If there is any consistent trend in the history of organized religion, it is that of prejudice.
Hinduism has had its cruel caste system; Old Testament Jews, with the full support of Jehovah, committed acts of genocide against the residents of their so-called "Promised Land." Even today, Muslim-dominated nations sanction prejudice against their own women, denying girls an education to keep them subject to men.
Can't forget fascism (which had the full support of Roman Catholic Church in Italy and Spain) and communism, the twin sides of totalitarianism. Two of the biggest scams in world history.
But how about Christianity? To be fair, much good in the world, past and present, has been done by Christians.
Take slavery, for instance. Although slavery was abolished primarily because it became economically unprofitable, many Christians became active in abolition. William Wilberforce was the most well-known, but there were many others.
As a whole, however, Christianity has done much to advance intolerance, prejudice, and bigotry.
Consider this list:
The Crusades
The many anti-heresy campaigns by the Roman Catholic Church
Thousands of Jews murdered by Christians who thought they were the cause of the Black Death
The thousands of women (and men) who were accused of witchcraft and were tortured and/or executed
The Reformation. Catholics slaughtering Protestants. Protestants slaughtering Catholics. Protestants persecuting radical Protestants. Everyone discriminating against the Jews
The Edict of Nantes
The Roman Catholic Church's refusal to criticize the transatlantic slave trade during its earlier days
The Thirty Years War
Specific verses in the Bible was often cited to support these heinous activities. The Curse of Ham in Genesis 9 "defended" first slavery, and then segregation.
I Timothy and other verses from Paul's letters are still cited today to support keeping women out of the pulpit.
Romans 1 is STILL cited to support homophobia and discrimination against homosexuals.
Anti-Semitism was also based on the New Testament.
It was not until the Enlightenment that the virtues of tolerance, religious freedom, church and state separation, and other beliefs that touch on freedom, that the world started to change.
The French Revolution was a key event in the promotion of the Enlightenment, yet church authorities did all they could to snuff out the ideals of the Revolution throughout the nineteenth century.
Much of what is good in the world came from sources other than Scripture.
And yet the naive still feel--not think, but feel--that one must be religious and "talk about faith" in order to become president of the United States.
People never learn, do they?
Hinduism has had its cruel caste system; Old Testament Jews, with the full support of Jehovah, committed acts of genocide against the residents of their so-called "Promised Land." Even today, Muslim-dominated nations sanction prejudice against their own women, denying girls an education to keep them subject to men.
Can't forget fascism (which had the full support of Roman Catholic Church in Italy and Spain) and communism, the twin sides of totalitarianism. Two of the biggest scams in world history.
But how about Christianity? To be fair, much good in the world, past and present, has been done by Christians.
Take slavery, for instance. Although slavery was abolished primarily because it became economically unprofitable, many Christians became active in abolition. William Wilberforce was the most well-known, but there were many others.
As a whole, however, Christianity has done much to advance intolerance, prejudice, and bigotry.
Consider this list:
The Crusades
The many anti-heresy campaigns by the Roman Catholic Church
Thousands of Jews murdered by Christians who thought they were the cause of the Black Death
The thousands of women (and men) who were accused of witchcraft and were tortured and/or executed
The Reformation. Catholics slaughtering Protestants. Protestants slaughtering Catholics. Protestants persecuting radical Protestants. Everyone discriminating against the Jews
The Edict of Nantes
The Roman Catholic Church's refusal to criticize the transatlantic slave trade during its earlier days
The Thirty Years War
Specific verses in the Bible was often cited to support these heinous activities. The Curse of Ham in Genesis 9 "defended" first slavery, and then segregation.
I Timothy and other verses from Paul's letters are still cited today to support keeping women out of the pulpit.
Romans 1 is STILL cited to support homophobia and discrimination against homosexuals.
Anti-Semitism was also based on the New Testament.
It was not until the Enlightenment that the virtues of tolerance, religious freedom, church and state separation, and other beliefs that touch on freedom, that the world started to change.
The French Revolution was a key event in the promotion of the Enlightenment, yet church authorities did all they could to snuff out the ideals of the Revolution throughout the nineteenth century.
Much of what is good in the world came from sources other than Scripture.
And yet the naive still feel--not think, but feel--that one must be religious and "talk about faith" in order to become president of the United States.
People never learn, do they?