4 ms·

The symbol of Christianity is a literal torture execution device.

_8j50 4y ago
Used by the romans...
nikolay 4y ago
The Inquisition of the Roman Catholic Church (the Eastern Orthodox Church is also Catholic, just not Roman-Catholic!) was more creative than pre-Christian Roman Empire's cross used for crucifiction! The witch-hunts and burning women alive was not less painful than crucifiction either. I mean, they are all terrible, but Christ did not turn all animals into humans, obviously - most brutal and creative killers even claimed they killed in the name of Christ!
- gattilorenz 4y ago
  The popular image of the inquisition is mostly untrue. While they did use torture (but keep in mind that torture was practically the standard way of obtaining a confession or validating a witness’ statement, both in roman and in later trials) and sentence people to death, the great majority of the Inquisition’s sentences were not of this kind.
  - trasz 4y ago
    “The popular image of NKVD is mostly untrue; in reality most of their victims have not been brutally murdered”. I’m sorry, but this is just Christian whitewashing.
    - gattilorenz 4y ago
      Ok, let's reverse it: most "courts" in medieval/renaissance times were at least as brutal (but possibly more) as the inquisition*. This is purely based on (non-Christian) historians' views, not mine. See for example [1,2] So I guess we can say that "the popular image that the medieval/renaissance trials is mostly untrue", then? I assumed not everyone knew/thought that these two things were mostly on par, but maybe it's just my ignorance. For sure I met people that thought that Galileo was burned at the stake, or at least tortured, when neither of that has happened. Were the other secret police services as brutally murderous as the NKVD? Maybe yes, then I'd argue that the popular image of the other secret police services are mostly untrue. Funny enough, you named this "Christian whitewashing" but historically the violence of the Inquisition was also exaggerated by protestants, who are also Christians, so... a case of Christian blackwashing? :) * as the comment from Bayart points out, I was referring (like the OP) to the medieval/Roman Inquisition, which is a different entity from the Spanish one [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medieval_Inquisition#Torture https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medieval_Inquisition#Torture [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Inquisition#Historiography_and_witchcraft_accusations https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Inquisition#Historiograp...
- Bayart 4y ago
  The Roman Inquisition is (it stills exists) a judicial body created with the explicit intent to prevent summary justice and its side-effects, as well as to stop superstitious practices (in particular relative to « witches », which the Church never accepted as real and saw as a manifestation of paganism). It was a considerably progressive institution if you consider the state of the rule of law and religious orthodoxy at the time. As a result, witch-hunting is a practice that blossomed in areas where Catholic institutions lost power during the Reform era. Your perception might be coloured by the Spanish Inquisition, which was under the command of the Spanish crown and was thus a civil institution first.

Used by the romans...

The Inquisition of the Roman Catholic Church (the Eastern Orthodox Church is also Catholic, just not Roman-Catholic!) was more creative than pre-Christian Roman Empire's cross used for crucifiction! The witch-hunts and burning women alive was not less painful than crucifiction either. I mean, they are all terrible, but Christ did not turn all animals into humans, obviously - most brutal and creative killers even claimed they killed in the name of Christ!

gattilorenz 4y ago
The popular image of the inquisition is mostly untrue. While they did use torture (but keep in mind that torture was practically the standard way of obtaining a confession or validating a witness’ statement, both in roman and in later trials) and sentence people to death, the great majority of the Inquisition’s sentences were not of this kind.
- trasz 4y ago
  “The popular image of NKVD is mostly untrue; in reality most of their victims have not been brutally murdered”. I’m sorry, but this is just Christian whitewashing.
  - gattilorenz 4y ago
    Ok, let's reverse it: most "courts" in medieval/renaissance times were at least as brutal (but possibly more) as the inquisition*. This is purely based on (non-Christian) historians' views, not mine. See for example [1,2] So I guess we can say that "the popular image that the medieval/renaissance trials is mostly untrue", then? I assumed not everyone knew/thought that these two things were mostly on par, but maybe it's just my ignorance. For sure I met people that thought that Galileo was burned at the stake, or at least tortured, when neither of that has happened. Were the other secret police services as brutally murderous as the NKVD? Maybe yes, then I'd argue that the popular image of the other secret police services are mostly untrue. Funny enough, you named this "Christian whitewashing" but historically the violence of the Inquisition was also exaggerated by protestants, who are also Christians, so... a case of Christian blackwashing? :) * as the comment from Bayart points out, I was referring (like the OP) to the medieval/Roman Inquisition, which is a different entity from the Spanish one [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medieval_Inquisition#Torture https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medieval_Inquisition#Torture [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Inquisition#Historiography_and_witchcraft_accusations https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Inquisition#Historiograp...
Bayart 4y ago
The Roman Inquisition is (it stills exists) a judicial body created with the explicit intent to prevent summary justice and its side-effects, as well as to stop superstitious practices (in particular relative to « witches », which the Church never accepted as real and saw as a manifestation of paganism). It was a considerably progressive institution if you consider the state of the rule of law and religious orthodoxy at the time. As a result, witch-hunting is a practice that blossomed in areas where Catholic institutions lost power during the Reform era. Your perception might be coloured by the Spanish Inquisition, which was under the command of the Spanish crown and was thus a civil institution first.