Well, that's uncertain. Remember, the only documentation we have on the Albigensians is from the Catholic church; I'm also only speaking of the Albigensian branch of the Catharist. So, any other information, however true it may be, cannot be considered historical since the Catholic church is the sole provider of information. In order to determine whether the Albigensians were in fact peaceful you would have to read Church writings on them, and in any case, the non-perfects were not bound to the same moral standards as the perfects, in effect giving them a license to sin. By the way, my guess is that you will not find writings from the Church that is favorable to them; the only way your position can possibly be justified is by hypothetical guess.
However scarce they are, there exist some Cathar texts,
A question for you, though - do you find it even remotely possible that the information provided by the inquisition may not reflect the truth about the Cathars, only the way the church wanted to perceive them?
History is written by the victors.
They believed that the flesh was evil and must be destroyed. Much of their supporters were rich land owners.
Yes, all matter, including flesh was evil. Had to be destroyed - no.
Most of their supporters weren't Cathars, although they may have had some Cathar sympaties.
Their rejection of marriage meant that any offspring produced would not be cared for.
Only the Parfaits completely renounced marriage and sex. As for all the others, siring children may have been frowned upon but it doesn't follow they would have been abandoned. Remember that the Cathars believed in reincarnation; every newborn was potentially a person who hasn't reached the required spiritual state in his/her previous life.
Did I call them murders? No, I said that teaching a doctrine that convinces others to commit suicide is worst than murder.
You wrote: "It's apparent that it was the Albigensians who were liars, murders, and corrupters of the bible, not the Church.". I assumed you meant murderers.
Where did I say that the Albigensian crusade was not tragic? I only said, without specifying how, that they had to be dealt to save europe.
How did the death of a million harmless people save Europe? Saved from what?
It only showed the brutality of religious intolerance.
Lots of good things such as music and art came out of the medieval church.
That's a very one-sided statement. How about the medieval inquisition?
Who assassinated Pierre de Castelnau beginning the crusade?
The army of Raymond VI of Toulouse, who later joined the crusade. The counts of Toulouse were only interested in getting hold of the lands of Carcassonne and Beziers.
You have absolutely no proof of this, though
What proof do you have that the whole issue of the ritual suicide is more that just the catholic propaganda? Had the Cathars encouraged suicide, the crusade would not have happened. They would have all killed themselves instead of allowing to be captured.
