Not Helping

[tealin]

Would someone please make Pat Robertson sit in the corner for a while?

Top US evangelist targets Islam

Comments

Whaaaa??

[disneyboy.livejournal.com]

As for the Crusades, I can think of at least one modern Catholic who would be proud to be identified with them, as well as with that even more maligned institution, the Inquisition. Dieu le veult! At least, I’d prefer it to being identified with Modernist Catholics.
Really? I think you get the award for Most Ballsy, Inflammatory Remark of the Day! But before I start making unfair assumptions, I want to make sure I understand your reasoning here: What is it about modern Catholics that you despise? What aspects of the Inquisitors/Crusaders do you identify with? Because - don't get me wrong - I have a lot of respect for people who really believe they need to "save" the world and actually put everything on the line, risking ridicule to invite people to share in what they hold so precious - this shows that they put their love and concern for their fellow man above popularity or safe anonymity. Whether I think they're actually right or wrong, I still think it takes a lot of guts to act on your convictions (especially after proselytizing for 2 years myself)...to a point. There are obviously ways to do this that show and maintain respect for individual freedom of choice, that do not infringe on others' rights, that do not insult or HURT them. My admittedly limited understanding and impression of the Crusades, the Inquisition, (and stuff like the Salem Witch Trials) is that of political and military leaders who happened to also have power and authority in the Church (that was the only place you could go to have real power), who twisted and abused the faith, the trust, the religious beliefs of their subjects to expand their power and dominion (sound familiar?). Do you really think God was behind their actions? That He would have approved of FORCING the choice of "convert or die"? Or of the cruel torture used to extract information, to elicit false confessions, to needlessly punish, to inspire fear (again, this is sounding frighteningly familiar) - do the ends REALLY justify the means? Is someone who converts out of necessity really converted? You could argue that the millions of modern Christians in Central and South America prove that the Conquistadors succeeded in saving them all from paganism or human sacrifice or whatever (regardless of how the original victims felt about "converting") - but at what cost? I would argue that for every such "success", the Catholic Church, Christianity, and/or organized religion took a beating and lost ground, either in retaliatory military defeats or in the minds and hearts of those that paid attention to history, that hated and resented being forcibly robbed of their identities (or who saw it happening to others), and as a result are effectively "lost". In my not-so-humble opinion, a religion that cannot win converts through the sheer strength and appeal (and/or truthfulness) of its ideas does not deserve to thrive and ultimately (it may take time) will not survive.