Radical Religion “Radical Religion takes what is good and turns it into evil” Religion is a set of faiths or beliefs that is based around one or more central powers. Religion can take what is good and turn it to evil, especially in the case of the Taliban and crusades. Religion can be used for good as well, in the case of several modern day religions. The crusades is a time when radical religion took that what is good and turned it to evil. The crusaders were attacks by Christians against the Muslims to reclaim the holy lands. These attacks were motivated by a speech given by Pope Urban. Pope Urban took his power as the Pope and misused it to encourage the Christians to attack the Muslims. He told the Christians that the Muslims were bad people and made-up a lot of false things they had done. Pope Urban also took a positive part of the Christian religion in going to heaven and turned used it make the Christians do evil things. Pope Urban told the Christians they would be given eternal life if they killed Muslims. Pope Urban used the positive Christian idea of believe in a central figure and used it for his own gain. He claimed that God wanted the Christians to attack and they would be rewarded if they did. This shows that Pope Urban’s …show more content…
radical version of the Christian religion turned good aspects of the religion and used them for bad. Another time when radical religion turned good aspects of religion to evil is in the case of the Taliban. The Taliban created a set of rules based on ideas that are positive and used them to control the people in certain parts of Afghanistan. An example of this is the Taliban law that women must not indulge in sexual practices if they are unmarried or with anyone that isn’t their husband. This is a good rule imposed by the Taliban as it helps women keep their chastity. Another example of a Taliban law used to control people is the law that internet and television are banned. This may stop people watching inappropriate things for their ages but it also stops people seeing what life is like in other parts of the world. The rule that women are not allowed to travel outside without a male is based on a good concept in keeping the women safe but is taken to a point where it is too extreme. The Taliban base their rules on good concept but take them to the extreme turning the good concepts to evil. On the other hand, not all religion is bad and most modern day religions are based on good concepts and aren't taken to the extreme. Several modern day religions are based around being good to others and their rules are taken to the extreme. In modern day times the Christian religion is based around treating others well and from it many charities sprout around helping the poor and marginalized. Judaism is another religion that is based around loving each other which further supports the idea that religion can be good. Karma is a major part of the Buddhist religion which is the idea that if one does something good they will be rewarded and they do bad things they will be punished. These supports the idea of religions being able to be good as of somebody believes they will be rewarded for doing good things they probably will do good things. These example show that religion has the potential to be good and often are. Religion can take what is good and turn it to evil especially when it is taken to radical sense.
Often radical religion is based on good ideas and takes them to the extreme and some people take religion and misuse its power to make people to bad things. In the sense of the crusade, Pope Urban misused his power as religious leader and encourage Christians to do bad things. The Taliban took ideas that were good, took them to the extreme and turned them to evil. Although, religion can also be positive, in the sense of multiple modern day religions, as a way to treat others well. Religion can be a great way to base one’s life around but is often misused by taken it to the extreme or by using religions power to make people do bad
things. Bibliography August. C. Krey, The First Crusade: The Accounts of Eyewitnesses and Participants, (Princeton: 1921), 42-43. Last accessed 7/9/15 DeeBee. (2010). Afghanistan's Taliban Laws. Available: https://asia.knoji.com/afghanistans-taliban-laws/. Last accessed 7/9/15.
Foss explains, “What Urban needed was an enterprise, clearly virtuous in serving the ends of Christiandome… in these moments of reflection, the popes mind turned towards Jerusalem.” Urban II reflects back on the first taking of the Holy City after the defeat of the Byzantine Empire in 1071, and begins to question what his people know about the Turkish race and really the ideology of Islamic thought. Foss goes on to examine the ignorance of westerners and needed to be “reminded [by the pope] of the infamous heathens, their cruelty and hatred of Christians,” hoping this would justify the first Holy Crusade. However, Foss identifies the creativity of the Pope’s language to persuade the knights and army of the people to embark on the Holy Crusade based on the Muslims cruel actions turned onto their fellow Christians. Claiming the Muslims “Killed captives by torture…poor captives were whipped…and others were bound to the post and used as a target for arrows.” Foss examines the Popes words as an effective effort of persuasion in creating an army of crusaders to help clean “…Holy places, which are now treated with ignominy and polluted with Filthiness” and any sacrifice in Jerusalem is a “promise of a spiritual reward… and death for
Contrary to many commonly held notions about the first crusade, in his book, The First Crusade and the Idea of Crusading, Jonathan Riley-Smith sets out to explain how the idea of crusading thought evolved in the first crusade. In his book, Riley-Smith sets out five main arguments to show how these ideas of crusading evolved. Firstly, he argues that Pope Urban’s original message was conventional, secondly that a more positive reaction was drawn from the laity (due to the ideas surrounding Jerusalem), thirdly, that the original message of crusading had changed because of the horrible experiences of the first crusaders, fourth, that due to these experiences the crusaders developed their own concept of what a crusade was, and lastly, that these ideas were refined by (religious) writers and turned into an acceptable form of theology. Riley-Smith makes excellent points about the crusade; however, before one can delve directly into his argument, one must first understand the background surrounding the rise of the first crusade.
