Catholic historian, Lord Acton, said this bloodbath in the southern French region of Languedoc was where "religious assassination became Church policy" and "murder was made a legal basis of the Christian Church."
I guess Monty Python was right. "Nobody expects the Inquisition..."
Then again, some of us might.
"NOBODY expects the Spanish Inquisition! Amongst our weaponry are such diverse elements as: fear, surprise, ruthless efficiency, an almost fanatical devotion to the Pope, and nice red uniforms..."
Here's another interesting take on this deplorable history of slaughter that sounds more like Rwanda than Christianity...
"...This was the first time the crusade concept had been used against dissidents who called themselves Christian. "For twenty long years Languedoc and Provence in France were subjected to a blood bath which not only wiped out the most advanced culture of the time but introduced into the Church, and from there throughout the West, the rule that any ideological deviation must be crushed by force." -- The Waldensian Movement From Waldo to the Reformation, II, Growth and Reaction.
The more things change...
describing Lord Acton as a “catholic” historian is shaky.
He had an uneasy relationship with the Church.
Everyone has bias -and article with the op reeks of it.
I’m not saying a terrible thing was NOT committed against this religious group.
I just think the likely truth is the situation is much more complicated than the author presents.
I also suspect exaggeration and embellishment.
A key belief in Manichaeism is that there is no omnipotent good power. This claim addresses a theoretical part of the problem of evil by denying the infinite perfection of God and postulating the two equal and opposite powers mentioned previously. The human person is seen as a battleground for these powers: the good part is the soul (which is composed of light) and the bad part is the body (composed of dark earth). The soul defines the person and is incorruptible, but it is under the domination of a foreign power, which addressed the practical part of The Problem of Evil. Humans are said to be able to be saved from this power (matter) if they come to know who they are and identify themselves with their soul.
Manicheanism is a persian dualistic religion - not Christianity in any form. Ignorant authors and succulent readers should know better.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manichaeism