This page includes links to other sites, for the purpose of keeping alive the dreadful history of torture and murder carried out by religions, particularly Christianity. We cannot count on the churches to keep these memories alive. These atrocitities, numbering in the millions, were not the actions of depraved individuals. They were carried out in accordance with mainline religious belief based on the Bible, by the leading religious and political officials of their day.
Those were the days in which prayers were mandatory in legislatures. We still have prayers in legislatures! Have we not learned anything in 1,000 years? Those who would have us post the Ten Commandments in our schools and courtrooms fail to remind us that the Biblical injunction, including that of Jesus, for disobeying the First Commandment (believe in my God, or else) is to be stoned to death with small rocks! By his words, the "Gentle Jesus" would fully approve of this type of murder.
My writings are in black. Plagiarized text is in maroon, sometimes highlighted by me in red.
Go Home. Go to Page contents near top of Page 10.
Prometheus Books: http://www.prometheusbooks.com/site/groups/religion.html Catalog of its published books re free thought, atheism, agnosticism, church-state separation, and the dangers to society and to individual mental health posed by most religions. Titles (with summary) relevant to the history of the horrors perpetrated by religions include the following: Disciples of Destruction: The Religious Origins of War and Terrorism; __ Holy Hatred: Religious Conflicts of the 90s; __ Holy Horrors: An Illustrated History of Religious Murder and Madness; __ The Final Superstition: A Critical Evaluation of the Judeo-Christian Legacy.
Prometheus Books: http://www.prometheusbooks.com/site/catalog/religion6.html Disciples of Destruction: The Religious Origins of War and Terrorism by Charles W. Sutherland. . . . Sutherland uncovers and analyzes the real ramifications of organized religion and its devastating effects on Western civilization. Disciples of Destruction is packed with little-known vignettes that are sure to astonish, amuse, and sometimes even outrage the reader. Few will fail to be drawn in by the account of the "Corpse Synod," in which a Pope's body was exhumed, put on trial for high crimes, and subsequently dragged through the streets of Rome . . . organized religion, even today, maintains the proclivities of its barbaric origins, as Israeli expansionism, the Vatican's obsession with its financial empire, the atrocities of Khomeini's "Islamic Republic," and Marxist militarism and repression amply demonstrate. These proclivities, updated to our century, indicate that while the long battle to liberate the mind from the fear of tyranny continues, the slow process of slaying the dragons of mythology is not keeping step with the pace of nuclear weapons development and deployment, which accelerates in the context of an equally explosive growth of religious fundamentalism.
antichrist.com.au: http://www.antichrist.com.au/index.html CHRONICLING CHRISTIANITY'S FALL. christian crimeline: EVOLUTION OF CHRISTIAN EVIL (V1.0) Anyone claiming to be a Christian after reading this must acknowledge they are breaking the biblical commandment: "Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil" (Exodus 23:2).
The Dark Side of Christian History (Morningstar Books, 1995): http://www.drak.net/circlemaker/warmcove/morningstar/welcome.html By Helen Ellerbe. Morningstar Books, 1995. ISBN 0-9644873-4-9, $12.95 paperback.
"This is simply a book
that everyone must sit down and read. At a time when the so called 'religious
right' asserts that Christian
values will save society from its rampant sins, the ordinary
citizen should know exactly
how the Christian
Church has attempted to save societies in the past. It is a grim lesson, but one that it
is imperative to absorb. Doing so could save lives."
-- Alice Walker, author of The Color Purple,
Possessing the Secret of Joy,
The Temple of My Familiar,
et al.
By denying evil we do harm. By denying darkness we obscure the light. Over a period of almost two millennia, the Christian Church has oppressed and brutalized millions of individuals in an attempt to control and contain spirituality. The Dark Side of Christian History reveals, in painstaking detail, the tragedies, sorrows and injustices inflicted upon humanity by the Church. It is a compelling and passionate cry for human dignity and spiritual freedom. [That will only be obtained when organized (and private) religion and spirituality (i.e., superstition) have become extinct.]
