They call this a peaceful religion?
Aztec, Inca, entire Caribbean island populations, eleven (perhaps 14) crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, the massacre of the Knights Templar, the Dark Ages. The mace, the sword, the rack, the Iron Maiden, red hot irons, stoning, hanging, crushing with boulders, spearing, poisoning, and burning at the stake.
The future Maria von Tropp once sang, “these are a few of her favorite things.” These are but an example of the most common methods used by Righteous, Honorable, Moral christians as they sought to negotiate issues of Faith and dogma, with each and every citizen, especially if he or she ever failed to agree with every demand of their cult. It is not a pretty picture.
The Dark Ages is a term that has temporarily dropped out of favor. Because Will and Ariel Durant used it repeatedly in their brilliant history, Age of Faith (1950), that term will be used here. Even though “Dark” accurately portrays the anti-intellectual control exerted by power hungry christian cults, more politically correct scholars (usually believers themselves) like call it the Middle Ages. Accuracy should still count for something, especially a perfectly adequate and descriptive term like “Dark”.
The Dark Ages (486-1085) are filled with intrigue, murder, minor kingdoms warring against their neighbors, treachery and torture. While some individual leaders may have been educated, (Leo VI, Constantine VII, and most particularly, Charlemagne) the Durants’ overall description of the Dark Ages can only be imitated, not improved upon:
“In other aspects it is a sorry spectacle of generals climbing over slain rivals to imperial power, to be slain in their turn; of pomp and luxury, eye-gouging and nose cutting, incense and piety, and treachery; or emperor and patriarch unscrupulously struggling to determine whether the empire should be ruled by might or myth, by sword or word.”
At one time, the Roman empire had been pretty sophisticated. The arts and sciences had thrived. Their military was ruled and run by science, training and experience. Education was stressed and rewarded. Agriculture was extremely successful. Secure and honest trade was the life’s blood of the entire country. Roman roads connected distant parts of their empire and water supplies were clean, safe and constant.
Unlike the christians for centuries to come, Romans even bathed regularly. The empire did not last, as the hordes from the north sacked most of the empire. Although some remnants held out and tried to maintain some semblance of civilization, christian mobs and hordes finished the job that outside invaders started. Even before the official start of the Dark Ages, christian gangs would periodically attack and murder pagans and non-believers. In 314 CE, tens of thousands of innocent men, women and children were wiped out by christian mobs simply because of a minor difference in religious ideas.
Eventually, the Dark Ages wiped clean the last remnants of the Roman civilization and turned Europe, Asia and Africa into a place of carnage, blood and death. Look up the actions of almost any leader at that time, and you find horrific stories.
Leo V found the creation of images to be sinful, so he barred their use. Shortly afterwards, he was assassinated while singing a religious hymn in church. So much for the power of Prayer. The Greed, corruption and backstabbing during his short reign was notable, to say the least, given the length of his reign.
At the other extreme, there was Basil. He started his rule at the age of 18, and managed to hang on and avoid revolution and assassination for fifty years. By most accounts, this period probably marked the height of the Byzantine Empire, at least in terms of the length of a leader’s reign. His surviving brother, Constantine, appointed his three daughters to rule together. Although they tried to rid the Empire of its vast and widespread corruption in both Church and State, the decline of empire continued. (Just one corrupt church official was found with more than 5000 pounds of horded gold, worth probably $40,000,000 in today’s dollars. That is but one example.)
There were precious few bright spots. Charlemagne was probably the most honest and capable ruler throughout the Dark Ages. He repeatedly tried to reform the myriad of rules governing beliefs, religious practices, sexual behavior, even marriage. Agriculture, industry, finance and education reforms were started at his order.
At each step, much of the Church did its best to stop him, until he managed to co-opt them.. Although he made great strides in turning the existing “barbarism into civilization”, Norse and Viking attacks, the Saracens (those evil Arabs) to the South and the west all took their toll.
