Crusading for the Truth

And you will be hated by all for my name's sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved. (Mark 13:13)

There is for you an excellent example to follow in Abraham and those with him, when they said to their people: 'We are clear of you and of whatever ye worship besides Allah: we have rejected you, and there has arisen, between us and you, enmity and hatred for ever, unless ye belieive in Allah and Him alone. (Qur'an 60:4)

Wow! Its actually been a month since my last blog. And the crazy thing is, I started immediately after I posted my last one. But then I got to looking at a really interesting Scripture related to the Trinity, and then a mild controversy by what I had shared about a particular verse. But, no matter – here we go!

The Crusades are not one of the bright spots as you look at the history of the church, but that really has more about their outcomes rather than the actions of the participants. I'm not going to gloss over the things that were done wrong, nor am I going to excuse the actions of some of the Crusaders because the Muslims did the same or worse. As Christians we are held to a higher standard than unbelievers, which just so happens to include Muslims, along with all other religions, and Muslims are quick to remind us of that. They apparently seem to concede the fact that they don't have to have any morals, well, what we would consider morals anyway. But this “crap” (can I say that in a Christian blog?) about the Crusades being started by the Christians is historical revisionism.

I'm only going to write two more blogs on Islam. This one will be on the real Crusades, not the fake one of Hollywood's invention, or what the Muslims would have you believe. The last one will wrap up this topic for a while, so I can get back to the attributes of God, or maybe I'll go right to the Trinity, I could probably write for the next 6 months on that subject alone. However, this one will really be easy compared to the next one. The next one I'm somewhat afraid to even tackle because I will call into question some of our current “taboos” that have nothing to do with Islam at all, but contribute to the devaluing of our personal freedoms like freedom of speech. It will hurt us all, but some of us more than others. Its is a point that I think that Robert Spencer missed or avoided in his book. I tend to think the latter because I certainly don't want to tackle it either, but its an unfortunate side effect of our politically correct elitists whose motivation is not promoting Christ and His righteousness.

I've also decided to re-write what I originally started because it was just too cynical, too 'in your face', and frankly it was tacking in a direction I didn't like. I have said since starting this blog that its purpose was to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. Nothing else really matters in life, compared to that. Please, don't think that I'm trying to be overly spiritualizing. I'm the same sinner saved by grace that the rest of you are. For me, I just want to be found doing God's will in my life. So if the goal is to make this blog a testimony of faith in Christ, it can't just be about the horrible things that go on around us every day. There has to be something redeeming in what I write, or I'm wasting my time.

So to lead off this blog about the Crusades, I want to relate a bit of news that you just don't hear from the big three. For years, conservatives have been screaming from the tops of the rafters that “news” is big business and that liberal journalists project their own biases into their stories. And you know, that's OK, because conservative journalists do the same thing! I realize that that is a gigantic revelation, but the only people that “don't get it” are the liberal journalists, that sit around on PBS stations and ask each other if they're biased, while denying their own. Quite comical if you ask me. So, with all that said, should it be any surprise when you're not told the truth about an incident? Let me relate some of the details about the murder of three Christians (here and here) in the country of Turkey about a month ago. But I warn you ahead of time, its a bit graphic. As always, there is a reason why I'm relating this story. So, here's an excerpt from the story you didn't hear:

They [the Mulsim Jihadists] arrived, tied Ugur, Necati, and Tilman’s hands and feet to chairs and as they videoed their work on their cellphones, they tortured our brothers for two hours. Tilman was stabbed 156 times, Necati 99 times and Ugur’s stabs were too numerous to count. They were disemboweled, and their intestines sliced up in front of their eyes. They were emasculated [castrated] and watched as those body parts were destroyed. Fingers were chopped off, their noses and mouths and anuses were sliced open. Finally, their throats were sliced from ear to ear, practically decapitated.

Again, I apologize the the graphic nature of this story, but it is important for Christians to understand what they will be facing in the future. A little strong, you say? Remember, Turkey is a country attempting to get into the European Union, at a time when it seems to be returning to its Ottoman Empire roots. One of the reasons why I relate this story is because this is a microcosm of what is going on all over the world in Muslim countries. I'm not trying to insinuate that all Muslims are terrorists or Jihadists, but it is a much greater percentage than the PC media and our current administration are willing to admit. By the way, the previous administration was no better, being just as blind.

