[TaxRelief]

From Publisher's Weekly:

"[Kimball] contends that there are five warning signs that we can recognize when religion moves toward [evil]. Whenever a religion emphasizes that it holds the absolute truth-the one path to God or the only correct way of reading a sacred text-to the exclusion of the truth claims of all other religions and cultures, that religion is becoming evil. Other warning signs include blind obedience to religious leaders, apocalyptic belief that the end time will occur through a particular religion, the use of malevolent ends to achieve religious goals (e.g., the Crusades) and the declaration of holy war."

( Kimball, BTW, served as the director of the Middle East office of the National Council of Churches)

[thehumanlynx]

Crusades: evil -- I agree that killing people in the name of conversion is terrible.

Jihad: (to him) not worth talking about -- I would contend that it is worth mentioning in the realm of evil.

What is the point of believing in a religion if you don't consider it to be the true path to God? I see no point.

[sangrila]

http://www.campbell.edu/news/releases/sp05/ns_rel0040.html



I found this. It seems that this man does address the evil prvalent in Islam today. I cannot find the quote where he speciffically says crusades. It looks like people are misrepresenting this guy because they don't like this school.

[Aquinasfan]

the use of malevolent ends to achieve religious goals (e.g., the Crusades)

Ugh. This guy is ignorant of history. If not for the Crusades, Europe would have been overrun by the Mohammedans, and this spokesperson for the National Council of Churches would be speaking Arabic.