The Dark Side of Christian History by Helen Ellerbe: http://www.muslimedia.com/archives/book98/christbk.htm Review by Yusuf Progler of THE DARK SIDE OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY. By Helen Ellerbe. Morningstar and Lark, Orlando, FL, US. 4th Printing. 1998. pp. 221. Pbk. US$12.95
At a recent conference, a number of Muslim scholars joined with western scientists, politicians, and Christian clergy to discuss visions for the 'new millennium.' No one, however, seems to recognize that the event they celebrate is the Christian millennium. It seems odd that Muslims and western scientists would cheer on a Christian turning point, especially in light of proclamations by the Pope that this occasion ought to be pause for reflection on 2000 years of savagery by the Catholic Church.
The Pope is even set to apologize to Jews for centuries of persecution, though a similar apology to Muslims seems unlikely. What is behind these contradictions? And what is the two millennium history of the religion that came to be known in the west as 'Christianity'?
As Ellerbe notes, 'Ignoring the dark side of Christian history perpetuates the idea that oppression and atrocity are the inevitable results of an inherently evil or savage human nature' and it 'allows the beliefs which have motivated cruelty to go unexamined.' She insists that 'the dark side of Christian history was not an unavoidable result of human nature; it was the result of a very specific ideology and belief structure.' Her book sets out to examine the origins and development of that belief structure, with emphasis on how it still influences the present. . . .
One of the more startling parts of the book is the chapter on the witch hunts, after which it becomes clear that the first genocidal holocaust of the Christian West, preceding those against the Indians, Africans, and religious minorities in Europe, is the holocaust against women. Though she does not dwell on figures, other historians have put the number of women killed by the Church in the several millions. And this genocidal mentality had its practical side, as Ellerbe notes, 'The persecution of witchcraft enabled the Church to prolong the profitability of the Inquisition,' meaning that the property of those deemed to be witches was confiscated. . . .
As noisy proclamations of the impending millennium threaten the world with yet another misguided western Christian adventure, such study seems necessary to help raise critical consciousness before Muslims get coopted into signing on to interfaith apologetics and millenarian madness.
Muslimedia: December 1-15, 1998
Burning Times: http://www.sacredspiral.com/Database/burning/index.html Scans [of the torture instruments of Christianity] -- Pictures speak louder than words.
Torture -- Christian style: http://atheism.about.com/religion/atheism/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dimensional.com%2F%7Erandl%2Ftinq.htm
The use of torture is not confined to the Dark Ages or to any religious sect or government. People are being tortured at this very moment in places all over the world. Those of us living in countries where these practices are forbidden have to appreciate the protective aspect of civilization. Yearnings for "anarchy" or a "Bible based society" might be quelled after reading these descriptions and seeing these images. The Church seeks to hide this history, . . .
A River of Blood: http://atheism.about.com/religion/atheism/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dimensional.com%2F%7Erandl%2Ftinq.htm
In 1122 Christian crusaders swept over Jerusalem and slaughtered men, women and children, 'until their horses were knee deep in blood. We then went to the church to thank the Lord for his mercy.'
In 777 , Charlemagne, a devout Christian, after conquering the Saxon rebels, gave them a choice between baptism and execution. When they refused to convert, he had 4500 of them beheaded in one morning.
In the fourth century, Emporor Constantine, the first Roman Emperor to become a Christian, had over 3000 Christians executed because their interpretation of the Bible did not agree with his . . .
The above are from William Manchester's "A World Lit Only by Fire- The Medieval Mind and The Renaissance" . . Little, Brown & Company, 1992. . . .
From about 500 until the end of the 15th century, Europe languished in 1000 years of superstitious, plague-ridden ignorance. . . .