Most people think the Crusades were started by the Christians, but to believe that and even say that is a travesty; a complete and utter ignorance of the historical facts. Does anyone out there know why the Crusades were called? I've already told you about Spain, and the 700 yr of wars to retake the country from the Muslim usurpers. And I've also hinted at Charles Martel – the grandfather of Charlemagne – who fought the Muslim onslaught to defend Europe, pushing the Muslim invaders back over the Pyrenees, and back into Spain. Charlemagne had to do the same thing. But I haven't told you about what was going on in the east at the very same time, so you're going to get a quick history lesson before we dive into the Crusades. Sound fun? Here we go. First, let me state boldly and clearly, it is a myth that the Crusades were an unprovoked attack against the Islamic world. Only a complete idiot would actually believe that; the historical evidence is overwhelming, unless of course, you want to ignore history. “The Kingdom of Heaven” is a Hollywood movie that was about an historical battle in the third Crusade, and it is true that the Muslims won that crusade, and that they even let the Christians go, but nearly everything else in that movie was fabricated. Why didn't you hear a Muslim outcry after that movie was released? Did you hear CAIR protest even once? Why was it only the Christians that angrily denounced the movie as a historically inaccurate and revisionist? Isn't that obvious?

There is really too much information to try to relate it all here, but I'll do my best to give you a good idea of some of the things that were happening at the time. Again, a lot of this information is from Robert Spencer's book, “The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam and the Crusades”. Officially, the First Crusades was in 1098 AD, but to start there would ignore the very reason Pope Urban II called for it in the first place. If you will remember from a previous blog, Muslims overran Jerusalem in 638 AD, they conquered northern Africa shortly thereafter, and by 711 AD, they were pressing into Spain. On the east side, they were invading India in 634 AD, and worked their way into what is now Afghanistan and Pakistan by the beginning of the 8th century. Muslims invaded Sicily and Italy in 827 AD. By 846 AD They had reached Rome, looting, pillaging and raping their way there. Their hold was never strong within Italy, but Sicily was not retaken until 1091 AD. The eastern church, the Byzantine Empire was being attacked continually from the 7th century on. During this entire time, the Muslim conquests were always characterized as “religious” in nature (can you say Jihads) by the Muslims themselves.

Just like today, Muslims were particularly brutal when it came to other Muslims that converted to another religion, and beheadings were just as popular back then as they are today. Seems Mohamed's words have always been taken literally as the proper punishment, regardless of what CAIR says. But they also seemed to extend that “special grace” to the associated Christians as well. In the 9th and 10th centuries, as the Muslims took more and more ground from the Byzantine empire, the churches in those areas were either desecrated and taken over, or desecrated and destroyed. In 937, Muslims went on a Palm Sunday rampage and plundered and destroyed the Church of Calvary and the Church of the Resurrection. By that time, the Muslims had taken what is now Syria from the Byzantines. Finally, in 960 AD, the Byzantines moved in to retake some of their lost lands, though it was short lived victory. You see, anything that belongs or has even belonged to the “house of Islam” belongs to her forever! That's why Spain will never be rid of the Basq separatists. Oh! You didn't know that they were Muslims?

Just like today, in Iraq, Shia and Sunni Muslims have always been fighting each other, and so their bickering at that time helped slow the onslaught of Jihad warriors. And, as is true today, the Byzantines learned the hard way that it is futile to attempt to negotiate a truce with Muslims – they are only doing it to strengthen themselves for another attack. I know that sounds cynical, but it really isn't. How many truces has Israel negotiated with the Palestinians? During each and every truce for the last 30 yrs, the Palestinians have never stopped firing rockets into Israel or sending suicide bombers into teenage Pizza joints to kill 12-14 yr old girls. And no one ever holds them responsible for an organized governmental campaign of terrorism. Like the fools that we like to be, America has been the primary supporters of the PLA and their associated so-called refugee camps (no time to explain the truth about that right now), supplying them with “humanitarian aid” while Saudi, Syrian, and Iranian money went for guns and bombs. Their regional maps have never shown Israel as a country, because they are dedicated to its destruction. But like I said, I don't have time for this rabbit trail ....

