The Crusades

Islam - Religion of Peace?

"Those who prefer to cling to their secular prejudices should click away now."

Anti-Catholic bigots both without and within the Church would have us believe that the Crusades were an example of the wickedness of the medieval Church.  And they get away with their black propaganda because of the abysmal historical ignorance of almost everybody educated in the last fifty years.

A good friend recently attended a CCRS course.  CCRS stands for Counterfeit Catholicism for the Ridiculously Simple-minded - I jest - it actually stands for Catholic Certificate in Religious Studies.  It is a course designed by the Modernism Enforcement Tsars who have been appointed for the express purpose of destroying Catholic Education by the Modernists who have high jacked most English Catholic sees.  The people behind this course belong with those priests (mostly predatory sodomites) who sexually abuse minors, because both are equally comfortable prostituting their clerical office to advance their personal agenda.

The Jesuit Priest in charge for one particular study day, described the Crusades as, “Western colonialism” and lamented the "racism and religious bigotry” behind them, and caused by them.  He stated that the Crusades are “a stain on Christianity and the West in general,” for which we should never tire of apologising.  My friend, who is a professional historian teacher, suggested that he could not be serious about what he had just said about the Crusades and asked where he had picked up such historically inaccurate views, as not a word of what he had said had any basis in historical fact.  The Jesuit fell back on the standard first line of defence of a liberal caught telling fibs, "That’s a matter of opinion, isn’t it?"

"No, it isn’t." countered my friend, "It’s a matter of historical fact; the First Crusade was only called after some 450 years of unprovoked and unremitting Muslim aggression against  Christendom."  The Jesuit asked him to explain what he meant.  "Well, for instance," patiently explained my friend "Mohammed died in 632 AD; exactly 100 years later, in 732  AD, Muslim invading armies reached Tours in the northern half of France.  That’s a hell of a long way from Mecca!  Plus, in the ninth century Rome was besieged  and sacked by another Muslim army and the tombs of both Saints Peter and St Paul were desecrated, and the Pope was forced to pay vast sums of protection money”

"Well, I think there is a great deal of debate to be had on the subject" muttered our befuddled Jesuit, now on the defensive, "and I  don’t really know a great deal about that. (Emphasis added).  But I think, in general, the Crusades were a bad thing."  There you have it, "I don’t really know a great deal about that.”  Yet his self-confessed ignorance didn’t stop him propagating his anti-Catholic prejudices, and maintaining it immune to any correction from actual historical facts.  This is a classic example of the fake and manipulative narrative (contra-education) that has been propagated by modern academia, apologists for Islam and the western left for decades.

We should all know it of by heart by now: “The peace loving, advanced multicultural Muslim civilisation was minding its own business (planting gardens, inventing modern medicine, reading Plato, holding interfaith dialogues with Jews, Christians, Zoroastrians, etc,. when along lurched the thuggish, illiterate, racist European Christian murderers; driven by religious bigotry and greed who launched a totally unprovoked religious war.  They slaughtered hundreds of thousands (some say millions), forcibly converted more and set up western imperialist colonial enclaves where the indigenous Muslim peoples of the region were treated appallingly.  After two centuries of oppression a noble leader, Saladin, arose, united the oppressed ["oppressed" - such a lovely emotive liberal buzz word, isn't it?] peoples and cast out the brutish European Christian primitives, all the while displaying a nobility, intelligence and cultural sensitivity that throws into stark relief the barbaric, mass-murdering cultural, religious and economic imperialism of his enemies.  This monstrous attack on an entire culture and civilization, naturally, traumatised the Muslim world for a millennium and began the deep and totally understandable fear and mistrust of Christendom felt by the Muslim East to this day.  It was a chapter in history so heinous, that the West should constantly feel guilt and constantly grovel and ask for forgiveness.” 

There is just one small flaw in this narrative .. not a word of it is true.  If you are honestly interested in history, as opposed to ideological dogma, you might want to acquaint yourself with a few relevant facts omitted from this story.  So, in order to do my bit for genuine education, here is a handy cut-out-and-keep little primer to help you next time you encounter another historically illiterate, logic-and-reason-disabled, contra-educated, two-a-penny, left-wing Jesuit.

We all know the modern day Muslim world, well, guess what?  It used to be the Christian World. According to the Ahadith of Bukhari (regarded by Muslim religious authorities as the most authoritative compiler of Islamic traditions), towards the end of his life: "the Prophet of Allah wrote to Chosroes (King of Persia), Caesar (Emperor of Rome) [actually Heraclius, Emperor of Byzantium], Negus (King of Abyssinia) and every (other) despot, inviting them to Allah, the Exalted” to “embrace Islam and you will be safe”.  None of them did, and none of them were safe.
 The following is for those who would like to know what actually happened. 

