I can definitely see the similarities between these two groups. I will never understand the need for violence to enforce religious beliefs. Fear should not be the reason that any one person chooses to believe in something. (Threatening eternity in hell shouldn’t be a reason for having good morals either.)
One difference to note is a group member’s willingness to die for the cause. Seems as though Muslim activist are much more willing to die while making their point, where as violent Christian groups tend to plan things with the intention of staying alive. There aren’t many Christian suicide bombers nowadays. Well, at least not in the US.
Is this because they believe they would spend eternity in hell for killing themselves? I find it somewhat comical that they completely ignore the “thou shall not murder” section, but hold true to the part that keeps them alive.
..Am I missing something here?
10Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed. THE SAME CULTURE is present in all RELIGIONS, that of FOLLOW THIS FALLOW RUT OR THAT BLIND BUT and do as they demand and not as they do. Matt 23, 3 and 13 P.V.
PASHA Wrote: Who came first? The MUSLIMS or the CHRISTIANS? If you know that order then you'll understand that the children have learned from our religions HISTORY, example which was often less then EXEMPLAR. What was the role of the TEMPLARS to start with? What was it at the end? What was the role of the early christian CHURCH? What had it devolved into? And is it that much closer to it's roots today or just as far away , when under the edicts of HOLY ROME folks were crucified, burned, jailed, murdered on mass? IF ONE REFUSES TO LEARN FROM HISTORY< ONE IS DOOMED TO WHAT? REPEAT IT P.V.
Of the Abrahamic religions, Judaism came first, followed by Christianity about 1500 years later, followed by Islam a few hundred years after that. The Templar's original role was to retake the Holy Land from the Moors. The issue with this is that Christianity is a pacifist religion. So the Pope issued a decree that allowed fully armed knights to essentially walk around with their swords out and defend themselves from anyone trying to interfere with their pilgrimage. At the end of the crusades, the Templar's become a band of mercenaries for hire. How early are you talking about when you ask about the early Christian church? For roughly the first 150 years each Christian sect would kill and torture members of other sects. After being centralized, the early Church started consolidating its power and spread Christianity around the known world. We most of the atrocities committed by Rome we inflicted upon the budding Christian community, Rome was far from being Holy. It still followed the Pagan Pantheon of Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, etc. Nero, one of the most infamous leaders of all time, was guilty of almost every atrocity imaginable on the Christian Community. It wasn't until Constantine around 300 AD before Rome began it's 75 year conversion to Christianity and thus becoming the "Holy Roman Empire." Voltaire later quipped, “The Holy Roman Empire is not holy, Roman, nor an empire." So if Holy Rome committed any atrocities against the Christian people, it would have been under the last one or two Pagan leaders that ruled during the conversion period.
MrWonder Wrote: It is well documented that the Catholic Church committed many atrocities against Christians who were not of their (Catholic) belief system. I love Catholics, but I tend not to see their religious belief as Christianity, but instead as an aberration and a heretical system of Christianity. MrWonder