Killing in the name of Christ?

[Reverend Rick]

The Crusades was most definetly murder, lots of it. Oh and in the name of Christ....:yes:

I think what your really trying to say is many people murder and try to justify it. It's still murder.

You cannot however paint every Christian with the same broad brush. Flawed logic abounds in this thread.

A group of Christians did a bad thing, therefore Christianity is bad.

 

[Dezzie]

I wouldn't say 'proven right' because the people who take the Bible literally tend to use the Bible as proof of its own credibility. Imo, killing people for thinking differently is never right, period.

True :yes:

 

[Dezzie]

Who did Jesus kill?

Read the Bible and you'll find he had a body-count of zero.

I said "or WOULD HAVE killed"... I never said Jesus killed anybody. I personally didn't know the guy.

 

[kai]

The Crusades was most definetly murder, lots of it. Oh and in the name of Christ....:yes:

medieval warfare most definitely included a lot of murder and god was usual on everyone's side if you ask them.

 

[Dezzie]

I'd like to know how this 15 million figure is tallied. While Christianity played a part in supporting anti-Semitism, it was Nazi ideology driven by Hitler's dictatorship that brought about the Holocaust. If we take out 6 million, we have 9 million dead over about 19 centuries, and most of that is because the king/queen happened to be Christian and used the name of Christ as a reason for murder.

The atheist Stalin killed as many as 90 million people during his reign. Was he a good, worthy atheist?

90 million may not even be accurate... same thing with the 15 million figure I found. I'm sure neither of them are accurate counts. If you look up how many people Stalin killed, the numbers are all over the place. There really is not a definite answer. I mean... that's a lot of deaths to keep track of. I see what your point is though.

Overall, killing is unnecessary and uncalled for. People shouldn't be murdering to begin with... especially in God's name... It would mess with the Christian belief of free will.

 

[Caladan]

So... Millions of people have been killed in the name of Jesus Christ. Historians have estimated between 15 million killed in his name. This mostly includes Jews (WWII), Witches (Salem Witch Trials), and Pagans.

Were these murders Christian worthy? Or were the people that killed them just straight up nuts?

There is no doubt that Christianity has perpetuated anti-semitic myths for centuries, the most basic ones, Jews the killers of God, Jews as a collective Judas, and many Christian Europeans have acted on these sentiments. however its important to understand the play and use of these prejudices in politics. in various times in European history Jewish economic influence and reality has revived anti-semitic acts and sentiments, 'Christian based' antisemitic reactions have come because of opposition to Jewish influence not necessarily because it was a mandate of God, in many cases that zeal was used by various rulers or religious figures to promote such hostilities against Jews. some European monarchs took a different approach, realizing and coming to terms with the economic stability that Jewish society brings, they invited Jewish communities to live in their lands in order to strengthen the economic fabric of the society.
the persecution of Jews is a completely different reality in European history, than persecution of 'witches'. the history of Jews in Europe is long and hard, incredibly difficult, it stretches centuries, and revolves around difficult social and political matters.

 

[Caladan]

I'd like to know how this 15 million figure is tallied. While Christianity played a part in supporting anti-Semitism, it was Nazi ideology driven by Hitler's dictatorship that brought about the Holocaust. If we take out 6 million, we have 9 million dead over about 19 centuries, and most of that is because the king/queen happened to be Christian and used the name of Christ as a reason for murder.

The atheist Stalin killed as many as 90 million people during his reign. Was he a good, worthy atheist?

Its important to remember that Hitler placed great importance on religion in his propaganda, speeches and texts, the Reich used Christian symbolism in abundant and presented an Aryanized Christianity to the masses.

 

[MW0082]

I think what your really trying to say is many people murder and try to justify it. It's still murder.

You cannot however paint every Christian with the same broad brush. Flawed logic abounds in this thread.

A group of Christians did a bad thing, therefore Christianity is bad.

Thats not what I said, please don't put words into my mouth. You may be able to use bolagne to interpurate your bible, but not my words ok...

Chritianity is bad for far more than just killing innocents in the name of Christ. it is part of the Christian history stop trying to seperate yourelf from it.....

