- Hardcover: 1 pages
- Publisher: PROMETHEUS BOOKS (Dec 31 1990)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0879755784
- ISBN-13: 978-0879755782
- Product Dimensions: 23.7 x 15.9 x 2.2 cm
- Shipping Weight: 576 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #2,222,173 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
The crimes of religion,
By A Customer
This review is from: Holy Horrors (Hardcover)
Very well written. Direct and to the point. Shows how religious beliefs are used as acts of violence against others of different faiths. Great read for the beginner or novice.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good introduction to religious violence,
By
This review is from: Holy Horrors (Hardcover)
The secular humanists have long pointed out the disconnect between religion and morality. This is a quick introduction to the violent side of religion.It is important these days to be familiar with the fact that Christianity, known as a religion of few gods and great violence, leads all the religions in the numbers of deaths it has caused. For almost 20 centuries, murder and torture was an official instrument of policy of the Catholic Church. Atrocities committed on behalf of religion were a main cause of the Protestant Reformation and the furious wars that followed resulting in the deaths of millions in Europe. It is difficult to understand the strong attitudes of our founding fathers about the need to control religion and keep it separate from state power without being familiar with the history reviewed in this book. If I have any fault with this book is that it ignores the violence perpetrated by Christians before the Crusades and even before Constantine. From the beginning, Christian leaders used violence as an instrument of policy. Early bishops often sent mobs of monks and thugs out to murder their rivals. St. Augustine sanctioned the use of force to bring pagans into the Church. He preached to landowners, telling them to hunt down the servants on their land and kill them if they did not submit to baptism. Historians have documented the effects of these practices, which culminated in the 6th-century order by Justinian that made pagan religion a capital offense. No one knows how many were put to death. For several centuries, the church was bent on destroying every vestige of pagan temples, books, libraries, schools, sanctuaries, and philosophy. As a result the teachings of the great scholars such as Plato and Aristotle were lost to the West until the 15th century. The book also ignores the religious violence perpetrated upon the inhabitants of lands conquered by Europeans. In the 17th century, conquistadors such as Coronado in North America was still killing Native Americans who did not submit immediately to baptism. This is a book that every student of religion should be familiar with.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wow! - I knew injustice was dealt out by religion - But wow!,
By Prescott E. Small "Prescott E. Small" (Splendora, TX United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)
This review is from: Holy Horrors (Hardcover)
This is an eye opening book. I knew religion has a horrible, murderous past that Hannibal Lector could only dream of. This book is a real eye opener and a truly sad tale of how much humanity has been and still is being brutalized in the name of god. It is embarrassing how much human ignorance is a tool twisted and used by the church to commit crimes against humanity. The amazing thing is Hitler can't even come close to the horrors of the church and its body count. He was but a drop in the bucket. This book also encompasses the horrors of many religions including ones I had only vaguely heard of, nor can I pronounce them correctly. I would say that every person considering a leap of faith should read this book first before throwing your soul into the hat so to speak.
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