"I love the smell of napalm in the morning," exclaims Lt. Col. Kilgore
(Robert Duvall in "Apocalypse Now")
(Robert Duvall in "Apocalypse Now")
In a sense, the Crusades (1095-1291 A.D.) were a European “Vietnam” lasting not 25-years, but 196 years! These religious wars set the stage for the current European allergic reaction to religion. As you saw in my previous blog, three factors—religious carnage, atheistic philosophy, high civilization—form a triple-thick, all-but-impervious, full-body armor worn by a vast majority of Europeans. This armor forms a plausibility structure—the unquestioned, preconceived “givens” in the European culture that act as an irrational, unconscious filter through which all ideas about God and religion pass.
For example, years ago I was helping my son prepare for a 4th grade history test. He faithfully copied down the teacher’s notes about the Crusades which stated,
“INFIDELS: for the Christians the infidels were the Muslims. INFIDELS: for the Muslims the infidels were the Christians.”
The valid conclusion is that religious war is absurd and bloody. A second invalid conclusion that most Europeans adopt, however, is that one is best off keeping one’s distance both from religion (since both Islam and Christendom* committed atrocities) and from the Christian God who, in their imagination, somewhat resembles Mars, the god of war, capricious and gory.
*(Here I use "Christendom" as the Church wedded with political power and as a doppelganger of Christianity—the community of believers who have entered into a loving, obedient relationship with Christ through faith.)
But what were the Crusades all about? Was sort of it like Indiana Jones’ quest for the Holy Grail?!
Europe was Christendom and Christendom was Europe, so when the Muslims seized the Church of the Holy Sepulcher it was up to the Europeans to retaliate because, well, Deus volt (“God wills it”); it was unequivocally assumed that God was on Europe’s side. The nine Crusades, therefore, were led by French, English, Austro-Hungarian kings and Holy Roman Emperors to retake Jerusalem from Muslims (see the film “Kingdom of Heaven”).
In "Monty Python and the Holy Grail," do you remember the bit about the “Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch”? It goes like this:
King Arthur: How does it... um... how does it work?
Sir Lancelot: I know not, my liege.
King Arthur: Consult the Book of Armaments.
Brother Maynard: Armaments, chapter two, verses nine through twenty-one.
Cleric: [reading] And Saint Attila raised the hand grenade up on high, saying, "O [god], bless this thy hand grenade, that with it thou mayst blow thine enemies to tiny bits, in thy mercy." And the [god] did grin. And the people did feast upon the lambs and sloths, and carp and anchovies, and orangutans and breakfast cereals, and fruit-bats and large chu...
Brother Maynard: Amen.
All: Amen.
"Once the number three, being the third number, be reached, then lobbest thou thy Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch towards thy foe, who, being naughty in my sight, shall snuff it." (from "The Holy Grail")
We chuckle and even belly laugh at Monty Python’s Holy Grail because we take it as a fictitious comedy. But Europeans know that this is parody based on the historical Crusades, the cynicism having deep roots in the European mind. For example, St. Bernard who initiated the Second Crusade, supported by the theological inference of the day, stated, "The Christian glories in the death of a pagan, because thereby Christ himself is glorified." And thus under the banner of “God wills it” coffers were emptied, multitudes were slaughtered and in the end Jerusalem was lost to the Muslims anyway. As I said, a 196-year European Vietnam.
St. Bernard of Clairvaux was, by the way, born in Dijon (where I live)
Today there is a resurgence of interest in spirituality especially among European youth. And though I believe many Europeans would like to believe in the Christian God, the triple whammy of the futility of religious war, carnage in the name of the Christian God, and a fear of once again being duped by religion, hinders these Europeans from knowing Jesus in the present, Jesus who preached, “Love the Lord your God…. Love your neighbor….” And “by this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one for another.”
The smoke of the Crusades obscures the spiritual sight of many Europeans; Christendom’s bloodshed hinders them from seeing the true light of Christ who warned of atrocities like the Crusades. Jesus predicted that there would be killing done in his name and that the perpetrators would claim to be “offering a service to God. They will do such thing because they have not known the Father or me. I have told you this, so that when the time comes you will remember that I warned you” (John 16:2-4). But Europeans having been deprived of Jesus’ words by the Roman Church for centuries and do not remember his warning.
Unfortunately next week things grow bleaker for the cause of the Christian religion. So stay tuned for: RELIGIOUS SMOKE (part two) — the Inquisition.
3 comments:
I went out and rented Kingdom of Heaven on your recommendation. I would be interested in your review. I thought it was kind of like Lord of the Rings, except there is no ring, Sauron wins at the end and ends up being not such a bad guy.
LOTR had a clarity of vision which included good guys and bad guys, us and them, that was typical of Tolkein's world. Ridley Scott's world has no such certainties except the ubiquitous "Be true to yourself."
Revpharoah,
Comparing Lord of the Rings with Kingdom of Heaven is interesting (I have read LOTR so many times that I've lost count). Two notable differences: LOTR is pure fantasy; Kingdom of Heaven is based on history, though one might assume it is pure fiction. It is a revisionist, pseudo-docu-drama that portrays many people’s interpretation of religious wars. As the History News Nework puts it, “‘NOBODY, in the 12th century was giving speeches about religious tolerance. Which is what Balian does when Salah al-Din shows up “with 200,000 men’ (actually it was maybe 40,000, but who’s counting?)” (see http://hnn.us/articles/11933.html).
The LOTR rings is what we hope for, clear cut good and bad. In the real Crusades, however, the Muslims were not all bad, the Christians were not all good, and everyone comes out with blood on their hands.
Balian of Ibelin was an historical figure. As History News Network says, “He was one of the few knights left after the crushing of the Kingdom’s army by Salah al-Din at Hattin in 1187, which in turn had been prompted by the brutality of Reynauld de Chatillion—a bit that Scott got right—and the military hubris of the Templars and their leader Guy de Lusignan.”
So, I cite the movie because the depiction of the "Christians" as politically driven, warmongers is very common among Europeans today (and evidently with some in Hollywood, CA as well). This caricature turns many away because they assume that that is what Christianity inexorably leads to, thus the non-involvement attitude of Balian (Orlando Bloom) at the end of the movie.
Qualifier: just because I mention a movie it does not mean that I recommend it. E.g. I do not endorse, “Apocalypse Now.” I realize that some see that as irresponsible but that’s the way I function and it is cumbersome to write out caveats for every movie, book or piece of music cited. I use what is in the ambient culture to illustrate a point.
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