February 8th, 2009 – An apocalyptic battle of ideas and influence is being waged worldwide on bus panels. In the blue corner, Ariane Sherine and verious atheist, non-believer and agnostic associations have begun publicity campaigns on public transpoortation in most major cities. Notably in London, 800 double-decker buses are circulating with the slogan ‘There’s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.’ In the red corner, David Larlham, his biblical society and the Catholic Church in general will soon begin a counter-attack by using the very same buses. Although less comical and certainly not original, the slogans will read : « Psalm 53 : the fool hath said in his heart, there is no God. »We can certainly question the motivations and projected goals of these two campaigns but there seems to be one clear message in each. Firstly, the Atheists have a tongue-in-cheek attitude towards the Church’s dogma and therefore thought it would be funny to waste a hundred thousand dollars on posters saying so (keep in mind they are not selling anything). Secondly, we have the Church that, once again in its infinite contempt for the little man and his personal opinion, has dubbed ‘idiot’ and ‘damned to the firy depths of hell’ anyone who disagrees with them.
OK, so my objective summation of the two points is actually heavily biased but hey, you cannot study history without holding a grudge for Religions. To me, this concept and it’s self-proclaimed officials have provoked slaughters, hardships and atrocities countless times in the name of higher morality. That being said, my regular readers will know that I cannot possibly be against the Church’s information or disinformation campaign, it is information and leaves personal decision in the hands of individuals. Going too far, The Catholics are now quite mad and have asked officials to step in and remove the atheist « propaganda ». These same officials then said that they will not « act as censors » and that the Atheists have just as much right to buy advertisement. Meanwhile, Atheist organisations are positively giddy that the Catholic clergy is playing their famous « whose religion is more credible » game with them that is usually reserved for more high-profile religions such as scientology.
I will leave you with two things, first a quote by Richard Dawkins (author of « the God Delusion ») on the subject. He said « I don’t object at all to the Christian ads that are going up, especially if they make people think. If more people think for themselves, we’ll have fewer religious people. » Secondly, I leave you with a historical list from my upcoming book. Here is a perfect example of the dire consqeuences that emerge from seemingly banal differences in opinion.
The Crusades
Although the term crusade could, and does, apply to hundreds of religiously-themed conflicts throughout History, the term classically refers to the eight Catholic/Muslim battles for the Holy Land, Jerusalem.
1. The first Crusade (1096-1099) – This conflict opposing “international” Catholics (allied with the Templar Knights) and Muslims (allied with the Jews of Jerusalem) is the only one in which the main objective, Jerusalem, was achieved by the Catholics. Led by a papal legate, the 100,000 crusaders’ main obstacle was to be dissension and quarrelling amongst themselves. Through distractions such as widespread Jewish extermination on their way, several leadership challenges, disease and random conflict, a mere 13,000 crusaders made it to the Holy Land. They were able to occupy the land only because the Muslims were even more divided than they were.
2. The second Crusade (1145-1149) – Following the conquest of Jerusalem, the Muslims had united under a new ruler (Zengi) and had gradually retaken the European territorial possessions. The French and Germans answered the Pope’s call for Crusade; a call which innovatively came with a promise of debt reduction and heavenly benefits from the Vatican. The 30,000 crusaders failed utterly in the Holy Land because their aim was too wide. Along with Jerusalem, they were fighting the Muslims in Spain (successfully) and pagans in North-East Germany (unsuccessfully). The Europeans were shaken to their core due to the failure of their divinely inspired and endorsed campaign.
3. The third Crusade (1187-1192) – 40 years later, a new Muslim Ruler, Saladin, effectively restored the Muslim temples of Jerusalem by destroying all Western presence. 25,000 French, German and English crusaders met an untimely setback when the German Emperor leading the new Crusade drowned in southern Turkey. Few soldiers remained determined to attack Saladin’s army and although they recaptured several cities and outposts around Jerusalem, they never had the strength to regain the Holy City.
4. The fourth Crusade (1198-1204) – With Germany in civil war and France at war with England, the fourth Crusade lacked royal blessing and money. The plan was to attack Egypt by sea and then zip up to Jerusalem by both the Mediterranean and on land through the Sinai. Things went wrong along the way. Firstly, the noblemen that were involved in the ordeal did not have the funds to pay the Venetian boatmakers. Secondly they accepted a bribe from the usurped king of Constantinople in exchange for their help regaining his crown. Finally, when the few remaining crusaders won the Eastern throne for him, the King did not pay and so their last push actually won Constantinople for the West. The warriors of God never made it near the Middle-East.
5. The fifth Crusade (1217-1221) – This time trying to avoid financial obstacles, the Pope set up an impeccable direct funding plan. The crusaders were to retake the above-mentioned Egypt plan yet a lack of Royal involvement and internal dissensions only permitted them to gain a small foothold on the Nile Delta.
6. The sixth Crusade (1228-1229) – German Emperor Frederick II took upon himself to declare his own crusade. With a well-mounted, German expedition, he assailed the Middle-East and negotiated with the Muslim leaders. Although he regained Jerusalem for the Catholic West, the Pope was irked and thus excommunicated Frederick. This is the technicality why we do not consider the sixth crusade a success.
