The generalization and lack of nuance in these statements astonishes me. I have seen you make equally broad statements before so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.
The crusades were not good.
And if Jesus would have thought they were good then He was not who you think He was.
Native Americans were not “savages” any more than Europeans were. Both sometimes committed savage acts.
The European wars and conflicts during the 15-1900s were often far more brutal and widespread than any Native American wars.
Ritual sacrifice was practiced in Europe at times in history, and the witch-burning (burning of wise women herbalists and midwives) was its own form of insanely misguided ritual sacrifice.
Would Jesus have supported this or the uncountable other brutal acts committed in his name during the crusades?
Hawaiians had been united through war under King Kamehameha and were largely living peacefully and with relatively very little conflict (even if you as a pure Christian would not approve of all of their ways, but is that not the point you were making at the very beginning of this thread, that creation itself has brought forth, different cultures and ethnicities?). Between the whalers, the missionaries, the sandalwood cutters (decimating the forests) and the plantation owners (decimating and poisoning everything else), the overall genocide wiped out 80% of the population. Is that what Jesus would have wanted?
While Africans may have been slave traders already, once the Europeans arrived the trade exploded. As my Mama always said, “Two wrongs don’t make a right”. I somehow doubt Jesus would have disagreed with her on that.
While war seems inevitable for an unevolved species such as ours, it doesn’t mean we must continue condoning or supporting it.
And using power over others, whether physical, emotional or mental only shows a lack of respect for the sovereignty of the other. Of course, when someone is being threatened or hurt, then protective use of force is necessary, but I am referring above to unprovoked use of power-over.
Jesus himself is said to have said:
"Do to others as you would have them do to you." (Luke 6:31)
"For all who take the sword will perish by the sword." (Matthew 26:52)
To this day I fail to comprehend how Christians can support violence in Jesus’ name.
