Wendy Wright #fundie

Wendy Wright #fundie rightwingwatch.org

Wright, the former head of Concerned Women for America who is now vice president of the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute (C-FAM), was upset about a Daily Show segment from 2005 that poked fun of the “Christian persecution complex,” noting Christianity’s ascendency in the West following the conversion of Constantine I. Wright said she couldn’t understand why Stewart thinks “we are in charge and we are the oppressors,” referring to the Crusades as an instance in which Christians faced persecution. “I guess he never heard of the Crusades; the Crusades were actually defensive against the Muslim hordes,” she said.

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old comment by

The Crusades were religious conflicts during the High Middle Ages through the end of the Late Middle Ages, conducted under the sanction of the Latin Catholic Church. Pope Urban II proclaimed the first crusade in 1095 with the stated goal of restoring Christian access to the holy places in and near Jerusalem. There followed a further six major Crusades against Muslim territories in the east, and numerous minor ones as part of an intermittent 200-year struggle for control of the Holy Land that ended in failure. After the fall of Acre, the last Christian stronghold in the Holy Land, in 1291, Catholic Europe mounted no further coherent response in the east. Many historians and medieval contemporaries, such as Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, give equal precedence to comparable, Papal-blessed military campaigns against pagans, heretics, and people under the ban of excommunication, undertaken for a variety of religious, economic, and political reasons, such as the Albigensian Crusade, the Aragonese Crusade, the Reconquista, and the Northern Crusades.

Original article @ Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crusades

old comment by Hasan Prishtina

“I guess he never heard of the Crusades; the Crusades were actually defensive against the Muslim hordes," she said.

The Crusades were ostensibly about freeing Jerusalem from Muslim rule. Jerusalem was first captured by Muslims in 638CE; the First Crusade started in 1096. What "defensive" action takes 458 years to mount? Can we expect the English to defend themselves against the Spanish Armada soon?

There were indeed Christians persecuted during the Crusades. They include the Albigensians, the Hussites, the political opponents of the Pope in Italy, opponents of Church and Imperial power in Germany and England, and the Byzantine Empire. Who were the persecutors? The Christian crusaders who fought against all these groups.

old comment by Anon-e-moose

"Wright said she couldn’t understand why Stewart thinks “we are in charge and we are the oppressors"

Well, for over a millennium, the RCC was; it had absolute rule over much of Europe, certainly via it's various monarchs.

That Renaissance must've been a bitch eh? Gradually wresting that rule over nations & it's populations, as gaps were starting to be filled, and people started questioning the Pope's authority & the Vatican's doctrines.

That's what it's all been about: Control. Must suck, knowing that you & your ilk no longer have the right to control people, nay, individuals; indeed, with legislation via secular democratic Rule of Law, we the people now have authority over religion. We now have more than every right in the world to tell not only you, but even your God what to do, and - via Romans 13:1-5 - he (as you) must obey. [/paradox]

old comment by Sangfroid

Ah, yeah. That's why Pope Urban II, upon declaring the First Crusade, said: "Enter upon the road to the Holy Sepulchre; wrest that land from the wicked race, and subject it to yourselves ... God has conferred upon you above all nations great glory in arms. Accordingly undertake this journey for the remission of your sins, with the assurance of the imperishable glory of the Kingdom of Heaven."

Sounds like the usual "kill 'em all and let God sort it out" justification for aggressive war.

Oh, and on their way to the Holy Land, more than a few knights used the excuse to go after anyone else who happened to be non-Christian, which is why many Jews regard the Crusades as a little bit lower than godly or defensive.

old comment by Pule Thamex

There are two types of persecution. The first is the absolutely horrifying type that includes terrorism, rape and pillage. The type that includes the pitiless butchery and torture of innocent victims. The sort of psychotic slaughter and mayhem that incites idiots to indulge in a full scale rampage across the countryside. The sort of merciless cruelty that is carried out in the name of Bible God, for instance.

The second type is persecution of Christians. Please, if you are of a sensitive disposition, read no further, for what I'm about to describe is beyond the wildest imaginings of even the hardest, most remorseless warrior.

I notice you are continuing to read, well don't blame me, I did warn you. Last chance to look away.
OK! So be it!

The absolutely horrendous types of persecution against Christians involve, gulp, mockery and truth. Gasp! The sordid interjection of reality is often made plain to the poor victim, a sorry individual who might very well be a sensitive and bigoted fundamentalist.

How can I continue in the face of such overwhelming inhumanity? Nevertheless, I will endeavour to further describe the depressing events involved in persecuting Christians. Let me just say that people actually dismiss the things that Christians say, to the point of publicly disagreeing with them. Unbelievable.

Horror of horrors, persecutors of Christians have actually, believe it or not, but I know for a fact that it's true, they have actually been so cruel as to present actual evidence against the nonsense these long-suffering Christians say and do. It's hardly possible to imagine the enormous butt hurt of these dear, sensitive souls.

old comment by Swede

Dearie, if you travel hundreds of miles over several countries and then attack those who live at your destination, you're NOT defensive. You're the aggressor.

We don't have to go back to the Crusades; we can look at the silly notion of American fundie Christians that they are somehow a persecuted minority. If anyone tried to run for any kind of office while saying s/he is atheist or Muslim, s/he would fail miserably. S/he might achieve at least some levels while saying s/he is a Jew, but never to the top. That's how persecuted Christians are in the US...

" the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute"
You do know that human rights include freedom of/from religion, right?
You also know that human rights include the right to your own body, right?

Wendy Wright #fundie rightwingwatch.org

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