God's Battalions Analysis

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Seminar: God’s Battalions During the autumn of 1095, Pope Urban II gave an inspiring speech to Christians of Rome, which inspired the beginning of the crusades the following year. The Crusades were a movement of Christians against Muslims into the holy land. This is detailed in the beginning of God’s Battalions; Rodney Stark argues that the Crusades were not an attempt by the Christians to convert Muslims and argues that the acts of war committed by both religions are not a cause of strife in modern times. The common viewpoint of historians of the Crusades is that Christians of the time were self-interested, power hungry people. For instance, in reference to common belief Stark writes, “Imperialistic Christendom brutalized…a tolerant and peaceful Islam” (Stark 8). Supposedly, Christian men went into battle in order to gain riches and status within Rome. Christians themselves further communicate this idea in 1999, when they made a march from Rome to the Holy Land apologizing for the horrible acts of their ancestors in Christ (Stark 5). Overall, many historians have portrayed the Christians of the Crusades as cruel, merciless people on a pointless but …show more content…

Muslims had been attacking Christians in the Holy Land for some time, and Stark points out that they were defending themselves against these wrongdoings. In addition, the rules of war are commonly misinterpreted by historians of today’s time. Rodney Stark points out this bias in saying that many historians cannot accept, “the very idea that war can ever be ‘just’” (Stark 8). According to Stark, the Crusades were a necessary step towards liberation of the occupied areas. Lastly, he disputed the point made that 20th and 21st century Muslim terrorist’ still harbor resentment against the Christians for the acts committed during the Crusades. Stark argues that Muslim resentment did not occur until the “founding of the nation of Israel” (Stark

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