By 1060 AD, the Seljik Turks were the ones attacking the Byzantine empire, and on all sides. They retook Syria and Jerusalem in 1077. In 1054, 300 Christians were expelled from Jerusalem, and Muslims forbade European Christians from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. The Byzantine Empire was on the verge of crumbling. It once ruled half the known world, but had been reduced to what is now Greece. So, in ca 1090 AD, the Emperor swallowed his pride, and asked for help from the western church. If you will remember, something significant happened in 1054 AD – the Byzantines had forced the great schism, that separated east and west along theological lines. So it was with this backdrop that the Byzantine Emperor humbly came to the west for help. And it wouldn't be the last time either.

As I've clearly stated in my previous blog entries, Islam is a religion that is and has always been spread by the sword. The Islamic terrorists boldly proclaim this as they kill relentlessly in the name of “allah”. Meanwhile, the less extreme are so offended by my statement that they kill those that state the obvious to defend the name of “allah”, thus demonstrating the very thing they are trying to deny. Theo Van Gogh is a classic example of this very thing. The overwhelming majority of Muslims are offended as well, but they truthfully don't understand the roots of their own religion. This is the CAIR crowd that sues people for saying the things I've been saying. It seems that “freedom of speech” today only extends to Americans of special classes. They can say what they want, misrepresent their beliefs, but the rest of us aren't allowed to call into question some of these rather extreme “beliefs”. But more about that next time ... if I don't chicken out. The small remainder are ambivalent about their own religion, much like the cultural Jews and Christians are.

Its is also a myth that the Crusades are an example of western imperialism. When Pope Urban II called the Crusade, it was because the Muslims had devastated the eastern church, killing and destroying anyone and anything that was not Muslim. Urban's words were, “... to destroy this vile race from the lands of our friends...” It was not to kill every last Muslim, as is usually believed, but to liberate the oppressed people and return their land to them. Reminds me of the goal for Iraq and Afghanistan. They were not looking to pillage the land, but to liberate it, considerably different from the goals of Islam at the time and even today, and really, ever since Mohamed. Nor was their goal to convert Muslims to Christianity. I remember a popular Kevin Costner movie, where his character repeats a common myth, that the reason for the Crusades was for Christians to force Muslims to convert or die by the sword. Nothing is farther from the truth. I know it's been done in the past, but those are the exception, not the rule. Its is also a myth that Muslims were treated worse in Christian lands than Christians in Muslim lands. A Spanish Muslim traveling to Mecca, through Christian lands in ca 1180 AD stated this, “The inhabitants were all Muslims (near the city of Tyre), but they lived in comfort with the [Crusaders] ... Their dwellings belonged to them and all their property is unmolested. ... the latter suffer from the injustice of their coreligionists, whereas the [Crusaders] act with equity.” His meaning was that Muslims in Muslim lands don't fare as well as Muslims in Christian lands. I'll bet you've never heard that on CNN or NBC!

There were actually seven Crusades that were called, and of the seven, only the first one was successful; all of the rest were essentially failures, while some were disasters.

So why were the Crusades called? To defend and help liberate the eastern church from the Muslim usurpers. It was the Muslims that had been the aggressors, and to be quite frank, just like they have always been. And after the last Crusade in 1250 AD, the Muslim aggression did not stop. In 1426, Cyprus fell to the Egyptian Mamluks. In 1396, A large European force was defeated at Nicopolis, a town on the Danube river. At that point, nothing stood in the way on them taking all of Europe. Fortunately for the Christian world, the Mongols distracted the Turks from decimating Europe. The jewel of the Christendom was Constantinople and in 1421, the Ottoman sultan set his sights on its overthrow. It would take him another 32 to realize his dream. In 1444, a 30,000 strong Christian army was wiped out at Varna, Hungry. In 1456 the Turks took Belgrade, and even tried to get to Rome again, but thankfully, were too weak to do so. In 1529 – that's 1529 folks – they laid siege to Vienna. In 1672, the Muslim Jihadists defeated the Poles, and took large sections of the Ukraine. In 1683, they once again set their sights on Vienna, but failed. That was the point at which the Muslims had had their furthest advance into Europe, until the 21st century of course.

