Yes.
My point is that The Inquisition, far from being a Christian invention (as the left incessantly harps) is actually an anomalous and temporary continuation of a facet of normal islamic culture that was imposed on Christians for centuries.
Yay for Elendur! I love it when someone has the cajones to defend the counter-Islam actions of Christianity.
If I may nit pick null and void:
You need to distinguish between the Papal Inquisition, the Spanish Inquisition, and local inquisitions.
Local inquisitions were an abuse of marginally Christianized kingdoms. Many kings came up with terribly un-Christian laws, such as the right to have sex first with any bride. When preachers opposed such repression, they were accused of heresy. In fact, charges of heresy simply the political tool by which any political opposition was oppressed. Methods used were absolutely barbaric, and made “inquisition” a rightfully terrifying word.
Eventually, Rome wised up to the gig, and, in one of the great innovations of the separation of Church and State, declared that the State did not have the authority to charge anyone with the crime of heresy, or “suspicion of heresy,” by which was meant any action through which heresy was inferred. Thus was established the Papal Inquisition, which continues to this day as the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, once led by Pope Benedict XVI.
The Papal Inquisition was a majestic leap forward in jurisprudence. Torture was banned: interrogation could not leave any lasting injuries, and “enhanced interrogation” could last no more than fifteen minutes, and could only be used once (thus further minimizing its usefulness in extracting false confessions).
The inquisition killed very few people. Most of those famous for being killed by the church were not, but were handed back to the state, for the inquisitions usurpment of ecclesiastical authority was tolerated because it did permit the State authority over crimes against the State, such as treason.
It’s the Spanish Inquisition to which null and void apparently refers. Rome permitted inquisitions only against those professing to be Christians. Muslim crypto-Christians presented a unique problem in Spain, for they threatened to pervert Christianity towards Islam. Recognizing this, and its own inexpertise at dealing with Islam, Rome permitted Spain its own local inquisition, bound by the same rules as all papal inquisitions.
The Spanish Inquisition’s great notoriety came from its treatment of the Jews. Jews were NOT subject to the inquisition, but the Spanish bumpkins feared the Jews as much as the Muslims simply because they were not Christian. When the inquisition refused to go after Jews, the locals took matters into their own hands. Rather than prosecute those who did so, Spain simply deemed itself too dangerous for Jews, and expelled them. The great suffering which accompanied the expulsion was blamed on the Inquisition.