The "Age of Faith", the 1000 years of the Dark Ages, was marked by a very low standard of living for most people. They lived in filth, sanitation being considered too sensual to be pious. The average life expectancy was only 25 or 30, and Bubonic Plague, Typhus and a host of other diseases regularly decimated hundreds of thousands of people. In the winter of 1349, 120,000 people died in England, one out of every three. . . .
The church encouraged ignorance among the general populace: Saint Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153), the most influential Christian of his time, bore a deep distrust of the intellect and declared "that the pursuit of knowledge, unless sanctified by a holy mission, was a pagan act and therefore vile." [The Bible nowhere praises the pursuit of knowledge as a virtue. To the contrary, it and Jesus forbids it.]
Behind closed doors, the Church kept what knowledge there was alive, and deserve grudging thanks for that at least. But the missionary zeal of Christians was equalled only by their ruthlessness, and hundreds of thousands of natives of both hemispheres have gaven their lives to the bringers of the new faith, all in the name of the 'Prince of Peace.'
Debate about whether the Bible justifies torture and murder in the name of God (it does): http://atheism.about.com/religion/atheism/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dimensional.com%2F%7Erandl%2Ftinq.htm
"But you cannot hold Christians today accountable for the bad things done 'in the name of Christ', any more than I can hold atheists today accountable for the hundreds of millions of murders committed by Hitler, Stalin, and Mao Tse Tung."
You answer: So true.
But this is false! Yes, we can and should hold Christians accountable for their past action. These actions have been scripturally based and carried out without conscience and without regard to humankind. The blood of generations of innocent men, women, children are the cost of their belief in the same bible that was use to justify the killing of these people.
And, Hitler was NOT an atheist. He was a Catholic and wrote many times about the benefit of Christianity. Although this could be considered for propaganda purposes, his writing clearly shows he believe in god and parts of Christian theology. Stalin, while most likely an atheist, killed, indiscriminately, segments of the Russian population without regard to religion in most cases. Stalin was a pathological, paranoid, cold blooded killer. Mao Tse Tung, was not a declared atheist either. He killed off dissidents in much of the same manner as Stalin, to promote his cultural revolution that included a religious element. Even Castro, an atheist, knew he could not kill the church in Cuba and did not even try.
There has never been a situation in history where an atheist civilization has committed these types of crimes against humanity. We have always been in the minority and therefore it would be extremely difficult for us to persecute anybody.
The Bible - Humbug and Horror: http://www.users.bigpond.com/Atheist_Australia/humbug18.htm The Bible might contain passages of great beauty and power, but we cannot afford to forget that it contains passages that have brought such savagery and destruction upon the human race.
inqhome: http://www.swan.ac.uk/history/teaching/teaching%20resources/Inquisition/index.html Inquisition: Race, Religion and Politics in Early Modern Europe. Home page for history courses. PRIFYSGOL CYMRU ABERTAWE, UNIVERSITY OF WALES SWANSEA. Excellent!
The Inquisition: http://www.catholic.com/ANSWERS/tracts/inquistn.htm This appears to be a defence of the Inquistion from a Catholic group -- incredible as it may seem. I do not include here any extracts, because of the following notice in that text: © 1996 Catholic Answers, Inc. This text may be downloaded or printed out for private reading, but it may not be uploaded to another Internet site or published, electronically or otherwise, without express written permission from the copyright holder.
The Inquisition: http://www.sundayschoolcourses.com/inq/inqcont.htm A Brief History of the Inquisition. Written by Robert Jones.
“Making every allowance required of an historian and permitted to a Christian, we must rank the Inquisition, along with the wars and persecutions of our time, as among the darkest blots on the record of mankind, revealing a ferocity unknown in any beast.” (Will Durant, “The Age of Faith”, p. 784)
The Inquisition was one of the great blights in the history of Christianity. No other institution in the history of the Christian Church was so horrible, so unjust, so ... un-Christian. When it was finally brought to a halt in 1834, thousands of lives had been lost, and tens of thousands of lives ruined through imprisonment and confiscation of property. Whole populations were driven from their homelands, and the Roman Church had earned a blight against its name that still resonates to this day. . . .
