My handing of the topic of "The Crusades"

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Pavel Mosko

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The current thread on the Crusades has gotten long and I think it is worth having a different one with a different focus or framing. I've dealt with handwringing over the Crusades for years now. What I most object about the Crusades is that Muslims and their liberal sympathizers attempt to use it to make an argument of Moral Equivalency especially when there are complaints of Islamic based terrorism, grooming gangs sexually assaulting Western women etc. And the problem with that is there is no moral equivalency because there is no equivalency period. The Center for the Study of Political Islam International has done some good work in this area.





One important point the professor of "the Center of Political Islam" makes that gets left out of these discussions is that Islam is primarily a state more than it is a religion. Basically, the religion does not exist apart from the state historically speaking. It is only in the US, and Western world where we have tentatively tried that, hence the push for Sharia law in Western countries. The State of Islam it's Caliphates, Sharia Laws and courts are not compatible with Western laws and culture, not unless you go the path of Dhimmi Christian Communities like the Copts of Egypt etc.



Besides the work of the previous organization, I would just have to cite my own study of history. The Holocaust has greatly shaped the modern world following World War II, where Genocide is probably considered the worst kind of evil imaginable. But you know Islam has been at the center of Genocide going back to the eradication of the original Jews of Medina, to Tammerlane converting to Islam in the late Middle Ages and killing of millions of people, likely more than Hitler and other despots, and that mass killing greatly impacting Christian ethnic groups in a way just a dramatic or worse than the Holocaust. Besides that the Turkish "secular" Government carried on Islamic policies against it's minorities which would eventually culminate in the "Armenian Genocide", that served as inspiration for Nazis as a "proof of concept" for the future Jewish Holocaust.



OK I'm painting with broad brush strokes here, oversimplifying for posting ease. But in general I am not Apologetic on the Crusades or even past Christian Colonization of Islamic countries. Such things may not be us acting our best, but Bible verses about things about "turning the other cheek" and other Biblical notions can be misapplied that go beyond other Biblical norms and Common sense. Basically, turn the other cheek not a license for abuse, when things are in our care or under our control.
 
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Matthias

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I became aware of your thread less than five minutes after you started it @Pavel Mosko. We’re coming up on six days now, and no one has commented on it or even reacted to it.

I‘ve thought about responding several times but held off, waiting to see what the Crusades defenders would do. As the days passed, I kept a quiet watch for their ships, swords, and flags to appear on your shore. All quiet on this front. No saber rattling, no accusations, no hurrahs, no falderal.

Why?

As of the time of my writing there have been only 39 views of your thread. That disappoints but doesn’t surprise me. Christian history. Enough said, but I’ll continue.

There is either very little interest in your handling of the Crusades or very little interest in the Crusades.

The teacher gives a quiz: The Pope did what in 1095?

The students didn’t even bother to show up to say, Who cares?

That reminds me of a funny European history class story that I’ll have to share with you some time.
 

Matthias

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The current thread on the Crusades has gotten long …

The topic of that thread is the reasons for the Crusades, and that was quickly exhausted. The thread hasn’t gotten long because of the reasons, but rather because of the ethics.

… and I think it is worth having a different one with a different focus or framing.

You threw a party and I’m the only one who showed up. Sorry I’m late.

I’m here, the Crusades defenders aren’t. If they stay out of it, I think the two of us could have a good and profitable conversation.
 

Wrangler

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Crusades or even past Christian Colonization of Islamic countries …. may not be us acting our best, but Bible verses about things about "turning the other cheek" and other Biblical notions can be misapplied … Basically, turn the other cheek not a license for abuse, when things are in our care or under our control.
Colonization has gotten a bum wrap by Cultural Marxists. When you say it ‘may’ not be us acting our best implies Nirvana fallacy. Some year ago I read a detailed analysis of the aftermath of European powers leaving their African colonies; they regressed. Economies collapsed, corruption became rampant even infrastructure collapsed (roads, bridges, water and sewer systems) and ancient tribal jealousies and genocides resumed.

1781479629835.jpeg

Regarding the “reframing Crusades;“ "turning the other cheek" and other Biblical notions being misapplied; Basically, turn the other cheek not being a license for abuse, when things are in our care or under our control is the frame in the other thread.
 

Matthias

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Colonization has gotten a bum wrap by Cultural Marxists. When you say it ‘may’ not be us acting our best implies Nirvana fallacy. Some year ago I read a detailed analysis of the aftermath of European powers leaving their African colonies; they regressed. Economies collapsed, corruption became rampant even infrastructure collapsed (roads, bridges, water and sewer systems) and ancient tribal jealousies and genocides resumed.

