Jasen Posted January 12, 2009 Share Posted January 12, 2009 Christianity is an Inherently Violent Religion From History Using history as the indicator, there is little doubt that Christianity has been an extremely violent religion. The expansion by the sword through pagan Europe, the Crusades, the Christian on Christian violence of the Dark Ages and Reformation periods, the genocide of the American Natives, and the forced imperialist rule of most of the world during the “Colonial” Age all testify to this. Christians often forced compliance to their religion on others. Augustine, one of the must influential people in the development of Christianity, fully supported this practice quoting the Bible passage, “Go out to the roads and country lanes and make them come in, so that my house will be full.” This violent fundamentalism has been far too common in Christian history. Even today, Western armies lead by fundamentalist Christians occupy Muslim countries and support unpopular regimes on the citizens of other Muslim countries. The Question of Inherency The question goes further than simply whether Christians have been excessively violent. Obviously, they have. We have to realize though, that every religion has violent followers. The inventors of modern suicide bombing and by far the most prolific practitioner of it, the Tamil Tigers, are a fundamentalist Hindu group. Islam does not have a perfect record either. But the question is this: Is Christianity inherently violent? That is, is it by its very nature and true practice a violent faith? I am afraid the answer is yes. A prominent preacher justified the recent unprovoked invasion of Iraq by appealing to the Bible passage, “let him who has no sword, sell his cloak and buy one.” One of the chief political figures in fundamentalist Christianity went on international television to promote violence against Muslims. She said, “We should invade their countries, kill their leaders, and convert them to Christianity.” Not only was she allowed to do so without legal repercussions (showing support for her ideas reach to the very top leadership), she received virtually no criticism from the wider Christian community at all and remains a key figure and best selling author. If we merely dismiss these facts as the ravings of a few fanatics, we do so at our great peril. About 10 percent of the 2 billion Christians in the world are fundamentalists. That’s 200 million Christian fanatics worldwide, and they control the most power military in the world - the U.S. armed forces. And all of them are bent upon the exploitation of non-Christian lands. Liberal Christians The other 90 percent of Christians are not fundamentalists, but their beliefs are not based on a literal interpretation of the Bible. Unfortunately, this majority rarely speaks out against their fundamentalist brothers. By failing to do so, they enable the fundamentalists and will be lumped together with them in the minds of the non-Christian world. This is understandable though given the nature of the Bible. The Bible’s vagueness and frequent contradictions make literal interpretation both difficult and unpleasant. In any case, to be a non-fundamentalist and non-violent Christian they have to ignore many plain passages of the Bible. Christianity, unlike Islam, has a basic teaching that mandates hatred and abuse of people who follow other religions. Violence is mainstream; it is not just a misguided few. When you read verses from the Bible, you see how it instructs the killing of the infidel, and violence on outsiders. Such passages from the bible as these: And he said unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Put every man his sword by his side, and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbor. Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him. The LORD is a man of war. He who sacrificeth unto any god, save unto the Lord only, he shall be utterly destroyed. (Note: this means Christians have to kill four billion people alive today). O thou enemy, destructions are come to a perpetual end: and thou hast destroyed cities; their memorial is perished with them (Note: Allah as inaccurately pictured in the Bible is particularly bloodthirsty, killing over 32 million people, whereas Allah in the Qur’an killed only 10 people). For I set all men every one against his neighbor. David smote them there, and said, The LORD hath broken forth upon mine enemies before me. Many other examples are possible, but these should suffice. New Testament Some Christians like to say that their New Testament overrules all this violence. However, as you can see, this is not the case: The New Testament upholds the old: Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. It does not contradict the crimes of the old; it reaffirms them. It does this not just in general, but explicitly: Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. It must be admitted that the New Testament does not have any specific commands to commit massacres, but that is simply because Christians at that time had no political or military power. As soon as they achieved some, 1700 years of conquest and prosecution resulted. Proof of the Peaceful Islamic Faith In contrast, we know Islam is a religion of peace. To quote the Qur’an, English translation: Oh mankind! We created you from a single (pair) of a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that you may know each other (Not that you may despise each other). 49:13 Seest thou not that we have set the evil ones on against the unbelievers to incite them with fury? So make no haste against them, for we but count out to them a (limited) number (of days). 19:83,84 (God has knowledge) of the (Prophet’s) cry, ‘O my Lord! Truly these are a people who will not believe!’ But turn away from them, and say, ‘Peace!’ 43:88,89 “Repel evil with that which is best.” 23:96 You can clearly see that Islam teaches that we should be at peace with those who do not accept Allah’s teachings. Conclusion When Christian fundamentalists launch unprovoked attacks that kill tens of thousands of innocent civilians, there will surely be a release of anger aimed at Christians. It will be difficult to be overly concerned about what type of Christian a person is if they have not made it absolutely clear beforehand. At this very moment, fundamentalist Christian forces occupy several Muslim countries and prop up several other unpopular regimes in other Muslim countries. They have plans to do more. Already the rhetoric against Iran is being turned up, a country they have had a long history of interfering with. We must wake up to this fact and realize that our struggle is not against other countries; it is against fundamentalist Christians, and indeed Christianity and its inherent violence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eponymic Posted January 12, 2009 Share Posted January 12, 2009 Good analysis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Moderator florduh Posted January 12, 2009 Super Moderator Share Posted January 12, 2009 Are you still thinking this is satire? Are you playing Muslim apologist? Are you saying that US foreign policy is not about corporate greed and power, but a holy war launched by the government? Sorry, I still don't know what to think. I could just be dense, so don't take offense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yrth Posted January 12, 2009 Share Posted January 12, 2009 The expansion by the sword through pagan Europe I'm sorry? This is backwards. If Rome couldn't withstand the forces of 'pagan Europe,' what makes you think the Christians could have fared better? This was the first point, and I didn't get any farther. Religion is man made. It can be a vehicle for whatever people want themselves to be. It isn't 'inherently' anything but human. Every religion has the capacity to be a vehicle for violence as much as peace. Here: Mark Twain -- A Pen Warmed Up in Hell -pockets Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jasen Posted January 13, 2009 Author Share Posted January 13, 2009 Are you still thinking this is satire? The article is a parody of Christian arguments that Islam is a violent religion. My target audience was conservative Christians and many of them got my point (although they disagree of course). It's meant to show that Christians won't extend to Muslims and others the same freedom to interpret their religion that they give themselves. For the record, i don't think Christianity is inherently violent - or inherently anything for that matter. Saying that assumes a pure or real version of the religion that does not exist. That is, there is no pure Christianity, there is only Christianity as it is practiced. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jasen Posted January 13, 2009 Author Share Posted January 13, 2009 I'm sorry? This is backwards. If Rome couldn't withstand the forces of 'pagan Europe,' what makes you think the Christians could have fared better? You've got the wrong time period for what I was referring to. Think what happened a bit later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neon Genesis Posted January 13, 2009 Share Posted January 13, 2009 For the record, i don't think Christianity is inherently violent - or inherently anything for that matter. Saying that assumes a pure or real version of the religion that does not exist. That is, there is no pure Christianity, there is only Christianity as it is practiced.You had me completely fooled. I thought you were a Muslim that was trying to convert us to Islam and I was so confused because I've seen Muslims use similar arguments before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jasen Posted January 13, 2009 Author Share Posted January 13, 2009 I guess Poe's Law works for Muslims as well. Although it appears I was likely too subtle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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