 

[Dezzie]

A group of Christians did a bad thing, therefore Christianity is bad.

No one was saying this at all. I see a lot of things in the Bible the World can benefit from. There are just some passages that are a little off and don't make sense IMO. Not all Christians are bad, everyone should know that. Not all people in the World are bad either... no matter what Religion they believe.

 

[MW0082]

No one was saying this at all. I see a lot of things in the Bible the World can benefit from. There are just some passages that are a little off and don't make sense IMO. Not all Christians are bad, everyone should know that. Not all people in the World are bad either... no matter what Religion they believe.

I don't think all Christians are bad, not at all. I think their line of thinking however is..... I will leave it at that.

 

[Caladan]

I think what your really trying to say is many people murder and try to justify it. It's still murder.

You cannot however paint every Christian with the same broad brush. Flawed logic abounds in this thread.

A group of Christians did a bad thing, therefore Christianity is bad.

I don't think that is the case. I think that Christians need to study and relate to the history of their own faith, especially since it has been an influential faith and organization in history. it is really essential for Christian believers to study some of the dramatic episodes which their religion has been instrumental in, in order to understand its position today, and how other people and cultures view Christian influence in the historical sense.

 

[Dezzie]

I don't think all Christians are bad, not at all. I think their line of thinking however is..... I will leave it at that.

Well... I wouldn't say all of their line of thinking is bad. I think it depends on the person and how they interpret things. I interpret things differently than others. It doesn't necessarily mean I am completely wrong. It doesn't mean they are either.

 

[Midnight Pete]

Its important to remember that Hitler placed great importance on religion in his propaganda, speeches and texts, the Reich used Christian symbolism in abundant and presented an Aryanized Christianity to the masses.

The Reich was *NOT* Christian. It was Hitler's demonic perversion of Christianity, with Hitler himself as the Messiah. It combined German natonalism with black magic and demonology. What could be further from the teachings of the Gospel than Nazi ideology?

 

[BIG D]

you're way off base if you think Jews killed in WWII were killed in the name of Christ!!!!

 

[Caladan]

The Reich was *NOT* Christian. It was Hitler's demonic perversion of Christianity, with Hitler himself as the Messiah. It combined German natonalism with black magic and demonology. What could be further from the teachings of the Gospel than Nazi ideology?

If you look at Christian history, Organized Christian elite for the most part was always a world apart from the teachings of the Gospel.
Now do not get me wrong. I find it quite natural. when an empire has adopted Christianity as a state religion, Christianity has become a strong political force, the kind that led armies into the middle east, and the kind that sent conquistadors to tame natives in the New World.

 

[Caladan]

There were only about 3 centuries in which Christians practiced gospel tradition.

 

[BIG D]

hitler--why would you capitalize him??--just thought the Jews were sub-humans--religion had NOTHING to do with it.....

 

[angellous_evangellous]

The Reich was *NOT* Christian. It was Hitler's demonic perversion of Christianity, with Hitler himself as the Messiah. It combined German natonalism with black magic and demonology. What could be further from the teachings of the Gospel than Nazi ideology?

That doesn't mean that the soldiers, generals, scientists, and so on were not Christian and motivated by Christian beliefs. Remember that Germany is the home of Martin Luther, and Lutheranism ran quite strong, and it contains a strong tradition of anti-Semetism which is preserved in Luther's latest writings.

And here's this famous picture of Catholic support -

 

[MW0082]

The Reich was *NOT* Christian. It was Hitler's demonic perversion of Christianity, with Hitler himself as the Messiah. It combined German natonalism with black magic and demonology. What could be further from the teachings of the Gospel than Nazi ideology?

This is the sad fact I have been talking about.

Regardless if it IS or is NOT the Christian practices faith of today. IT IS the foundation for it, it is Christian history..... FACT!

Stop trying to segragate yourself as a better Christian, your BOTH serving the same savior!!!!

 

[angellous_evangellous]

There were only about 3 centuries in which Christians practiced gospel tradition.

Yet we have these texts carefully preserved into the 16th century.

Christianity is a WORLD RELIGION and not every church IS THE SAME.