Debate:Crusades... Good or Bad?

Were the Crusades Good or Bad

Good

The first crusade was fine. It was wrong of the Muslims to be killing pilgrims who traveled to Jerusalem. It was okay to fight back. Today, if a nation took over Jerusalem and started killing Christians who wanted to visit it, we would definitely fight back. On the other hand, the second and fourth crusades were not right and have left an embarrassing scar on the Christian world to this day. I don't know whose idea it was to sack Constantinople, but it shows the true state of these other crusades. The third crusade was a slight exception to this general state of the later crusades, but its motives are debatable. I suppose that this whole argument really boils down to weather war is "right" or not. PhilipB 14:00, 13 December 2006 (EST)

Bad

Contrary to what some people believe I believe there is no such thing as a just war because war in and of itself is unjust, calling it a “Holy War” doesn’t change anything in fact it makes it worse because you are lying to yourself and your comrades ( no war is holy, just like no war is just.) The reason we know that no war is holy or just is that it is not just or holy to kill people for personal gain( if that is just then why are there laws and commandments to follow?). War goes against our teachings because we learn from the Bible and Jesus’ teachings to treasure human life and to be compassionate towards each other. You are neither treasuring human life nor being compassionate when you are killing your neighbor. Billy M.=)

I Hate to say it but I Agree with Billy here, but not for the same reasons. You can't justify a war just to protect pilgrims. It was not necesary for christians to make pilgrimages to Jerusalem. Unlike Islam Christianity does NOT requre pilgrimages. Jerusalem was nothing more than a tourist attraction. The Christian Pilgrims should have been smart enough to not go there because they could be killed. There is no justification for the crusades as a "Holy War." Christianity is not a violent religeon. We do not start wars just because some Christians get murdered, if we did, we would be at war with China and many other countries that persecute christians. A Country has a right to controll who comes into that country. The Muslims had a right to control who came to Jerusalem. This does not mean that they were justified in killing the christians, but the christians should not have assumed the right to go wherever they wanted regardless of the wishes of the people who live there. If muslims all of a sudden decided that they wanted to make pilgrimages to America for some reason, and did not think that the American government should have a say in the matter, we wouldn't let them would we? There may have been justification for a political war against the muslims, if they were a threat to the the european countries. Even if there was reason for a political war, the crusades went way too far, and there was no justification for a holy war. The Pope was wrong to promise spiritual benifits to those who fought in the war. He tricked many people into joining the crusades because they thought that it would make them go to heaven if they died. Also most of the crusades were only fought for ambition and plunder.

Tim