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And even then it's still debatable since the first one was allowed by the political arm of the Church and there was no theological backing behind the First Crusade either.

All wars eventually become political. So I would definitly not count the entire thing as a religious war.

God can defy everything if he is omnipotent/omniscient. If this is the case, he can defy the laws that bind us.

you are misinformed- the inquisition was all the Vatican, to the expense of Spainish monarchy. In fact, a particularly over-zealous Head Inquisitor was assassinated by Spainish aristocrats.

your understanding of christian theology is warped as well- if it was as you say, there would be no place for Jesus. He is the 'outside force,' the 'savior' from the wrath of god because mankind isn't perfect.


ohh I love this... it's like saying "just because CIA agents do it, doesn't mean it's endorsed by America"

yes. yes it does. Vatican Inquisitors went into christian countries, who allowed them to conduct their investigations to prove their loyalty to the Vatican, and recieved Vatican gold to cover the expenses incurred while doing so. it was a Vatican action.

christians killed with christian backing and used christian philosophy/law to justify it

but let's even ignore Spain- let's talk right there in the "holy city" itself, where Inquisition forces killed for possessing "forbidden materials," (one of which was actually the Christian bible translated into other languages... I'll never understand that one) where the printing press was actually illegal, where yes, they killed Jews and held pogroms. (I'm seeing a pattern)

A little late but here's my opinion:

I believe in subjectivity. I don't know what makes you think that Christianity is the most "screwed-up" religion. Some issues I have picked up from reading the comments are: their history (wars), the lack of proof (of the existence of a Christian God), and the theory that they hate Atheists.

1. In my studies of history, I have learned that people will find reasons for war (the underlying reason is usually money) and reasons to hate each other. For a period of history, people used religion. Then, when the power of certain religions have faded, people drew lines in the sand and created "countries" so that they could war again. Now everyone fights for nationality. (But really still for money =/).
But, as a whole, I don't really believe you can judge a religion by its past. To me, that is just as ridiculous as judging today's America for the encampment of Japanese Americans during the Cold War. This country is not the same today.
Also, I know that there were many wars under the banner of Christianity, but if you logically consider that almost all trained men, including doctors, were trained by the Church, you may see the scales as a little more balanced.

2. I understand that there may be Christian people in your life that do not have proof of their God, but act like they do, and that this may frustrate you. My own family does this to me, and attempts to reject my beliefs as a result. But I don't see them as "screwed up". If I was an atheist I would think:
I have no proof that God doesn't exist, so what's the difference between them and I? Once science has proof against the existence of God, then I can tell them their religion was "better off never made". (And, if you think that science has disproved God, I'm sorry but you are misinformed. As far as I know, intelligent design has not been disproven: http://www.intelligentdesignnetwork.org/ )
But, I consider the whole debate - science vs. religion - to be pointless. I believe religion and science are both completely correct. I use God for a purpose: proving comfort, companionship, direction, etc. Why does God have to be anything more? What is "real" anyway? If I have a dream, it was all in my mind, and I can never prove it - was it a "real" dream? And does it really matter? I experienced it, so the experience was real enough for me.

3. Just so you know, I was a Christian, and many of my friends are Christians. Many of them are also Atheists. They seem to get along quite well. I know you didn't mean to say that all Christians hated all Atheists, but I just wanted to say: Please believe me: they don't. And I don't hate you. I appreciate you giving me a chance to hear myself talk (type) ^^.

i realize I'm a late comer here ;D But, prove to me, a Christian, that God does not exist. Asking for proof of God will not get you anywhere. There is a reason why there is a word called "faith."

The burden of proof is on you to prove god. Proving something doesn't exist is pretty much impossible and accepting something as true because there is no evidence for it not existing is not very efficient - you'd be believing almost anything anyone tells you.
And there is a reason why faith is a horrible way of accepting things as true - it's accepting them as true without evidence and sometimes in spite of evidence to the contrary. I've never understood why faith is supposed to be a virtue.

I'm also a late comer xD But who cares...

Well, my opinion:

First it's really impossible to prove the existence of G-d because you aren't able to do it. And even if someone tries to give a proof either he or she would be called mad or you just would shake your head. It's impossible.
And I also don't understand why you call the Christian belief screwed up. It's okay if you had said that it's the belief you can believe the least but to call it screwed up isn't really respectful, is it?

Weren't the Crusades both because of political and religious reasons?
They wanted to have the land under their control because there they believed is Christ's grave and they wanted to free it from the "non-believers". And politicaly... well, they would gain land. Or did I mix it up? I'm not quite sure xD

[Sorry if I make mistakes ^^;;]