Checking The Web:
The Onion And The Crusades
Nolan Worthington
From: "Nolan Worthington"
To: "Positive Atheism" <editor@positiveatheism.org>
Sent: October 22, 2001 1:28 PM
Subject: WebMaster:_Positive_Atheism_Index
Hi Cliff,
Fantastic site -- I've thoroughly enjoyed reading it and look forward to reading your next article.
I thought I'd send you a link you might find interesting and funny. I'm not sure whether you've seen this site before, it's call "The Onion" -- a spoof news site that satirizes current events.
There have been several religious "news" articles, all of them written from a very atheist point of view or by a Christian with the ability to laugh at the absurdities of their own religion (and you don't find many of those!).
This article is by far the funniest so far:
http://www.theonion.com/onion3734/god_clarifies_dont_kill.html
Enjoy!
Cheers,
Nolan
From: "Positive Atheism" <editor@positiveatheism.org>
To: "Nolan Worthington"
Subject: Re: WebMaster:_Positive_Atheism_Index
Date: October 22, 2001 12:59 PM
Yeah, Thanks!
That "God Clarifies Don't Kill Rule" is, in my opinion, their best by far. We've received more copies of it than all other Onion pieces combined (and we get a lot). But this one piece, I think, earns them a rightful place in history -- that is, if there's any future for us to be "history" in respect to!
Cliff Walker
Positive Atheism Magazine
Six years of service to
people with no reason to believe
From: "Nolan Worthington"
To: "Positive Atheism" <editor@positiveatheism.org>
Subject: RE: WebMaster:_Positive_Atheism_Index
Date: October 22, 2001 2:19 PM
Hi Cliff,
Thanks for the speedy reply!
Another point of interest, although sadly no laughing matter, is a site called "New Advent." Are you familiar with this site?
I have a love of history, particularly the Egyptian, early Christian and medieval periods. I found the New Advent site recently after doing a search for "crusades." The site is basically an encyclopedia of the Catholic Church and her 2000 year old charge through history.
The site is very well researched, very factual and, unlike a lot of Christian historical web sites, does not shy away from the brutal acts the Church has committed. The thing that makes it very disturbing reading (and made me absolutely livid at times!) is the fact that instead of citing these acts of barbarism as wholly wrong it goes on to "justify" them!
Here are just a few examples from the site:
On speaking of the First Crusade of 1095 -- "The Crusades were expeditions undertaken, in fulfillment of a solemn vow to deliver the Holy Places from Mohammedan tyranny."
On justification of the 20,000 slaughtered at Beziers during the Albegensian crusade of 1208, when the Pope's army led by Simon de Montfort and Dominic De Guzman sought to destroy a heretic sect of Christians -- "The death penalty was, indeed, inflicted too freely on the Albigenses, but it must be remembered that the penal code of the time was considerably more rigorous than ours, and the excesses were sometimes provoked."
and,
"What the Church combated was principles that led directly not only to the ruin of Christianity, but to the very extinction of the human race."
As for the section on Tomás de Torquemada -- don't even get me started on that one!
I did start to prepare an e-mail to the author of this site but it ended up being a small novel and I still haven't got round to addressing all the points that I found disturbing.
I'd recommend you read some sections if you get the time -- but as long as you have low blood pressure!
Cheers,
Nolan
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