Hugh Fogelman
jdstone.org
Millions of African−Americans are Christians today because their ancestors were converted against their will to the religion of the slave-master.
Hundred of thousands of American& #8722;Indians are Christians today because the Christian missionaries converted their ancestors against their will.
In Europe, it was the same thing. When Rome controlled most of the world, the Roman Emperor, Constantine, in 325 CE forced Christianity onto his subjects.
The people of Lithuania did not become Christians because they read the Gospels and decided to accept their teachings. On the contrary, the people of Lithuania were forced into Christianity against their will, as a result of relentless military force.
From The Crusades, by Bernard Hamilton 1:
“In 1309 the Teutonic Order moved its headquarters to Marienburg in Prussia. It had a papal license to wage perpetual war against the pagans and used this to launch annual crusades against Lithuania. These expeditions were very popular the nobility of northern Europe: campaigns were held twice a year, in the summer and in the winter when the order laid on special Christmas festivities for visiting crusaders.”
“The excuse for men who enjoyed fighting and to lay waste large parts of Lithuania in the name of Christ was removed in 1386 when the King of Lithuania, Ladislas Jagiello, married Queen Jadwiga of Poland and received Catholic baptism. The two kingdoms were united under Christian rulers and the Teutonic Knights no longer had any justification for crusading against pagans there.”
Lithuania was not the first country that fell victim to a campaign of lethal military force, for the purpose of forced conversion to Christianity. Three entire European nationalities became victims of genocide because they refused to become Christians:
“…the Vandals, Ostogoths, and Heruli. The last three were destroyed by the Pope of Rome because they refused to become ‘Christian.’ The armies of Emperor Justinian, in cooperation with the Pope, thrust the Ostrogoths out of the city of Rome. They have become extinct.”2
Jews had to endure the sword too. Millions of Jews from the fourth century CE until the 20th Century were forced to “kiss the sword” of Christ, or be put to death by that sword. So very many Jews have died at the hands of Christians in the name of Jesus. However, many Jews managed to survive. They survived by lying―they converted, but secretly remained Jews. The Christian Church finally realized what was happening and in 1492, the Spanish Inquisition tried to purge the country of these “Secret” Jews, called Marranos.
Christianity cannot take any pride for their large numbers of subjects. Almost all Christian ancestors, Catholics and Protestants really had no choice in the matter. They were forced to accept Jesus as their Lord. Christianity was a forced religion. Today it is being forced in another manner, through an army of missionaries beating on your door.
Jews today know that their forefathers heard God speak to them at Mount Sinai, commanding them to follow His Laws. Christians today cannot make this claim. Perhaps this is the major reason for the anti-Semitism in Christianity―the hatred and jealousy of Jews throughout history.