There is so much more that could be said, and maybe even should be said, but I will stop with this. Hopefully, you've caught some of these dates. Remember that King James commissioned the Authorized version is 1609. So where do we stand? In the month of April there were 276 Jihad attacks and 2081 dead bodies. You tell me? Have they stopped, even a little? Or have they been emboldened by our inability to call their actions exactly what they are – a Jihad against the western world, with the support of vast numbers of Muslims worldwide? Our western mindset is our worst enemy. Our freedoms are being used against us, or PC mentality is being used to silence all debate. Folks, we are defeating ourselves, and we don't even know it. You have to know your enemy to be able to fight him, and we are completely ignorant.

I know that this sounds defeatist, and I'm really sorry about that, but the picture is bleak because that is the reality of the situation right now. We're safe in our homes, while we debate WMDs, and some seek to impeach the current president, but we are missing the point of the war on terrorism, a war that we should and must fight. Debate, if you like, that our president is “evil”, but it was an un-provoked attack by Muslim Jihadists on Sept 11th, 2001. So was the USS Cole, so was the Marine peacekeepers barracks in Lebanon in 1983! (and I could name at least 10 other incidents over the last 30 yrs directed at America) How many more Christians have to die before we will finally wake up to the truth about Islam? If it really is a “religion” of peace, then let them prove it – let them police themselves for once. Let them extend the same freedoms to Christians in their own countries, that are extended to Muslims in the west. Where is there aid to American disasters? They donated a combined few million dollars to Katrina victims; while we contribute billions to the tsunami victims; and not even that, we donate billions all of the time to everyone around the world, regardless of their religion. Where's the parity? If Islam is a religion of peace, then why are there so many Christians in Muslim countries dying every single day?

As Christians, each of us is called to make disciples, are we doing that? Do we engage the culture around us, or just offend it by our attitudes and our actions, or worse, ignore it, choosing to stay in our cocoons? Do we live Godly lives? Do people see Jesus when they look at us? Or do they see legalistic, busy-bodies acting like the rest of the unsaved world around us? Are we characterized by our love for one another? Or are we preoccupied with social do-goodism and missing the point of the do-goodism altogether? Are we to be preoccupied with letting every manner of debauchery and sin into the church in the name of PC inclusivity? Does the world really see that we are different? Does our faith mean something to us? Or are we just cultural Christians?

To be able to respond to the world around us, we need to be wise as serpents and gentle as doves. We need to understand the world around us, and not be sucked into the godless, lifeless, materialistic hedonism it promotes. Do we study the Word? Or is the newspaper, sporting events, or our pet projects more important to us? Is Christ the most important thing in our life? Some day there may be no freedom to worship God, are we ready for that? Are we ready to stand up for Christ? Or will we melt away into the woodwork? Satan is alive and well in this world; Islam is just the latest example of it. In the first three centuries of the Church, they turned the world upside down and never lifted a sword. Are we ready to follow suit? This may be much closer than we think ...

The history of the Crusades are not the best period of Christian history. Much was done and done wrong in the “name of Christ.” The church was under siege by the Muslim world for 900 years, while the church executed reformers calling for Christian purity; while Popes had children out of wedlock; while so-called Christian leaders brutalized those under them. Even with all of that, much worse was going on in the Muslim world, in the name of “allah.” That being said, we've never been told the real truth of the Crusades, the anti-Christian PC elitists have focused our education on all of the evil that Christians did, very rarely pointing out any good Christ-like behavior that was done. Jesus said, “The truth will set you free.” This is a lot closer to the truth than we've been taught for the last 50 yrs. Prior to the 1st Crusade, western leaders read the Qur'an to be equipped to engage their enemy. I encourage all of you to learn about Islam so that you can become defenders of the truth. But before you do that, learn about the real truth, Jesus Christ, the one that laid down His life to deliver you from an eternal separation from God.