635 A.D.	Three years after Mohammed's death, Muslim forces captured Damascus (where St. Paul was heading when he had his dramatic conversion).
636 A.D..	A year later Muslim forces take al-Basra, southern Iraq
637 A.D.	A year later Muslim forces take Antioch ( near the modern city of Antakya, Turkey) where the disciples of Jesus were first called, “Christians”
638 A.D.	A year later Muslim forces take Jerusalem, the Holy City of both Christianity and Judaism.
639 A.D.	Muslim forces invade Egypt, at he time a largely Christian country.
642 A.D.	Muslim forces take Alexandria, the second largest city in Egypt, destroying its famous Great Library in the process.
650 A.D.	Muslim forces take Cappadocia (in modern day Turkey).
652 A.D.	Muslim forces launch attacks against Sicily, they eventually conquer it in 827 A.D.
668 A.D.	Muslim forces launch the first siege of Constantinople (Byzantium), many more were to follow.
711 A.D.	Muslim forces begin the invasion of the Iberian Peninsula (modern day Spain).
715 A.D.	Spain completely conquered by Muslim forces (an occupation that would last for more than 700 years), they begin to press on into France.
732 A.D.	Muslim forces finally stopped at Tours, Northern France, by Charles Martel, the Frankish statesman and military leader.
792 A.D.	Muslim forces launch a jihad (called by Hisham, Muslim ruler of Spain) against France, but are turned back after sacking several cities, killing many and enslaving even more.
838-972 A.D.	Muslim forces take Frejus, near Cannes and use it as a base to raid France and Northern Italy.  Christian pilgrims to Rome are frequently robbed, murdered and kidnapped by Muslim slave traders operating in the Alps.
846 A.D.	After nearly two centuries of increasing raids on southern Italy, Muslim forces sack Rome, desecrating the tombs of St. Peter and St. Paul, destroying many churches and carrying off hundreds of slaves.
848 A.D.	A third Muslim army crosses the Pyrenees and invades France, once again destroying towns and cities, killing and enslaving before being driven back.
870 A.D.	Muslim forces capture the island of Malta.
873 A.D.	Muslim forces launch massive slave raids in Calabria, Northern Italy, leaving the province devastated and depopulated.
878 A.D.	Muslim forces destroy the city of Syracuse,  a historic city in Sicily, killing all most all of its inhabitants and enslaving the survivors.
935 A.D.	Muslim forces capture the city of Genoa, Northern Italy.
976 A.D.	The Fatimid Caliph of Egypt sends repeated military expeditions to Southern Italy for slaves and booty.
Anyone notice something of a pattern emerging here?  I mean, we'd hate to be thought of as islamophobic, but doesn't it seem as if the Muslims sort of......well......kind of.........just attacked, conquered and subjugated everyone?  I mean, not just their neighbours - Tours is after all a hell of a long way from Mecca.  And we haven't even touched on the invasion, slaughter and subjugation of the Hindus, Buddhists and Animists of what is now Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.  Let's fast forward (I'm missing out quite a lot of slaughter, enslaving, conquest and subjugation at this point).
1004-14 A.D.	The sixth Fatimid Caliph, Abu Ali al-Mansur al-Hakim, destroys thirty thousand Christian churches, seizing their lands and possessions.
1003-1009 A.D.	Muslim raiders increase attacks on the Italian West coast, including Pisa and Rome, from their base on Sardinia.
1009 A.D.	Hakim destroys the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (in Jerusalem), he orders Christians to wear heavy wooden crosses and Jews to wear heavy wooden calves around their necks.
1010 A.D.	Hakim orders Christians and Jews to accept Islam (convert) or leave his dominions.
1010 A.D.	Muslim forces capture the city of Cosenza, in Southern Italy.
1056 A.D.	Three hundred Christians are expelled from Jerusalem and European Christian pilgrims are denied access to the (rebuilt) Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
1071 A.D.	Muslim forces crush the Byzantines at the battle of Manzikert, taking the Byzantine Emperor, Romanus IV Diogenes, prisoner.
1076 A.D.	Muslim forces (Seljuk Turks) conquer Syria, a Christian country at that time.
1077 A.D.	The Seljuks take Jerusalem, slaughtering over three thousand Christians and Jews.
1077 A.D.	Onwards, the Seljuks attack Christian pilgrims, killing and enslaving thousands and denying access to the Holy Land to European Christians.
1095 A.D.	The Byzantine Emperor, Alexius I Comnenus, sends a letter to Pope Urban II, asking for help.
1095 A.D.	The First Crusade: at the Council of Clermont, Pope Urban II calls for European Christians to defend Constantinople and reopen access to the Holy land, especially Jerusalem.

So, let’s recap shall we?  After 450 years of unremitting Muslim agreesion on Christian countries; invasion and occupation of large areas of Europe; centuries of pillage, rape and kidnapping and  slave-trading; after 450 years of totally unprovoked religious warfare; when Christian pilgrims were denied access to the Holy Land and to Jerusalem (the centre of their faith), Christians finally fought back.  Memorise or print the above and you too can enjoy yourself causing hyperventilation and accusations of racism and Islamiphobia at liberal gatherings everywhere!

After several similar encounter with the Modernists and heretics who runs these CCRS courses, my friend was asked to leave - the very last thing they want on these courses is someone who actually knows their subject; this makes it difficult to get away with their anti-Catholic propaganda.