[Antoninus]

Those who died fighting in the Crusades were considered martyrs. If I'm not mistaken, this also applied to those who attacked the Albigensians and Byzantines.

You thought wrong. The crusaders who sacked Byzantium were excommunicated as were those guilty of the worst excesses against the Albigensians.

Those of you who try to compare the bad behavior of some medieval nobles and knights who claimed to be Christian with the barbaric actions of "modern" Islamic types acting under the approving eye of their religious leaders are truly morons. Find me an instance of a Christian strapping a nail bomb to his body and blowing up a bus-load of children, or flying a jet-liner into a skyscraper--all with the tacit approval of the Pope. Then we can make a comparison.

[E Rocc]

Find me an instance of a Christian strapping a nail bomb to his body and blowing up a bus-load of children, or flying a jet-liner into a skyscraper--all with the tacit approval of the Pope.

There is, of course, no Muslim "pope". Many Islamic clerics denounce terrorism. Of course, if one nutbar who calls himself "imam" but is actually to Islam what Fred Phelps is to Christianity lauds the terrorist, we get to hear all about it (without hearing about how Phelps also glorifies Islamic terrorism).

-Eric