Inquisition: http://es.rice.edu/ES/humsoc/Galileo/Things/inquisition.html Because of the nature of this subject, care must be taken in choosing readings. Until recently, Protestant literature on the Inquisition tended to be hostile to the Catholic Church, while Catholic literature tended to be apologetic and justificatory. A balanced introduction to the early period is Bernard Hamilton, The Medieval Inquisition . . .
Inquisition: http://www.tbook.com/religion/i/Inquisition/ Inquisition Shop. More than 50 books, including reviews.
Amazon.com buying info The Spanish Inquisition A Historical Revision: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0300078803/ref%3Dnosim/dominantsystems/107-9279554-5101327 The Spanish Inquisition : A Historical Revision by Henry Kamen. . . . Popular belief holds up this infamous institution as a symbol of religious and political intolerance -- against the Protestants, Jews, Catholic heretics, and political orders such as the Knights Templar. Yet when Henry Kamen first wrote The Spanish Inquisition in 1965, he argued that the Inquisition was not as powerful or cruel as commonly conceived. . . .
Comments on Genocide in the Bible: http://www.users.uniserve.ca/~tfrisen/genocide.htm Only a few skinheads will claim that Adolf Hitler was a prophet of God but his philosophy was based on exactly the same ethics that motivated Moses. Hitler claimed that he was doing "The Lord"s work" (in a speech in the Reichstag in 1941) when he told his people that the Aryan race was the "chosen race" while Moses claimed that he was leading "God's chosen people" to conquer "The land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates". (Gen.15,18.)
Hitler, believed that he had the right to conquer "inferior" races and slaughter, without mercy, those people that he deemed were against him. Moses was given the right by God to kill or enslave "The Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, and half a dozen other "ites" in short, the occupants of the lands HE wished to conquer.(Gen.15,19-21) Hitler's camps saw the deaths of 11 million people, over 1/2 of which were Jews, at a time when the earth's population was less than 3 billion. Moses, as a Jew, was responsible for the deaths of over 2 million Gentiles at a time when the earth's population was only a few million; a ratio of murder which gives another connotation to the expression, "The Jewish Holocaust"
If the crimes perpetrated by Hitler are so ghastly, why aren't the crimes of Moses [and the genocidal crimes of God] viewed the same way? Are the followers of Hitler, the Nazis, any different from the the early followers of Moses, the Jews, Christians and Muslims? The millions of people who have been killed in the name of God from the time of Jesus to the present day, answer that question!
See additional links.
Earth Rising and the St. Patrick's Cathedral's Declaration: http://hometown.aol.com/branwenn/page9.html This is a copy of a declaration posted on Saint Patrick Cathedral's front door, Dec. 5, 1984. In the spirit of Pagan resistance to oppression . . . We accuse the Christian Church of Crimes against Humanity . . . Genocide: massacring entire peoples and cultures . . . Gynocide: systematic torture and mass execution of women . . . Androcide: systematic torture and mass execution of men . . . Instituting a Reign of Terror . . . to mark the 500th year of the Pope's official declaration of war against Witchcraft and other nature spiritualities.
Holy Homicide: http://www.holysmoke.org/haught/homicide.html Now that the Cold War is over, what will become the chief generator of strife in the world? Religion, undoubtedly. James A. Haught.
Holy Horrors: http://www.holysmoke.org/haught/pent-2.html Ronald Reagan often called religion the world's mightiest force for good, "the bedrock of moral order." George Bush said it gives people "the character they need to get through life." This view is held by millions. But the truism isn't true. The record of human experience shows that where religion is strong, it causes cruelty. Intense beliefs produce intense hostility. Only when faith loses its force can a society hope to become humane.
