Three Examples Of Radicalized Christianity

Words: 1120
Pages: 5

Since the beginning of civilization, society has been driven by religion. In modern society, many people show off their religion, whether it is by putting it on social media, or on the back of a shirt. Religion unites humans in a way that nothing else can. While it can bring out the best in people, it can also bring out the worst. Like anything, too much religion isn’t always a good thing. Throughout history religion has been radicalized, turning the people who follow it into weapons. I hope to demonstrate three examples of radicalized Christianity, as well as their impact on the class systems at those times. The first example of radicalized Christianity is the Crusades. The Crusades was a time when the Catholic Church and its supporters fought …show more content…
However, how did a person who supposedly represented peace manage to get an army willing to slaughter any non-Christian that got into their way? While there is a multitude of answers for that, one of the major reasons was because the Pope promised them salvation. Basically, if you fight the war to retake the “Holy Land”, then you are granted an instant ticket to heaven. While this appealed to some of the common folk, it appealed substantially more for the heavy sinners. Murders, rapist, thieves, all kinds of these criminals and more signed up to fight off the debt of their sins. The kings also contributed to the Pope’s army by sending away knights that they disliked to fight in the war. The Crusades were beneficial in some way to almost every class system in Europe, though the merchant class received the majority of the benefit. Since a large number of the male population fought in the Crusades, war supplies was in high demand, especially when you are hundreds, or even thousands of miles from the nearest merchant. Something as simple as an extra shield or a warm blanket could be the difference between life and death for a Crusader. The merchant class saw the value …show more content…
In the Crusades the merchant class gained wealth from the war, and the lower class families suffered from the loss of their children. In the Reformation the church officials loss respect from the common population, and the common people began to live more independent lives from the Church. However, in the French Revolution, the impact of religion on the subcultures is less distinct. Ultimately the Church loss some respect from the commoners, however, the entirety of France suffered from the Revolution. During the Revolution, the classes system was flopped repeatedly, and when the commoners took over the roles of the people in the higher ranks, the people who supported the other officials conflicted with the new officials. Not unlike the Crusades and the Reformation, two parties, the Radicals and the Conservatives clashed over control of French society. This caused the already disoriented French society to be split up into groups, and caused rising tension between them. A third group was also formed in addition to the other two, however where the Radicals and Conservatives had values that were polar opposites, the Moderates had an equal compromise of both. With inexperienced commoners in high ranking positions, political and religious turmoil, French society was forever altered by the French