19th Century. The Roman Inquisition occurred simultaneously to the Spanish and Portuguese Inquisitions. Various popes, using the authority of Mother Church, authorized agents of the Church to seek out, locate, arrest and try individuals accused of heresy. Those individuals accused of heresy were tortured into confessing to crimes against God and the Church. They were generally executed and their property was confiscated by the Church. The accused's executions were not humane, but very cruel, i.e. death by burning.
Then you have the Crusades to consider. The Crusades spanned a three century period from the 11th to the 13th, and should be considered religiously sanctioned military campaigns authorized by the Catholic Church. The Crusades massacred Muslims, Jews, Pagans and other non-Catholic believers. The Crusades were focused on eradicating the non-believers in order to spread Christianity. Mother Church even turned on its own purveyors of death, the Knights Templar, and on October 13, 1307 scores of them were tortured and murdered. Their riches and wealth were confiscated by the King of France and the Catholic Church. Seems the Church was fonder of the riches and wealth than loyalty to its defenders.
Let us not forget the witch hunts. There were Colonial religious zealots, i.e. the Puritans responsible for killing witches in America. Over several centuries throughout England and Europe, both the Catholic Church and the Church of England were responsible for hunting down and murdering, mostly women, accused of being witches. There is evidence that even the female children of accused witches were killed to ensure that the seed of witchcraft would be destroyed.
Whether it was the Crusades, the Inquisitions or the Witch Hunts religion appears to be behind the efforts to either convert or kill the non-believer. Literally millions of people were murdered in the name of God, and for the proliferation of Christianity. The Church accumulated untold wealth through the seizure of the property and possessions of those whom they murdered. Now then, should we dare compare the Muslims, the religion of Islam and the Prophet Muhammed’s Holy Qur’an against what has been done by Christians? The Muslim religion and the Holy Qur’an require the conversion of all non-believers, and if the non-believer fails to convert, then he is an infidel and must be put to death. Doesn’t seem too different from what the Catholic and Protestant Churches have done does it?
I am not defending or condoning the Muslims, but I will not be accused of being the pot that called the kettle black. Evil is as evil does…and any religion that has murdered in the name of God cannot claim legitimacy, for if you claim that Mother Church was righteous in her acts of murder for the sake of conversion, then how can God be a loving god? But if it was man using the name of God and Mother Church committing these heinous acts, then should we not condemn what they did? And if man makes up the Church, what credibility can the Church possess?
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