The history of religion is a horror story. If anyone doubts it, just review this chronicle of religion's gore during the last 1,000 years or so. ______ It's fashionable among thinking people to say that religion isn't the real cause of today's strife in Lebanon, Sri Lanka, Northern Ireland, India and Iran -- that sects merely provide labels for combatants. Not so. Religion keeps the groups in hostile camps. Without it, divisions would blur with passing generations; children would adapt to new times, mingle, intermarry, forget ancient wounds. But religion keeps them alien to one another. James A. Haught.
The Modern Rationalist - July - 1998: http://periyar.org/mr/987mr21.htm A NON-POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT ORIENTED THINK-TANK, MONTHLY MAGAZINE. The Dark Side of Christianity i. The Criminal History of Christianity : Karlheinz Deschner, a german theologian ii. Vicars of Christ - The Dark Side of the Papacy: Peter de Rosa. . . . Thus began a tradition that continues even today. In the Second World War the German bishops and cardinals were validating Hitler’s aggression as partaking in the eternal authority of God and praised him as a reflection of God’s rule. Napoleon, Hitler, Mussolini and even Stalin had their own Roman Catholic army priests. . . . The Vietnam War was pronounced a “crusade” by American bishops and during the Second Vatican Council, according to Deschner, clerics demanded that bombs be dropped on Vietnam as a protection of the Catholic schools there.
Murder in the Name of Religion: http://www.holysmoke.org/haught/murder.html Pope Pius V: After becoming pope, he sent Catholic troops to kill Huguenot Protestants in France. He ordered the commander to execute every prisoner taken. . . And he intensified the Roman Inquisition, torturing and burning Catholics whose beliefs varied from official dogma. After his death, he was canonized a saint. He still is venerated by the church. It is as if Adolf Hitler were elevated to sainthood. Or consider Saint Dominic, the king of torture. James A. Haught.
The New And Improved Ten Commandments.
The Non-Believer's Page: http://www.dcd.net/NBP/ Religion undermines individual responsibility, impedes the advance of humankind, instils a partisan culture among its faithful, and caps the power of individuals through a legislature of conformity [NBP]. This website provides information which is intended to be helpful to those interested in agnostic and atheist philosophies. I hope to argue, via these pages, that we are selling humanity and the power of the individual short by investing so heavily in superstition and anachronisms. Other links include:
. . . Basic Atheist Arguments: http://www.dcd.net/NBP/argnogod.html A brief, but excellent, summary of some main issues, including: No need for a first cause or a designer. The problem of evil. Omnipotencs vs free will. The Blind Watchmaker. Mental states are dependent on brain states (hence, no survival of "soul"). Proofs re God. Is Atheism a religion? (No.)
. . . Non-Believing Quotes: http://www.dcd.net/NBP/quotes.html
. . . The Non-Believer's Newsroom: http://www.dcd.net/NBP/news.html
. . . . . . The Non-Believer's Newsroom: http://www.dcd.net/NBP/news/981009.html Pope seems happy to pander to tribalism. Pope elevating another war criminal to sainthood!
RELIGION IS MENTAL ILLNESS: GOD IS A PSYCHOPATH: http://www.truthbeknown.com/mental.htm. Source: Holy Horrors
Religious madness, mayhem and slaughter: http://www.freeradicals.com.au/mayhem.html
RESOURCES, TALKING POINTS ON NATIONAL BIBLE WEEK: .http://www.atheists.org/flash.line/bibwk4.htm Suggestions from "this unwholesome list" for those who wish to protest religionists' demands to post Bible passages on school walls. For example: TEACHINGS OF THE "PRINCE OF PEACE": Luke 19:27 "But those mine enemies which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me." . . . Jesus.
Yitzhak Rabin: Another Victim of Zealotry: http://www.holysmoke.org/haught/rabin.html Why there can never be peace in the Apartheid state of Israel because of its military subjugation of Palestine until religious belief becomes extinct.
End of part 70 of 60 of Religion Page 70.
Got to Links: Horrors near top of this Page 70.
Go Home. Go to Page contents or Articles by Wayne near top of Page 10.
You can e-mail me at waynerp@sympatico.ca