Despite his best efforts to protect the rights of free peasants, serfdom and internal slavery grew rapidly, especially after his death. The practice of slavery thrived as christian leaders pointed to biblical verses that supported the practice in the Old Testament.
Charlemagne knew better than to fight the Church outright. Instead, he co-opted its leaders by supporting it financially, and repeatedly called on it to explain and support the reasons for its practices. This patient practice yielded good rewards. It also placed the church in a position of greater power than before. More importantly, it also prevented the Church from assassinating Charlemagne like so many before him, an idea that very likely crossed his mind, at least from time to time.
During Charlemagne’s reign, the Catholic Church named Leo III as its Pope. Native Romans hated the idea and put poor Leo into prison. He escaped and asked Charlemagne for protection. Charlemagne managed to get all the parties together and negotiated a final peace. Leo surprised him by pulling out a crown and crowning Charlemagne the new Emperor.
Charlemagne later complained that he did not want the title, and would not have attended the meeting at church if he had a clue of the upcoming crowning.
This surprising act resulted in the birth of the Holy Roman Empire, which affected future history for many centuries to come. It also served to further increase the power of the Church and gave it an even more controlling voice over society. By showing that it had the final word on who was emperor, it even bound future emperors to the church.
Fairly soon, christian control came in two flavors, the Sacerdotium, (made up of the preachers and washers of brains) and the Imperium, (their secular leaders who competed with the preachers). While they supposedly cooperated, in real life, their internal political (and worse) battles were bloody and frequent.
The real losers were the citizens who had to follow the edicts and demands of both groups if they wanted to maintain their status among the living. One cannot help but get a sense that everyone lived in a constant state of Fear. At least the leaders were free to exercise their Greed genes.
By the time the Dark Ages were finally over, the Church found its popularity ebbing. Instead of having overall control, it had to contend with the rise of battling, competing cults and energetic princes in many territories. Over time, the popes realized that there was a wonderful solution, one that would employ their still powerful control over society. Why not invade a country on false pretenses? You can get rid of the trouble-makers, while increasing your grip over your people. That lesson seems to have stuck all the way up to the current Bush Administration.
Poor economics conditions, greed, failing religious control over society, and internecine power struggles all led to the creation of those fun vacation trips we call the Crusades.
The first Crusades took place in the 1100s. At that time, Europe and the Middle East was split by two major religious organizations, as well as several important splinter groups.
At one extreme, the Arabs (also called the Saracens) were literate, educated, civilized, artistic, multi-lingual, and curious about the world and the universe that surrounded them. They had made incredible strides in astronomy, medicine, literature, and the arts. They developed a superb math and numerical system that understood and employed the concept of “zero”. They admired and cooperated with Jews and other educated tribes. Trade thrived, and their general populations were becoming well educated. They even tolerated different ideas, and traveled far. Treaties and agreements had allowed Jerusalem to survive and even thrive.
At the other extreme, the christians were un-bathed, smelly, bloodthirsty, small-minded, uneducated, uncurious, bigoted, greedy, bastards who were absolutely sure that only they were blessed, and everyone else was a sinner. (It is sad to report that as of today, only one of those groups changed their stripes and became like the other group – and not for the better.)
Of course, christianity could not allow the obvious imbalance in the situation to continue, so the plans had to be made, plots had to be hatched. At the same time, christian leaders were worried about growing impertinence from many small fiefdoms supposedly within their control.
If you were one the christians lucky enough to be able to read (and own) a calendar you probably had noticed that recently, some 1000 solar orbits had passed since the alleged death and re-awakening of Jesus. Apocryphal cults, scare stories told by power-hungry bishops and deranged priests were popular in those days. While some cult leaders were hoping for some rapture or another return from Jesus, more practical christian leaders saw it as a great way to control the wild hordes.
They implanted fears of upcoming raptures, the Saracens, slavery and worse. Those fears, as well as the pleas from the Eastern Christian Cults, caused the western christians to gather their forces, head east, and attack anyone who got in their way. Because most of the globe was illiterate, and because they controlled most of the information flow, the impact of the christian cults was predictable.