View attachment 85703

Regarding the “reframing Crusades;“ "turning the other cheek" and other Biblical notions being misapplied; Basically, turn the other cheek not being a license for abuse, when things are in our care or under our control is the frame in the other thread.

1781506070574.jpeg

That was inevitable.

***

You are not following Jesus if you aren’t armed, ready to kill.” - Wrangler and the Muslim in this video:


I believe the Christians are correct @Pavel Mosko. The Bible does not instruct Christians to kill their enemies.
 

Jericho

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The Holocaust has greatly shaped the modern world following World War II, where Genocide is probably considered the worst kind of evil imaginable.

In much the same way, Islam's conquest of the Middle East and Southern Europe shaped medieval Europe. A mere 80 years after Muhammad's death, Islam had spread by the sword as far East as China and the Indian Ocean, and as far West as Morocco. It then spread into Europe through the Iberian Peninsula and into Spain and southern Italy, as well as many major Mediterranean islands, including Sicily, Corsica, Cyprus, Rhodes, Crete, Malta, and Sardinia. It took nearly 1,000 years for Spain and southern Italy to finally expel them from Europe.

Is it any wonder then why when the Islamic Turks were closing in on Constantinople, Western Europe rallied to their defense? They had plenty of reasons not to help. The Romans and the Byzantines never really got along. The Romans thought the Byzantine Greeks decadent, and the Byzantines held Roman Catholicism in contempt. But the Western Europeans understood the threat that Islam posed centuries earlier.

There seem to be two primary types of Christians who oppose the Crusades in my observation: pacifists and anti-Catholics. I suppose we can add another: those who don't believe the Crusades were in line with Christian theology, although it overlaps with pacifism. For the record, I am none of those, nor am I a Catholic. I suppose I'm more of a pragmatist.

It's easy to judge them from the relative safety and comfort of modern civilization, but it was a different world back then. If you didn't go to war, then another nation would come along, kill you, take your stuff, and make slaves of anyone left alive. That's what happened in the Bible all the time. We're somewhat insulated from that today, depending on where you live, but bad things still happen all the time. That's because we live in a fallen world, and there are evil people living in it. And because we live in a world where good and evil are coexisting, sometimes violence is the answer. Not violence for violence's sake, but violence to stop violence.

Do I think God will hold it against anyone who kills in self-defense or in war (assuming it's justified)? No. We are commanded not to murder. Some translations say not to kill, but the Hebrew word "rāṣaḥ" means to murder, to slay unlawfully, or to kill with culpability. There are other words that could have been used for killing if it implied the taking of all life. If it were not, then God would be violating His own command when he told the Israelites to kill everything that breathed or endorsing the death penalty for certain sins in the OT. So, clearly, there is a distinction between killing and murder. Murder always involves killing, but killing doesn't always involve murder. I'm going off on a tangent a bit, but that's my handling of the Crusades.

But in general I am not Apologetic on the Crusades or even past Christian Colonization of Islamic countries.

Which Islamic countries are you referring to? If we're talking about the middle-ages, the lands were under Christian control before they were under Islamic control.
 
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Pavel Mosko

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I got involved in some family activities. We gave my father an early 90th birthday party, will probably start repling to feedback maybe tomorrow. I do recommend a free online book as far as this topic goes, dealing with the history of Christianity in Asia (Beyond that of the Russian Orthodox Church and other Eastern Orthodox).


East of the Euphrates/ Early History of Christianity in Asia (free online book)

 
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Pavel Mosko

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I became aware of your thread less than five minutes after you started it @Pavel Mosko. We’re coming up on six days now, and no one has commented on it or even reacted to it.

I‘ve thought about responding several times but held off, waiting to see what the Crusades defenders would do. As the days passed, I kept a quiet watch for their ships, swords, and flags to appear on your shore. All quiet on this front. No saber rattling, no accusations, no hurrahs, no falderal.

Why?

As of the time of my writing there have been only 39 views of your thread. That disappoints but doesn’t surprise me. Christian history. Enough said, but I’ll continue.

There is either very little interest in your handling of the Crusades or very little interest in the Crusades.

The teacher gives a quiz: The Pope did what in 1095?

The students didn’t even bother to show up to say, Who cares?

That reminds me of a funny European history class story that I’ll have to share with you some time.

Thanks! It's OK. I've had some times of nasty feedback when dealing with this from Christians. So was a little relieved not getting some of the hate that often comes with topics like this.
 
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