Will Christians ever express remorse for "witch" burning?

[Huwy]

Are any christians ever going to apologise on behalf of all the "witches" that were burnt at the stake by their christian ancestors?
I mean, now we know there is no such thing as witches, which should have been evident, because the idea was that witches wouldn't burn, but real people would - and guess what? They all burned.


I express remorse over the vietnam war, the iraq war, etc etc and I had nothing to do with them. I apologise on behalf of my country's leader's lies, and wrong decisions - that have contributed to taking the lives of hundreds of thousands of innocents between the 2 wars.

 

[Clockwood]

Didn't the last pope apologise for the inquisition? I think witch burning might be coveredunder that.

 

[Huwy]

I'm not sure - It took him until 1992 to apologise to Galileo.

 

[cole grey]

It was all my fault.
I'm sorry.

No, seriously, that was straight evil to burn innocents, and burning witches because they didn't believe what the establishment believed was straight evil too.

Evil.

Edit- P.S. I voted for I believe witches exist today - some of them believe in "evolution" - just because it was so funny.

 

[qwerty mob]

It was all my fault.
I'm sorry.

lol~ I just snorted my coffee...

 

[Woody]

I didn't think the puritan rituals were fair -- far from it. I actually resent what was done by those people. Gulliver's Travels illustrates the "no win" conditions that were set up to prove a person was a witch.

For example: A supposed witch could be identified by throwing them in water -- if they sank then they weren't a witch -- if they floated then they were a witch. When this "proof-positive" method was used, the "innocent" party drowned to prove their point -- great intellectual reasoning here ***. Either way the person is out of the way because someone didn't like them.

Then there was the Grand Inquisition performed by the Catholic Church, where many of my fellowbelievers were burned at the stake simply because they would not submit to the church politics: If a person read a bible they could be burned at the stake. Ignorance of the bible was preferred for the laity -- this allowed the church leaders more latitude to "write their own rules" to their own advantage,

 

[Mythbuster]

We're in the most prosperous age mankind has ever known. You think because of some horriffic modern incidents it's logical to infer that society is totally degraded?

The pot was used to boil witches/ heretics.
Hmm, sounds kinda painful.

Forerunner to the guillotine, the falling board wasn't used to cut someone's head off. Instead, the blunt edge of the wood was hammered into the neck vertebrae, causing paralysis and a slow death.
That one sounds a bit cruel and insane.

Cold or red-hot, the four points of this instrument ripped away the breasts of countless women condemned for heresy, blasphemy, adultery, and witchcraft.

Those methods of torture were used in the Dark Ages, hundreds of years ago. If you were alive in that time, you'd probably say, "Civilization is becoming more primative/savage, we're all doomed," however, we're all here today, living in MUCH more peaceful and free times (atleast, a lot of the world is more peaceful and free, atleast a great deal than ever before in history, there are still some exceptions of course).

So some girl got back together with a violent boy friend... :huh: Okay, that's one crazy bitch. Countless good things happen even when horrible atrocities occur. Babies are born, people fall in love, someone graduates from an Ivy League school.

There's no need to worry about any horriffic things you hear about to the point where you question whether this society will lead to a traumatic downfall or not, there are plenty of logical, reasonable, peace loving people in the world to keep the crazy ones in check. Sometimes people have the tendency to believe the world is evil, all the people are insane, mankind is doomed. I see this as illogical as believing that the world is sunshine and daisies up your ass 24-7, life is all smilies and unicorns, sadness doesn't exist, happy happy joy joy. Life is both good and bad, life encompasses both concepts.

As for this society, no, I don't think it's going downhill.

 

[snake river rufus]

While I do think that xians should apologise, I doubt that they will ever do so. doing 'gods work' and all

 

[§outh§tar]

Should white people today apologize for slavery and extermination of Native Americans?

 

[snake river rufus]

Slavery? yes, but not forever.
Extermination of Native Americans? Yes, where that was done deliberately.
Since both of these have been apologised for many times, my question would be "How much longer?"

 

[Huwy]

Thanks mythbuster i found your opinions on society NOT going downhill reassuring.
Been a bit concerned lately, what with the neocon's and fundamentalists re-taking power.

I don't think people should say "I'm sorry" as much as "I'm sorry to hear that" or "I'm sorry that happened".
I also don't think people should need to constantly apologise all the time, or feel personally guilty - but now and again to express a bit of remorse, is a very noble thing to do i think.