Not surprisingly, the christian hierarchy also used this as a way to deal with the growing French, English and German independence, forcing them to pay for the privilege of having the most powerful men leave and head out to an endless war in the Middle East. Somehow, that sounds strangely familiar.
Thus, the first Crusade was formed. Over the next few generations, it was followed by the Second, Third, and eventually, the most unfortunate of all, the Fourth Crusade. (By some scholars’ estimates, there were at least seven more to follow.)
The kings, emperors, soldiers, bishops, cardinals, popes and charlatans endlessly bickered and warred against themselves for more power within their organization. By sending them all out to fight on behalf of the Church, the Church managed to gain even more control. Not only would only a few survive and return, but their mere absence left a vacuum in the leadership in the region. The Church was more than willing to step in and take even more control.
The first three Crusades were fought mainly by adult males. Although a good many troops were coerced or forced to march, at least as many were voluntary adult males, going to save christianity from the uncivilized, evil, Arabian infidels.
One unexpected side effect was what happened to the children during these misguided adventures. Listening to the numerous apocryphal warnings, preaching against the evils out east, and seeing the bloody internecine warfare, these political battles, religious and political plots must have had a corrosive impact on the children of the day. It led to what became known as the Children’s Crusade, the infamous Fourth Crusade.
Convinced of the need to free Jerusalem from the Muslim hordes, several thousand brain-washed children gathered together and set off to march thousands of miles, across mountains, desert, the high seas and into enemy territory. The vast majority of the kids were killed, captured or sold into slavery before even half of their journey was accomplished. Not one child ever attacked the evil Muslim hordes holding the Pope’s beloved Jerusalem. Had they come close, they probably would have been laughed at before they perished.
Today, it is hard to tell which was worse, the children’s deaths or their lifelong slavery.
Even worse, their combined marches led to yet another religious revival. The Church turned a potential public relations disaster into an honorable act, a selfless defense of the realm and the Church. The Church’s spin control caused a revival of sorts, and led to renewed support for christianity. It also directly led to the disaster later known as the Fifth Crusade.
Because of the complete failure of all previous attacks, along with some strong prodding from the Church, Emperor Frederick began planning the Sixth Crusade, this time using a huge fleet to “free” the promised land. Although most of his ships took off in 1227, Frederick claimed that he was too sick to leave right away. Many at that time suspected that his home’s bed contained softer and more tender company than what he could find aboard a warship. Still others accused (secretly) him of being sick with fear and nothing else.
After he finally left, Pope Gregory IX decided that Frederick had been faking his illness and excommunicated him. This eventually caused him to lose the support of troops on the eve of battle, support that his fleet and army desperately needed.
The Crusades were obviously a losing proposition for over 200 years, at least to any rational observer. So, when these continued failures resulted in the 100 years war between France and England, no one was really surprised at the continuing bad blood.
The spilling of blood in the name of christianity did not stop with the Crusades. At first, there was the Medieval Inquisition. Although this led to the deaths of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of innocents each year, the cultists in charge were mere amateurs at this torture business. It is best to think of it as a dress rehearsal for the next step, the truly bloody and wicked Spanish Inquisition, which really got popular towards the end of the 15th century.
Just how much torture, backstabbing, murder, theft, greed, bribery, murder, graft, murder, and more torture can there be before the reader realizes just how bad christianity’s impact on society was? Where christianity held even the slimmest thread of control, bloodshed was sure to follow.
Of course, if you objected to christianity exerting control over your people, your lands were subjected to yet another Crusade.
Eastern Europe and the Middle East were fine targets for first Crusades, but Greed caused christians to search for new victims. The result of Columbus’ successful voyage was now well known. Given the religious reasons for his trip, they gladly declared it a victory of sorts. The idea of a whole new continent available for plunder and pillage, rape and forced slavery, was just too attractive for any good christian to resist.
