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August 2005
Dear friend of KHCS,
The Crusades! How many times have you
had that thrown in your face as an example of how “religion” is evil?
With the release this past spring of
the motion picture, “Kingdom of Heaven,” I feel it’s time to set the
record straight. Especially since the movie was about as historically
accurate as “Star Wars.”
So please allow me to bring you a
brief historical timeline of events leading up to, and after, the
Crusades:
For almost 1000 years, Christians from
Europe had been making pilgrimages to the Holy Land. Meanwhile, Muslims
had been spreading the new faith of Islam at the point of the sword,
conquering predominantly Christian North Africa by 690 A.D. The Muslim
armies conquered Spain by 711 and crossed the Pyreneés in their quest to
take over all of Europe. They were only stopped by a small army led by
Charles Martel at the Battle of Tours, in what is now southern France.
Islamic expansion to the east was
stopped when the Moslems fought the Chinese at the Talar River in 751.
In 1009, Caliph Hakeem ordered the
destruction of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and all Christian
edifices in and around Jerusalem. This was followed by a harsh
persecution of all Christians.
The Seljuk Turks conquered Jerusalem
in 1070, and by 1092 had taken all the Christian cities in the Near
East.
Thus, when the First Crusade began in
1096, there had been a centuries-long history of Islamic aggression
against Christians, Hindus and others. Thus, the Crusades were a series
of counter-strikes against the Arab world. Europeans were not alone in
this, as the Mongols invaded and sacked Baghdad in 1258.
It must be remembered that the
Crusaders were not a professionally-trained army with any sort of
military discipline. And not all of them could be considered
Christians. Many of them did indeed commit atrocities of various
kinds. But to suggest that the Moslems were sitting peacefully in the
Holy Land and were attacked by Christian aggressors is totally false.
But think about this: what would have
happened if Europe had become Moslem in the 8th Century?
What if King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella had not driven the Moslems out
of Spain in 1492? Remember, they celebrated by sending a Genoese sailor
named Columbus out to discover a westward route to China. And the rest,
as they say, is history. . .
While the Crusades were not nice, no
war is. But I don’t believe it is necessary to commiserate over the
past. Christians need to move ahead with Christ’s Great Commission to
bring the Gospel to the ends of the earth.
And here at KHCS, we are doing
our part to bring the Gospel to this end of the earth
─ the Coachella Valley and
surrounding desert areas.
Your tax-deductible contributions each
month enable this listener-supported ministry to bring you Information
and Inspiration, 24 hours a day. August is always a difficult month
for us financially. I ask you to please give generously this month.
In His
joy!
Glen Kippel
General Manager
P.S. This year’s Listener Survey showed a high
interest by our listeners in a program featuring interviews of local
pastors, artists and personalities. We have people available to produce
this program, but we only lack the funds with which to pay them. Your
contributions will help make this possible. Please pray and contribute
to meet this vital need.
Mailing Address:
KHCS - Joy92
PO Box 2507
Palm Springs, CA 92263 |
