[synwojciecha]

You are ripping the 4th Lateran Council out of its historical context. The heretics it dealt with were the Albigensians, not Protestants, who wouldn't surface for another 200 years. These were a vile sect that did such pernicious things as encourage people to starve themselves to death, to fornicate at will, and forbid the taking any oaths. Medieval society being based on oaths, they were a threat to the social order and perhaps civilization itself. The heresy had to be exterminated. In today's world the measures used in the 13th century would be seen as overly harsh, but this was a primitive time with primitive means.

Furthermore, it's not as if people were being indiscriminately killed. To be convicted of heresy, you had to be publicly spreading the pernicious doctrines of the sect, not merely privately adhering to it. If you recanted, your life would be spared. The numbers actually killed were small.

[OLD REGGIE]

... The heresy had to be exterminated. In today's world the measures used in the 13th century would be seen as overly harsh, but this was a primitive time with primitive means.

Furthermore, it's not as if people were being indiscriminately killed. To be convicted of heresy, you had to be publicly spreading the pernicious doctrines of the sect, not merely privately adhering to it. If you recanted, your life would be spared. The numbers actually killed were small.

You and SuperSpin should get together on your understanding of "exterminate". Don't you understand you must be a Catholic Hater to equate "exterminate" with "kill"?