Obama: "remember that during the Crusades and the Inquisition committed terrible deeds in the name of Christ"

Seriously, Christians need to get thicker skin. Since when should the truth bother us so much? Obama is exactly right in what he said. Atrocious acts have been committed and still are being committed in the name of Christ. What is ISIS doing that Christianity has not been guilty of in the past? Burning people? Ransacking towns in the Middle East? Oh wait….

Some would say that it was largely the Catholic church that sanctioned those atrocities and that is true to an extent but the Protestants do not have clean hands either and you can’t expect the world at large to really differentiate between the two anyway.

Now it is true that Christianity has renounced those things for the most part and today, we are more civilized than to do that kind of stuff. At least, for the most part: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/tens-of-thousands-of-muslims-flee-christian-militias-in-central-african-republic/2014/02/07/5a1adbb2-9032-11e3-84e1-27626c5ef5fb_story.html

You wrote:

Seriously, Christians need to get thicker skin. Since when should the truth bother us so much? Obama is exactly right in what he said.

Well said. Many times, Fox and Todd Starnes are too eager to paint Christians as martyrs. I would dispute that many of atrocities committed in the name of Christ were actually committed by real Christians (a sentiment that moderate Muslims today can appreciate, given the warpath of the radicals in their midst!) but that’s besides the point.

Here is an excerpt from President Obama’s speech:

Humanity has been grappling with these questions throughout human history. Unless we get on our high horse and think this is unique to some other place, remember that during the Crusades and the Inquisition, people committed terrible deeds in the name of Christ,” he said. “In our home country, slavery and Jim Crow all too often was justified in the name of Christ.”

I agree. The justification of slavery on religious grounds is a shameful period in Christian history. What the President said is right. Get over it.

I agree with the above but I still say The President’s statement was pretty lame. Is that the way morality should be approached? Can we denounce something without having to qualify it with everything we have ever done wrong that is similar? Granted if a person is trying to draw some kind of a comparison (as some Chritians apparently do) that is problematic. But really chopping someone’s head off is wicked no matter if someone I identify with has done it in the past or not. I’m pretty sure we can denounce modern slavery without having to temper our words with, “although my relatives did it so who am I to get on a high horse?”

No, what the President said may have been historically accurate, but its timing and not-so-subtle meaning was offensive and deplorable. Russell Moore of the ERLC said it best when he said (I’m paraphrasing), “It would be like Dwight Eisenhower saying after the attack on Pearl Harbor, ‘Yes, this was a day of infamy, but let’s remember that we also conducted a surprise attack on the British as they made their way back to Boston after the skirmishes at Lexington and Concord.’”

The point is, there is an agenda behind President Obama’s statement. If he were actually willing to make any kind of a connection between terrorism and Islam, I might be more receptive to hearing his comments about the connection between atrocities and Christianity.

” Obama is exactly right in what he said.”
Historians don’t seem to agree.
https://gma.yahoo.com/historians-weigh-obamas-comparison-isis-militants…

[Andrew K]

” Obama is exactly right in what he said.”

Historians don’t seem to agree.

https://gma.yahoo.com/historians-weigh-obamas-comparison-isis-militants-…

Oh sure you can always find a historian or two who will say anything, especially a historian with an agenda. It is absurd to start going down that road though in this case because the evidence is overwhelming and not just with the Crusades. I find it interesting that no one addresses the article I linked to earlier that suggests that Christian militia are killing Muslims in this era.

Look, I can accept that Obama’s timing might could have been better. But what I don’t get is all the uproar. Maybe just say “I wish Obama could have handled that better” and move on. But no, it is the normal tired “Obama hates America and Obama hates Christians” rhetoric. It is really not a big deal folks. Time to find something important to worry about.

And by the way, here is what Obama said in 2011 at a prayer breakfast.

“The triumph of Palm Sunday. The humility of Jesus washing the disciples’ feet. His slow march up that hill, and the pain and the scorn and the shame of the cross. And we’re reminded that in that moment, he took on the sins of the world – past, present and future – and he extended to us that unfathomable gift of grace and salvation through his death and resurrection.”

[GregH]

Andrew K wrote:

” Obama is exactly right in what he said.”

Historians don’t seem to agree.

https://gma.yahoo.com/historians-weigh-obamas-comparison-isis-militants-…

Oh sure you can always find a historian or two who will say anything, especially a historian with an agenda. It is absurd to start going down that road though in this case because the evidence is overwhelming and not just with the Crusades. I find it interesting that no one addresses the article I linked to earlier that suggests that Christian militia are killing Muslims in this era.

Look, I can accept that Obama’s timing might could have been better. But what I don’t get is all the uproar. Maybe just say “I wish Obama could have handled that better” and move on. But no, it is the normal tired “Obama hates America and Obama hates Christians” rhetoric. It is really not a big deal folks. Time to find something important to worry about.