In 1095 Pope Urban II called all Christians to take part in what would become the world’s greatest Holy War in all of history. Urban’s called on Christians to take up arms and help fight to take the Holy Land of Jerusalem back from the accursed Muslims. During this time of war, the whole world changed. Land boundaries shifted, men gained and lost and gained power again, and bonds were forged and broken. The Crusades had a great impact on the world that will last forever.
This was enough to convince about 60,000 Europeans, many of them peasants to start on the First Crusade to the Holy Land ("THE CRUSADES TO THE HOLY LAND”). Many of the soldiers who went on the Crusades also hoped to acquire land and riches and return a war hero. This was the first time the Catholic Church had seen penitential warfare- “warfare in the service and defense of the Church for the ‘remission of your sins’”("THE CRUSADES TO THE HOLY LAND”). The whole mentality of the Crusades was to destroy any other beliefs including paganism and Judaism, which lead to all kinds of violence and persecution, with Jews becoming a common target, even entire Jewish communities were slaughtered ("How Christianity Rose to Dominate Europe."). Even the Christians were not safe, as many were killed in settlements along the way. Pope Urban was the one who brought out this idea that it was okay to kill non-Christians, and, even beyond that, IF you went to the Holy Land on a Crusade, you received a free ticket to heaven even if you died there. Does this sound a little bit familiar? Perhaps a little like those who truly believe that they’re gaining salvation by blowing up a group of innocent people along with themselves? Or flying a plane full of passengers into building full of people? Well, the First Crusaders marched to Jerusalem leaving death and
The emperor of the Byzantine Emperor was upset with Turks encroaching on his empire. He went to the Pope Urban II and complained. He made up atrocities about the Turks. In 1096, The Pope Urban II promoted the Crusade to reclaim the Holy Land from the barbaric Turks. These crusades lasted till the 13th century. In the process, Jews were persecuted and lots of looting took place. Many countries took interest in the Crusades because they were ready for travel and adventure. They wanted to expand trade with the Middle and Far East and so the Crusades gave them a chance to open up trade routes with those countries. They used Christianity to justify the Crusades. In reality, they wanted to expand trade and gain more territorial land.
The Crusades were the first tactical mission by Western Christianity in order to recapture the Muslim conquered Holy Lands. Several people have been accredited with the launch of the crusades including Peter the Hermit however it is now understood that this responsibility rested primarily with Pope Urban II . The main goal of the Crusades was the results of an appeal from Alexius II, who had pleaded for Western Volunteers help with the prevention of any further invasions. The Pope’s actions are viewed as him answering the pleas of help of another in need, fulfilling his Christian right. However, from reading the documents it is apparent that Pope Urban had ulterior motives for encouraging engagement in the war against the Turks. The documents and supporting arguments now highlight that the Pope not only sought to recruit soldiers to help but also to challenge those who had harmed the Christians community and annihilate the Muslims. He put forth the idea that failure to recapture this lands would anger God and that by participating, God would redeem them of their previous sins.in a time of deep devoutness, it is clear this would have been a huge enticement for men to engage in the battle. Whether his motives were clear or not to his people, Pope Urban’s speeches claiming that “Deus vult!” (God wills it) encouraged many Christians to participate and take the cross.
The Crusades were one of the most prominent events in Western European history; they were not discrete and unimportant pilgrimages, but a continuous stream of marching Western armies (Crusaders) into the Muslim world, terminating in the creation and eventually the fall of the Islamic Kingdoms. The Crusades were a Holy War of Roman Christianity against Islam, but was it really a “holy war” or was it Western Europe fighting for more land and power? Through Pope Urban II and the Roman Catholic Church’s actions, their proposed motivations seem unclear, and even unchristian. Prior to the Crusades, Urban encouraged that Western Europe fight for their religion but throughout the crusades the real motivations shone though; the Crusaders were power hungry, land coveting people who fought with non Christian ideals and Morales.
A main cause of the Crusades was the treatment of Christian pilgrims. They were robbed, beaten, and then sold. The main group of Turks, the Seljuk Turks, were threatening and growing in power. The Byzantine Emperor, Alexus I, began to become worried and sent out an urgent plea to Pope Urban II, in Rome. He requested for Christian knights to help him fight the Turks. Pope Urban II did agree to his appeal although Byzantine Emperors and Roman Popes were longtime rivals. He also did agree with Alexus I, in fearing that the Turks were expanding. Pope Urban encouraged French and German Bishops and Nobles to also take part in this. “ An accused race has violently invaded the lands of those Christians and had depopulated them by pillage and fire.” This is when Pope Urban II called for a crusade to free the Holy Land. Urban did agree to this having some of his own motives in mind. He was hoping his power would grow in ...
