I remember reading about a quote of some bishop around the turn of 19th century, "The Inquisition was an unfortunate episode in church history."
You muddafukka I said to myself, that's like saying the Holocaust was a misadventure due to misinterpretation of Darwinism. No wonder human history is so messed up, and the Catholic Church still thrives. How do you torture and kill millions of people and completely get away with it? Not one clergyman as far as I know even underwent a mild rebuke.
Consider this painting below called the "Auto da Fe". That's St Dominic Guzman sitting on his thrown like some sort of midievil Jabba the Hutt. That sonofabitch murdered thousands and today there're several American cities named after him, a Country (the Dominic Republic) and even an island in the Caribbean. He founded many austere monasteries and ruled that it was sinful to even question the word of your superiors. He happened to be the patron saint of Christopher Columbus.
The two condemned in the painting were Cathars. The group from Southern France was persecuted by the Church in Rome because they questioned the payment of tribute. The painting below gives us an idea of what it was like in the 1200s and today the Church acts like it never happened.
If you like to follow up on this intriguing history check out Man Made God by Barbara Walkers. She's an expect in Midieval History and a co-author on mine in my Pot Stories. Also, my Saving Gaia offers what changes have to be made to save the planet. Breaking away from superstition is a good start. Humans need to understand that we are a part of nature and grew out of the natural world over the course of four billion years.
i knew the US was a totally Fcked country when the govt hired a torture Czar for 250,000/yr after 911.
they then sent prisoners around the world to be tortured & settled on waterboarding for gitmo.
there is no way a country & it's ppl can overcome such barbarities without catastrophic consequences.
My knowledge of the Spanish Inquisition is limited to the Monty Python bit, but a quick read about auto da fe as practiced in Spain, Portugal, Brazil, and Peru shows that there is absolutely no limit to the horrors or religion as performed in service to their imaginary sky friend, or in reality, to the lust for power and the inhumanity of those in charge!
The arrogance and hubris of these people is hard to imagine. For instance, I study etymology as a hobby. The word "heretic" comes from the Latin word for "other". You could be tortured and burnt at the stake just for believing something other than the established doctrines. The wacky concept of the Trinity caused thousands to die, including the great Spanish doctor/scientist Michael Servetus who discovered pulmonary circulation, a difficult concept to understand.
No group of people has had it quite as bad as the Native Americans.
Doesn't every institution whitewash their history when it's a stain on their reputation?
Why do you spend so much time on religion, even on seeing what is so wrong with it? The life away and outside of God and religion is very beautiful. Even one life is not enough if you begin to enjoy it.
It needs no more proving that God and religion are bad for you and the humanity. Therefore, is it not better to abandon it?
Every time I see the Pope addressing his Cardinals and they're all dressed up in gold and fine threads in an elaborate building instead of helping the poor whom they fleece, I wonder at the fools who follow this superstition.
And that "tax free" thing needs to end, too! Just imagine how much additional revenue the govt would have for schools, roads, etc, and those selfish pastors living in mansions and flying in private jets might stop.
How about that charlatan Joel Olsteen? Did you even see his palace? It's worth googling just to see it. Midieval is the only word for it.
@Stilltrying1964 Yes and NON Government Schools like Catholic ones, etc, SHOULD NOT receive funding from the Government/s under ANY circumstances.
Government monies are derived from the PUBLIC therefore they ARE and SHOULD be used ONLY for Public purposes such as Public Schools NOT for Institutions that foster and promote Religious Education whilst charging exorbitant fees to the parents, etc, of their students.