From the Top of the Nest
The bloggosphere is all a twiiter about President Obama’s remarks at the National Prayer breakfast last Thursday. During his speech Obama spoke against violence committed in the name of religion, and stated that Christians have been just as guilty as Muslims and other terror groups of this crime.
He equated the Crusades with the Muslim jihad as if the two are equal. The Christian crusades came about as a result of Muslim jihad and were a defensive move to protect Christians who were being killed by Muslim jihadists, much like today. Unlike the Muslim jihad, the Christian crusades ended centuries ago.
Misconceptions about the Crusades are all too common. The Crusades are generally portrayed as a series of holy wars against Islam led by power-mad popes and fought by religious fanatics. They are supposed to have been the epitome of self-righteousness and intolerance, a black stain on the history of the Catholic Church in particular and Western civilization in general. A breed of proto-imperialists, the Crusaders introduced Western aggression to the peaceful Middle East and then deformed the enlightened Muslim culture, leaving it in ruins. For variations on this theme, one need not look far. See, for example, Steven Runciman’s famous three-volume epic, History of the Crusades, or the BBC/A&E documentary, The Crusades, hosted by Terry Jones. Both are terrible history yet wonderfully entertaining.
Not much has changed when it comes to the Muslim jihadists since they are attacking the same region and the same people groups as they did centuries ago. In fact their war on Christianity has never ended. Except for the Crusaders Europe would have been a Muslim Caliph today.
The true intent of the Muslim Jihadists is to rid the world of Christianity and Jewry. That crusade has never ended. Christians on the other hand may have given up the fight to make disciples of all nations, teaching and baptising in the name of Jesus Christ.
|