In the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries, Europeans embarked to recover the holy city of Jerusalem from the Muslims. These expeditions, Crusades, were a form of war in defense of Christianity that was justified by the papacy. Popes and church officials would promise spiritual benefits and indulgences to those who would fight. With the start of the First Crusade in 1096, thousands of Western Christians of all classes joined the cause and chose to fight against the infidels in order to regain the holy city of Jerusalem. Between 1096 and 1291, when the last of the Crusader states were overtaken, there were numerous expeditions and hundreds of thousands soldiers and civilians were killed. Upon reviewing the two sources, we can see that there are many views in regards to the crusades and their success.
The conflict between the Christians and the Muslims, between 1098 and 1229, was the result of political unrest; which was fueled the Muslims migrating into the Christian holy lands, lead by Pope Urban II and carried on, throughout latter centuries by his followers. What follows is a story of war, holy visions,unholy alliances, promises made with fingers crossed, sieges and slaughters, the details of which fill volumes. Christianity, in its infancy, was a very threatened state. It was enriched with radical ideas that called for the worship of a single god in place of the many dieties that had ruled for centuries before. These radical concepts took a while to sink in and become the root of what would be the modern era. The world of the latter 9th century and early 10th century was in a state of turmoil, resulting from the recent adoption of Christianity as the official religion of the modern world. In order to cement its hold on the masses, the political heads of the day decided to quell all internal conflicts and unite against an enemy whose destruction would help to further develop the hold that the Pope, and the church, had on the world. The Muslims were originally a tight banded group of followers of Muhammad and the religion of Islam. When the prophet Muhammad died, however, the group lost it's center and thus began to unravel a little and disperse. The Muslims slowly began to integrate into the Christian holy lands', threatening the foundation of Christianity. This integration lead to unease and gave root to the cause of the Crusades. It allowed for the Pope to issue official doctrine which called for the removal of the muslims in a united effort by devout Christians. A crusade is a holy war authorized, encouraged, and supported by the Pope in the name of God and Christ. In order to justify a war, or the need for war, the Pope proposed the issue as a defensive reaction to injury or aggression and as an attempt to recover Christian territories lost to infidels. Pope Urban II initiated the first crusade as an attempt to unite the conflicting Christian territories against a single and foreign foe, the Muslims. Otto, better known as Pope Urban II, was born around 1042 and died 29 July 1099. On 12 March 1088, Otto was unanimously elected as Pope, taking the title of Urban II.
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.
In order for the crusades to begin, the Christians needed to gather an army to travel and fight the forces of Muslims. With all the power being held by monarchies at this time, the church needed to be cleaver in order to gain troops to put their lives on the line. To gain the support of these warriors and dedication of men, Pope Urban II (1088-1099) challenged those morals of men by telling them to grab their weapons and join the holy war to recover the land of Jerusalem. It was not the challenge that convinced men to take part in this war. The promise of “immediate remission of sins” attracted the men to stand up for their religion and beliefs while at the same time, promising them a trip to heaven when life comes to an end. With this statement, men instantly prepared for battle which in a very short period of time gave the church power which has been held by the monarchies. Men of rich and poor prepared for battle, some wearing ...
In 1120, Robert the Monk recorded his chronicle of Pope Urban II's Call to Crusades. Robert the Monk was a Catholic Monk from France and was a chronicler for the First Crusade. In this source, Robert the Monk portrays Pope Urban's feelings towards Muslims as hostile and unfriendly, as he calls the Muslims an "accursed race" that was "alienated by God" (Robert the Monk). Furthermore, it focuses on starting a crusade, where the Catholic church would regain control over the promised land. Also, the main purpose of this article was to motivate Catholics for the crusades, and potentially view them as positive actions, as he expresses that the crusades are "the will of God" (Robert the Monk). The reliability of this source is questioned when you
The radical Enlightenment understanding of religion is the belief that religion in general is harmful for society and that it shouldn’t exist. This belief is shared by people who think that religion should be substituted with a rationale belief system, one that can be reasoned with (Kant, Spinoza, Hume, and Reimarus). Hume, Kant, Spinoza, and Reimarus viewed religion negatively in general and especially disagreed with Christianity. Reimarus believed that the system of religion was actually made and based off of lies and dishonesty. Similarly, Kant thought that religion was just a superstition and held no interest in it. They also believed in complete equality in the sense that everything should be completely fair rather than decided upon at
The Crusades reach different aspects of history from war, politics and economics to religions and cultural diversity. A crusade is defined as a remedial enterprise undertaken with zeal and enthusiasm by Merriam-Webster.com. Based upon the research on crusades and holy wars, it stated that in 1095, Pope Urban II sent out knights of West Europe to help the Christians that were dominated by Muslims in Near East. The Crusades is told to be understood better as a series of holy wars triggered by religious powers fighting for upper hand of ruling. Thomas F. Madden, in his published literary work The Concise History of the Crusades, explains the crusades were essentially “a war against Muslims for the defense of the Christian people,” even though