The Crusades and Religious Supremacists::!!

by Fred E. Foldvary, Senior Editor



Millions of Muslims are now convinced that the Western World is engaged in a war against Islam. This is false, an illusion fostered by propaganda. But this malicious propaganda reaches deep into resentments that go back to the Christian Crusades.
The Arabs conquered the Israel-Palestine Holy Land during 633-637. The Seljuk Turks took over the area during 1070-1080. The Crusaders from Europe then invaded in 1099. They conquered Jerusalem and massacred both Jews and Muslims.

During that time, there were repeated conquests of the Holy Land. Saladin of Damascus, a Kurd, took most of the Holy Land in 1187. The Kharezmians, connected to the armies to Genghis Khan, invaded in 1244 and slaughtered the population of Jerusalem. The sultans of Egypt defeated the Mongols in 1260 and the ruled over the Holy Land. The Crusader Kingdom came to an end in 1291, and the Mongols invaded again in 1299. The Ottoman Turks conquered the Holy Land in 1516, and after their defeat in World War I, the British established the mandate of Palestine.

The Crusades started when Pope Urban II convened the Council of Clermont in France in 1095. The Pope exclaimed that the Turks were advancing into Christendom and Christians were being attacked. Churches were being defiled. The Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem had been turned into a mosque. Christian Pilgrims were being harassed and prevented from access to the Holy Land.

The Pope called for a Crusade to the Holy Land. Deus vult! (God wills it) became the battle cry of the Crusaders. But the Church soon lost control of the movement.

Count Emicho assembled a large Crusader army along the middle Rhine in Germany. He plundered and killed Jews in towns along the way. Besides the lust for loot, some Crusaders thought that if they were going all the way to the Holy Land to kill infidels, why not also kill the non-Christians who were right there in Europe? Thus began the Crusader attacks on innocents. Crusaders plundered and killed many Christians along with Muslims and Jews on the way to the Holy Land.

A historical account by E. L. Skip Knox of Boise State University relates that after the conquest of Jerusalem by the first Crusade, there was an "orgy of killing. The Crusaders went on a rampage, killing everyone they met. They went into houses and dragged out the inhabitants to kill them. They stole everything they found."

"Muslim refugees had taken refuge in the Dome of the Rock, the mosque of al-Aqsa... A group of Crusaders broke in and slaughtered everyone inside. Similarly, the Jews of the city fled to their synagogue, only to have the Crusaders set it on fire, killing everyone. The chroniclers tell of streets running with blood... All the Jews of Jerusalem were dead. All the Muslims were dead."

According to the New Advent (Catholic Encyclopedia), the wars waged by the Spaniards against the Moors were also a "crusade" from the eleventh to the sixteenth century.

The Crusaders thus waged "Holy Wars" against both Jews and Muslims. Many Christians today would say that there was nothing holy or Christian about the slaughter of innocents during the Crusades, just as the Inquisition was not truly Christian in doctrine but rather a perversion of true Christian doctrine. So it is confused and misleading to label it "Christian." Likewise, many Muslims say the terrorist attack of America on September 11 is not truly in the doctrine of Islam. Thus, calling the attackers "Muslim" or "Islamic" would also be misleading.

The Crusaders used Christianity as a pretext, but their religion was really Supremacism. A Supremacist believes his religion, particularly his version and interpretation, is supreme over all others. Being a believer puts one in a special position, allowing him to impose his will on others, even to kill innocents in order to further his supreme cause. The Supremacist

Qbone!
Thanx for this article. It truely states that supermacism is not religion specific. These supermacist terrorists are a specimen of their own. Many innocent lives have been wasted in using "protection of faith" as an excuse for fulfilling certain political & business goals. Any attempt/attack by the terrorists or anarchical regime should be strongly condemend without any religious/ethnic or "my country right or wrong" attachments.

yeah lady.............

love your thoughts.!!

Hey Everyone...

Very true Looneybird...very true...it's time to start conveying our message as HUMAN BEINGS not as Muslims, Jews, Christians, Hindus etc...

None of the spiritual Godheads of any religion profess anarchical ways and I believe it is possible to reach a Heaven via them all through diligence, respect and most importantly self understanding.

This leads me to my next point and one I believe is the biggest challenge to us all in modern times even more so than the ability to seperate our individually chosen ways of life from those of an supremicist anarchist.

The realisation of our own true worth...against that of the aquisition of monetry wealth...

The grip of money on the human mind is so strong now that many of us do not even choose to follow a religion...we just want to have nice clothes, loaded pantries fit for an anrmy of people, a big spacious house, a fast car and neighbours who mind their own business...

Infact if you walk down a street and politley smile and ask a stranger if they believe in God they either think you're a wacko trying to convert them or screw their face up and wince before mumbling an uncertain cop out centance like...

"Ummm...well I believe in a higher power"...

Even those amoung us who are believers of a chosen religion whether that faith be in a supremecist or "true" capacity are more often than not willing to put those beliefs on hold for some form monetry gain...indeed even the supremicists might let you live if you offered them a few thousand...

What then has become our religion...spanned across ALL religions...—

What do we actually regard as primary to survival these days...—

Why do we produce coins that cost more to produce than they actually physically are worth and what sense is there in producing ?50 or $ 50 bills that are simply paper with ink and only worth a fraction of that amount...—

Here in the UK we have just elected the Labour party for a record third successive term to governmnet. In 2001 they enjoyed a massive landslide victory largley due to the massive amounts of money they ploughed back into the country. Spending percentages went up massivley in every sector since Tony Blair was elected for his first term in 1997 and the people were happy...their vote in 2001 four years later with the landslide victory is evidence of that...

Tony Blair did not enjoy anything close to that majority win last week. The way he blindly followed GWB into a war in Iraq over what are still to be proven as anything but lies about WMD was the main contributing factor...however...it seems we still want a government that lies to us and spends money on and for us than one that doesn't...—

Even though every other party swore they would never have gone to war and never will without much much more consideration he still comfortably won the election...WHY—

The Conservatives nearly made the nation bankrupt in the 80's and will never be trusted again...

The Liberal Democrats unfortunatley are still the puppies running behind the big dogs...even though their entire manifesto was geared at putting more money into the average households back pocket...they have never held the reins and the last thing we do these days is trust unproven sources with our money...no matter how big their mouth is...!!!

Wait a minute....

If our economy falls over here, I better have a pantry full of food.

I have learned for the most part to keep my religious opinions to myself, but I'm definitely a believer in 'the love of money is the root of all evil.'

There are actually churches over here that ask for a credit card number when you join them.

The conservatives over here in this government are only the lesser of two evils. The goal is the same...get them the money; and yes, the printing of such is more expensive than the worth. This can't last much longer.

Does anyone know if there was collusion between the pope and sultan(s)in regards to the crusades? Seems to me that history repeats itself, and that to retain power and to keep the masses distracted, we see racism, and the terrible hatreds between people, fed and encouraged, to this day.