Although the Maya were in a long, gentle, decline, even before the infestation coming from Europe, the Aztec were doing just fine. Then came the invasion of Cortez Pizarro and those who followed him. It can only be described as wholesale rape, murder and enslavement of an entire nation in the name of their god. Mountains of gold were stolen and mountains of books were burned. In return, The christians created mountains made of bones. Human bones.
From a high of some 17 million, the Inca population fell to 3 million as a direct result of christian-based mass murder, disease and plunder. These god-fearing christians deliberately spread the plague, typhus and smallpox in the hopes of gaining even more control over the natives. Love thy neighbor? Family values? Sure.
Because of the ham-handed control exerted by the christian invaders in the Caribbean, at least in one case, the entire population of a peaceful island either committed suicide or, as reported at that time, they hated the idea of christians torturing them and controlling their lives, so, they simply willed themselves to death.
Christians have never changed their stripes, certainly not in these modern times. Even after a rocky peace, Ireland is a wonderful example of just how much war and strife even a small country can support, given the proper motivation, arms, explosives, religious beliefs, and political will. And Faith. Never ignore the destructive power or the unending blood-lust in the name of some Faith.
The Middle East continues to bathe in its own blood, fed and promoted by religious ideology and even more Greed. In this case, the “gold” people are after happens to occur in a smelly black, liquid form.
Africa, the latest christian experiment, is also suffering from modern christian brainwashing. Sudan, Chad, Ethiopia, and other parts are reeling not only from Christian Greed and Fear tactics, but from deliberate misinformation. This deliberate misinformation is causing untold horror and death.
AIDS has reached epidemic levels in Africa. More than 15 million Africans have died, and 3 million died just this year. More than 5 million more are catching it each year. In some tribes, the infection rate exceeds 50% of the adult population. Today, entire African villages are populated mainly by children, because all of the parents have died of the disease. Many of those children also suffer from the disease. Effective treatment can cost thousands of dollars; in many locations the annual income is measured in the tens of dollars. The math is simple. The conclusion is horrifying. The truth behind this disaster is mind-boggling.
Condoms, especially those treated with contraceptive cream, stop the transmission of HIV and other STDs entirely. How have Fundie christians reacted to such potentially good news? Certainly not in any humane fashion. They first tried to ban the donations and sales of condoms within Africa (with increasing success). Since then, they have started a long, well-funded and evil campaign promoting false information. Included in their bag of modern, fictional christian teachings is:
A) The HIV virus is too small to be stopped by a condom;
B) Using condoms promotes AIDS;
C) Masturbation will spread AIDS and pregnancies;
D) Abstinence is the only moral, ethical policy;
E) Sweat and tears will transmit HIV; and
F) Oral sex transmits AIDS and results in pregnancy.
Even more so than the battles between secular of religious leaders, the religions attacks on scientific research, education and training were (and remain) even bloodier and more deadly.
Several brave African countries that have told the christian right to go stuff themselves and leave their countries in peace. In the luckiest places, where proper education and preventive programs began to replace the christian teachings, transmission rates fell to single digits. Where christian morality has taken root, millions continue to become infected and die each year.
The full evil and the devastating cost in human lives resulting from these modern christian teachings has not yet been fully determined. Perhaps, a future generation will call for an accounting of the horror being made worse by these charlatans. One can only hope that it happens soon.
At the very least, steps should be taken to prevent the christians from impacting AIDS and other health policies by demanding that their religion takes precedence over good scientific and medical practices.
To make matters worse, the Bush administration has adopted many of these ideas and applied them, not only to AIDS programs in Africa, but here at home. Just try to find a government medical website that has not been altered by religious bigotry and ultra-conservative christian brainwashing.
But, before we return to a recounting of today’s christian chamber of horrors, we need to cross the Atlantic Pond yet again, and see how our country’s present Religious path developed from the time of its discovery.
Church of Ineffable Stupidity 