And by the way, here is what Obama said in 2011 at a prayer breakfast.

“The triumph of Palm Sunday. The humility of Jesus washing the disciples’ feet. His slow march up that hill, and the pain and the scorn and the shame of the cross. And we’re reminded that in that moment, he took on the sins of the world – past, present and future – and he extended to us that unfathomable gift of grace and salvation through his death and resurrection.”

during the Fourth Crusade? The only link I can find on the fly is wikipedia, but I remember reading about in college (20 years ago). Was that a group a Christians acting to capture Jerusalem from the godless muslims? Or a group of rampaging thugs acting in the name of “God” to eliminate the Orthodox heretics?

Obama wasn’t completely wrong. I’m not going to say he was right either though.

Look at BJUs history to see a group of people convinced God told them to discriminate against people for no reason other than color (ie no racial dating and who knows what else).

I have personally met several “southern Baptists” in Alabama (this cost me a good friendship when I was in the Marine Corps), that are convinced that God cursed all black people (the whole Shem, Ham, Japheth thing).

Even further back many Southerners and Northerners were convinced (and reinforced from the pulpit) that “negros” were inferior.

There is no ducking this. People have lied, stolen, injured, murdered and deceived in the name of Christ, and it is a terrible tragedy.

[GregH]

Andrew K wrote:

” Obama is exactly right in what he said.”

Historians don’t seem to agree.

https://gma.yahoo.com/historians-weigh-obamas-comparison-isis-militants-…

Oh sure you can always find a historian or two who will say anything, especially a historian with an agenda. It is absurd to start going down that road though in this case because the evidence is overwhelming and not just with the Crusades. I find it interesting that no one addresses the article I linked to earlier that suggests that Christian militia are killing Muslims in this era.

Look, I can accept that Obama’s timing might could have been better. But what I don’t get is all the uproar. Maybe just say “I wish Obama could have handled that better” and move on. But no, it is the normal tired “Obama hates America and Obama hates Christians” rhetoric. It is really not a big deal folks. Time to find something important to worry about.

And by the way, here is what Obama said in 2011 at a prayer breakfast.

“The triumph of Palm Sunday. The humility of Jesus washing the disciples’ feet. His slow march up that hill, and the pain and the scorn and the shame of the cross. And we’re reminded that in that moment, he took on the sins of the world – past, present and future – and he extended to us that unfathomable gift of grace and salvation through his death and resurrection.”

Greg, who said this?

[josh p]

GregH wrote:

Look, I can accept that Obama’s timing might could have been better. But what I don’t get is all the uproar. Maybe just say “I wish Obama could have handled that better” and move on. But no, it is the normal tired “Obama hates America and Obama hates Christians” rhetoric. It is really not a big deal folks. Time to find something important to worry about.

And by the way, here is what Obama said in 2011 at a prayer breakfast.

Greg, who said this?

Here? Nobody really. But watch Fox News or get on Facebook and it has been a prevalent theme the past week.

This is just a perfect example of how ideology skews reality and I am really shaking my head right now. We really have people denying whether the Crusades were evil and other things done in the name of Christianity are evil? And yes, if you say Obama did not speak accurately, that is what you are saying. It is just mind numbing.

No, Greg, did you read what I wrote? I do not deny the evils of the Crusades, etc. In fact, when I had lunch with a Muslim man who set up a group from our church to tour a local Islamic Center, observe a time of prayer, and explain to us the basics of Islam, I said that very thing to him—that Christians have been guilty of atrocities “in the name of Christ.”

THAT IS NOT THE POINT. The point is Obama’s agenda is making this statement. He is unwilling to make ANY connection between Islam and terrorism, yet he is more than happy to do so with Christianity. That is what is so outrageous.

Additionally, it is outrageous for the Commander-in-Chief to be making moral equivalency type statements about our country’s enemy (which is the point of Russell Moore’s comment).

I wonder how many people complaining have actually read the speech other than the 26 seconds from it. Here it is: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/02/05/remarks-president-national-prayer-breakfast

Yes it is absurd that people would first of all make conclusions from 26 seconds of a long speech and then secondly, object to what he said in context. But long ago, I learned that when it comes to politics and Obama in particular, many Christians throw logic and fairness go right out the window. Ideology reigns instead.

It is sad.

Greg L, I was not referring to you. But there are other people on this thread trying to claim that Obama was wrong and ignorant in what he said. It is mind blowing that anyone could read the speech above and come away with the vehement objections. No, it is not a Christian speech but guess what? This is not a Christian country and Christianity does not have favored status here. The speech did not single out Christians negatively. He was positive about many religions but talked about how people of all religions have the tendency to twist them into evil.