CHRISTIANITY AND WAR
"Instead of diminishing the number of wars, ecclesiastical influence has
actually and very seriously increased it; we may look in vain for any
period since Constantine in which the clergy as a body exerted
themselves to repress the military spirit, or to prevent or abridge a
particular war with an energy at all comparable to that which they
displayed in stimulating the fanaticism of the Crusades, in producing
the atrocious massacres of the Albigenses, in embittering the religious
contests that followed the Reformation." (_Lecky._)
Any institution that can sanction war is the most immoral institution
that the mind of man can imagine. That an institution which claims to
have under its guidance the moral activity of this earth, has instituted
and condoned war is a known historical fact. That the Church has blessed
the banners of opposing factions, and has gloried in the butchering of
innocent heretics, no manner of present disregard for the facts and
apology can refute and redeem. The religious and civil wars, the
massacre of the Albigenses and other sects, the Massacre of St.
Bartholomew, are still alive in the memories of historians and still
rankle. The Crusades were a bloody blot in the none too peaceful times
of the Middle Ages. Christianity hurled itself at Mohammedanism in
expedition after expedition for nearly three centuries. Millions of men
perished in battle, hunger, and disease, and every atrocity the
imagination can conceive of disgraced the warriors of the cross. When
one crusade failed, a papal bull instigated the next. Taxes were imposed
to defray the expenses, and Europe was so drained of men and money that
it was threatened with social bankruptcy and annihilation.
The Inquisition between 1481 and 1808 had punished 340,000 persons, and
of these, nearly 32,000 had been burnt. This was the result of the
declaration that "The Inquisition is an urgent necessity in view of the
unbelief of the present age." The Church forgot to mention the vast
amount of wealth that accrued to her by these means. But we need not
turn to the dead ages for material, for the present still firmly holds
its war memories.
"Armenians massacred by Turks and Kurds; Christians slaughtered by
Mohammedans is a horror as hideous in the name of religion as in the
name of war. The persecution of Jews by Christians in the name of Christ
is diabolical. The atrocities inflicted on Christian Belgium by
Christian Germany stains the Teuton's hand as red as the Turk's, but
with a difference. The Teuton outraged his own 'holy women,' despoiled
and murdered his own 'sisters in Christ,' while the Mohammedan hordes
perpetrated their nameless infamies on those whom they believed to be
the imps of Satan. Mercifully, call these things the logical crimes of a
state of war! Then we must admit that savagery still is more powerful
than religion, and we must concede that no religion so far has achieved
the success that one might reasonably expect of a divine institution."
(_Bell: "Woman from Bondage to Freedom."_)
The World War proved the utter worthlessness of Christianity as a
civilizing force. The nations engaged were not fighting non-Christians;
Germany, Austria, Russia, England, Belgium, Servia, Italy, and the
United States are all Christian nations. They all worship the same God,
they are all brothers in Christ, but that did not prevent their cutting
each other's throats on the battlefield. Their common religious belief
did not render the war less bitter nor less bloodthirsty.
Is it not a fact that if the Christian nations of the world would only
live at peace together, war would be impossible? Neither Mohammedan
nations nor Japan could threaten. When the Christian speaks of the
brotherhood of man, he means a brotherhood of _believers_ only. What
kind of brotherhood did Christians bestow on Jews or heretics in the
Middle Ages? Was it the brotherhood of man that Christianity bestowed on
the conquered Mexican and Peruvian nations, and on the Indians of our
own country? If Christianity had expended as much energy in teaching its
adherents the fundamentals of a sane social life, as it did to prepare
mankind for a mythical life in Heaven, civilization would be today
greatly in advance of where it is.
Does any one believe that Jew, Mohammedan, Catholic, and Protestant can
long live in peace together? Common social needs bring mankind together
but religion drives them apart. There can never be a lasting peace until
the myth of God is dispelled forever from the minds of men. Then and
then only, can the adjustment between economic and political forces lead
to a permanent peace.