headofthefield wrote:You say that religion has caused suffering but really is it your suffering. How have you suffered?
Let's see... I've been beat up by religious nuts more time than I can remember, people that I considered friends don't talk to me anymore, some who I've never met are kind enough to tell me I'm going to burn in hell.
Religion is to blame for that, the benefits that it has brought to this world are far outnumbered by the pain it has caused.
Let's take a little trip back in time...
Let's start with The Holy Crusades.
The Crusades started as mass killing by amateur crusaders, killing god's enemies as they went by. Eventually, the mass killings were taken over by professional soldiers, because apparently, they weren't following church procedure on how to kill efficiently.
Chronicles record a story of a crusader-bishop who referred to the impaled heads of slain Muslims as a joyful spectacle for the people of God."
When muslin cities were captured, all citizens, no matter what age, were killed. Jews who looked for refuge in their synagogues were burned alive.
Chronicler Raymond of Aguilers wrote the following about the conquest of Israel "It was a just and marvelous judgment of God, that this place [the temple of Solomon] should be filled with the blood of the unbelievers."
St. Bernard announced before the Second Crusade that "The Christian glories in the death of a pagan, because thereby Christ himself is glorified."
Atrocities were excused by Crusaders as being merciful. When the Christian ran their enemies out of Antioch, they found that the abandoned Muslim camp was filled with the wives of the enemy. Chronicler Fulcher of Chartres recorded that "...the Franks did nothing evil to them [the women] except pierce their bellies with their lances."
We also have the famous words of papal legate, Arnald Almaric. "Kill them all, God will know his own" In reference to Pope Innocent III's capture of the city of Beziers in search for a harmless cult of celibate men that would have died out anyway. (The Cathars)
But Christian love was not only shown to pagans, and unbelievers. A Heretic had it just as bad. Often Christians themselves, but because they interpreted the bible differently, were persecuted and eventually killed.
From here we jump to the inquisitions.
When people talk about ?'The Inquisition" they are usually referring to the most known two; The Abigensian, and Spanish inquisition.
The Abigensian inquisition came first.
"Citra membri diminutionem et mortis periculum"
Those were the pope's guidelines for inquisitional trial. Basically it says, don't kill them, and no amputations. The Dominican monks did follow those two rules, but anyone would have chosen death over the imaginative ways the inquisitors had for torturing people; and of course those who didn't confess after being tortured, were considered automatically guilty most of the time and burned at the stake. The medieval inquisition went on for a couple of centuries and at the end, they had succeeded on what the Abigensian Crusade could not. All the Cathars, among with the Knights Templar, had been killed.
Next we have the Spanish Inquisition. Have you heard about Tomas de Torquemada? He has been compared to Hitler, but is not really as known. He became inquisitor-general for the Spanish inquisition; one of the most bloody in history.
In the late 15th century, the Spanish inquistion began, lasting for over three centuries, right until the 1800s.
The following are some of the more known methods of torture used
The Judas Chair: This was a large pyramid-shaped "seat." Accused heretics were placed on top of it, with the point inserted into their anuses or genitalia, then slowly lowered onto the point with ropes. The effect was to gradually stretch out the opening of choice in an extremely painful manner.
The Pear: A large bulbous gadget is inserted in the orifice of choice, whether mouth, anus or vagina. A lever on the device then causes it to slowly expand whilst inserted. Eventually points emerge from the tips.
The Wheel: Heretics are strapped to a wheel, and their bones are clubbed into shards, or were slowly passed over an open fire.
Methods of execution weren't much better.
Sawing: Heretics were hung upside-down and sawed apart down the middle, starting at the crotch.
Disembowelment: A small hole is cut in the abdomen, then the intestines are drawn out slowly and carefully, keeping the victim alive for as much of the process as possible.
The Stake: Depending on how unrepentant a heretic might be, the process of burning at the stake could vary wildly. For instance, a fairly repentant heretic might be strangled, then burned. An entirely unrepentant heretic could be burned over the course of hours, using green wood or simply by placing them on top of hot coals.
Of there are many recent events I haven't talked about, but if you want me to elaborate further I will.