 

[spidergoat]

They should apologize for continuing their policies of demonizing anyone that conflicts with their set of cultural rules. Christianity has been from the very beginning (when it was called Judaism) a method of maintaining priestly power, male dominance, and subversion of the earlier Goddess-oriented partnership societies.

 

[Medicine*Woman]

*************
M*W: Saying one is sorry and asking for forgiveness are vastly opposite. As Americans, we can say "we are sorry" for what our white ancestors did to Native Americans, and we can sincerely mean it, even though we weren't there and took no part in the American Inquisition. In some infinite capacity, we are responsible in that we still carry the genes of our guilty ancestors. We can say "we're sorry" till hell freezes over, but asking for forgiveness crosses over the generations between us. To be truly forgiven is to not make the same mistake again.

Embracing a guilty religion is another matter that goes much deeper than national fervor. We are aware of what our religious ancestors did during the Crusades and the Christian Inquistion, and I believe we are still truly sorry to this day that our genes could have stooped so vile to torture and kill innocent people (9 million women). Our continuing to ask for forgiveness for these atrocities means nothing. If a person is truly sorry and begs forgiveness for these crimes, they wouldn't embrace christianity. It's that simple. For those christians who continue to proclaim they believe the truths of their religion, are not sorry for the guilt they bear from what their ancestors have done. They are not asking for forgiveness or redemption from their genetically transmitted guilt. In fact, the only way they could truly be sorry for the crimes of Christianity their ancestors committed would be to deny their faith. Those who refuse to leave christianity, still carry the crime and the guilt in their genes, and they will not be forgiven for what their religious ancestors have done to hurt mankind.

 

[cole grey]

Should white people today apologize for slavery and extermination of Native Americans?

That was my fault too...

But seriously, I am sorry that happened, and taking it a step further, redress is in order.
When I hear people say, "the indians need to pay taxes on their casinos", from other californians I snort my coffee and say, "they already gave us malibu, the hollywood hills, santa monica, santa barbara, palm springs, big sur, san francisco, etc...".
Also, some of the wealth that has passed down through the generations, money earned by slavery, needs to be distributed to programs that help oppressed peoples. Anything else is unfair, period.
The problem with redress is that the money they can raise is so inconsequential that it becomes an insult.
The real point is that affirmative action and tax breaks for indian gaming, and all the rest are the least we can do.

 

[snake river rufus]

Is there a Native american or afro-american alive today that has suffered directly from events of 100 years (or more) ago? How would we make redress to people now dead?

 

[RubiksMaster]

That is precisely why I don't owe anything to the "witches" that people burned a long time ago. I don't owe shit to witches, native americans, or blacks. And if you think that MY being a Christian somehow entitles SOMEBODY ELSE to an apology, frankly you can kiss my ass.

 

[Hapsburg]

Is there a Native american or afro-american alive today that has suffered directly from events of 100 years (or more) ago? How would we make redress to people now dead?

In Haiti, yes. Because, when France recognized Haitian independance, they forced the Haitian government to pay a massive indemnity in reparation to former slave-holders. The reprecussions of this is still being felt today, as Haiti's economy is still crippled, in part because of the indemnification and in part to thier history of unstable rulers.

 

[ddovala]

If christians should appologize, then anyone who had a christian ancestor should appologize too.

 

[Medicine*Woman]

If christians should appologize, then anyone who had a christian ancestor should appologize too.

*************
M*W: You are right, and I agree with you. Those who embrace christianity today are just as guilty as their ancestors.

 

[Adstar]

Are any christians ever going to apologise on behalf of all the "witches" that were burnt at the stake by their christian ancestors?
I mean, now we know there is no such thing as witches, which should have been evident, because the idea was that witches wouldn't burn, but real people would - and guess what? They all burned.


I express remorse over the vietnam war, the iraq war, etc etc and I had nothing to do with them. I apologise on behalf of my country's leader's lies, and wrong decisions - that have contributed to taking the lives of hundreds of thousands of innocents between the 2 wars.

Christians never burnt witches.

And your apologies over the Vietnam war are worthless. The only apology of worth comes from the one who took part in the wrong doing. You thinking that the children bear the responsibility of their ancestor’s wrong doings leads to situations like the Balkans. People carrying out vengeance because of a wrong doing perpetrated upon their distant ancestors.



All Praise The Ancient Of Days