7. The seventh Crusade (1248-1254) – During Frederick and the Pope’s quarrel, Turkish Muslims invaded Jerusalem and thus Louis IX of France organised his own Crusade with preliminary aims towards Egypt. Once again, despite fantastic organisation and strategy, a combination of dysentery, seafaring and underestimating of their enemies brought about very little success for the French Crusaders in Egypt, never-mind the Holy land.
8. The Last Crusade (1270) – A joint operation between Louis IX and Prince Charles of England aimed again for the Eastern Mediterranean coast, but also Tunis. Trying to destroy a maritime Muslim base in Carthage, Louis IX attacked the Tunisian coast and won just before dying of dysentery. At the other end, the English left Sicily by boat and were generally decimated by unfavourable weather. Both fronts were quickly abandoned and the Holy Land was effectively conceded to the Jews and Muslims forever.
Although the term crusade could, and does, apply to hundreds of religiously-themed conflicts throughout History, the term classically refers to the eight Catholic/Muslim battles for the Holy Land, Jerusalem.
1. The first Crusade (1096-1099) – This conflict opposing “international” Catholics (allied with the Templar Knights) and Muslims (allied with the Jews of Jerusalem) is the only one in which the main objective, Jerusalem, was achieved by the Catholics. Led by a papal legate, the 100,000 crusaders’ main obstacle was to be dissension and quarrelling amongst themselves. Through distractions such as widespread Jewish extermination on their way, several leadership challenges, disease and random conflict, a mere 13,000 crusaders made it to the Holy Land. They were able to occupy the land only because the Muslims were even more divided than they were.
2. The second Crusade (1145-1149) – Following the conquest of Jerusalem, the Muslims had united under a new ruler (Zengi) and had gradually retaken the European territorial possessions. The French and Germans answered the Pope’s call for Crusade; a call which innovatively came with a promise of debt reduction and heavenly benefits from the Vatican. The 30,000 crusaders failed utterly in the Holy Land because their aim was too wide. Along with Jerusalem, they were fighting the Muslims in Spain (successfully) and pagans in North-East Germany (unsuccessfully). The Europeans were shaken to their core due to the failure of their divinely inspired and endorsed campaign.
3. The third Crusade (1187-1192) – 40 years later, a new Muslim Ruler, Saladin, effectively restored the Muslim temples of Jerusalem by destroying all Western presence. 25,000 French, German and English crusaders met an untimely setback when the German Emperor leading the new Crusade drowned in southern Turkey. Few soldiers remained determined to attack Saladin’s army and although they recaptured several cities and outposts around Jerusalem, they never had the strength to regain the Holy City.
4. The fourth Crusade (1198-1204) – With Germany in civil war and France at war with England, the fourth Crusade lacked royal blessing and money. The plan was to attack Egypt by sea and then zip up to Jerusalem by both the Mediterranean and on land through the Sinai. Things went wrong along the way. Firstly, the noblemen that were involved in the ordeal did not have the funds to pay the Venetian boatmakers. Secondly they accepted a bribe from the usurped king of Constantinople in exchange for their help regaining his crown. Finally, when the few remaining crusaders won the Eastern throne for him, the King did not pay and so their last push actually won Constantinople for the West. The warriors of God never made it near the Middle-East.
5. The fifth Crusade (1217-1221) – This time trying to avoid financial obstacles, the Pope set up an impeccable direct funding plan. The crusaders were to retake the above-mentioned Egypt plan yet a lack of Royal involvement and internal dissensions only permitted them to gain a small foothold on the Nile Delta.
6. The sixth Crusade (1228-1229) – German Emperor Frederick II took upon himself to declare his own crusade. With a well-mounted, German expedition, he assailed the Middle-East and negotiated with the Muslim leaders. Although he regained Jerusalem for the Catholic West, the Pope was irked and thus excommunicated Frederick. This is the technicality why we do not consider the sixth crusade a success.
7. The seventh Crusade (1248-1254) – During Frederick and the Pope’s quarrel, Turkish Muslims invaded Jerusalem and thus Louis IX of France organised his own Crusade with preliminary aims towards Egypt. Once again, despite fantastic organisation and strategy, a combination of dysentery, seafaring and underestimating of their enemies brought about very little success for the French Crusaders in Egypt, never-mind the Holy land.
8. The Last Crusade (1270) – A joint operation between Louis IX and Prince Charles of England aimed again for the Eastern Mediterranean coast, but also Tunis. Trying to destroy a maritime Muslim base in Carthage, Louis IX attacked the Tunisian coast and won just before dying of dysentery. At the other end, the English left Sicily by boat and were generally decimated by unfavourable weather. Both fronts were quickly abandoned and the Holy Land was effectively conceded to the Jews and Muslims forever.
(Pictured: A Crusade engraving showing Godly redemption in favour of slicing up Jews and Muslims - One of the London Buses in question)
End.
End.
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