The College of Holy Cross, a Catholic school, has decided to drop its knight mascot and change the name of the school paper because it links them to the horrible violence that occurred during the Crusades. Because, you know, only the Christians did horrible things during the Crusades.
Campus Reform noted that last year a student-led forum fought to change the name of the paper because it has “the same title is also used by a newspaper published by the KKK.”
So the students and 48 faculty members sent a letter-to-the-editor demanding a change because it also promotes “Islamophobia.” They “argued that the 2016 election necessitated a change in both the paper’s name and the college’s mascot—also the Crusader.”
Those that defended the mascot reminded everyone the historical significance on the Crusades and that today many people overlook the fact that the Christians and Muslims BOTH “committed atrocities.”
Last month, the paper’s editors decided to change the name, but said they based their decision “on the association with the violence of the Crusades” and not the KKK.
The Board of Trustees looked over their work and decided to keep the name Crusader, “acknowledging that while the Crusades were ‘among the darkest periods in Church history,’ the college considers its students and staff ‘Crusaders for human rights, social justice, and care for the environment; for respect for different perspectives, cultures, traditions, and identities; and for service in the world, especially to the underserved and vulnerable.'”
This is a CATHOLIC school obviously led by people who do not know WHY Christians engaged in the Crusades. Maybe they do and they’re just giving into social justice warriors and political correctness.
Something tells me it’s the latter.
HOW. DO. I. HISTORY!?
Look, as a Catholic, I won’t deny the bloodiness of the Crusades. Did it get out of hand? Absolutely. Did the Catholics commit atrocities? Absolutely.
But let’s not forget that the Muslims did THE EXACT SAME THING. They are not innocent. After all, it was their invasion that began the Crusades, which took place between 1096 and 1291.
Oh, wait. I cannot say that because who cares about history? It’s all about the feelings. Yeah…I don’t care.
How did it start? Well, the first Crusade happened because the Byzantium Empire lost a lot of land due to the invasions of the Seljuk Turks (emphasis mine):
In 1095, Alexius sent envoys to Pope Urban II asking for mercenary troops from the West to help confront the Turkish threat. Though relations between Christians in the East and West had long been fractious, Alexius’s request came at a time when the situation was improving.In November 1095, at the Council of Clermont in southern France, the Pope called on Western Christians to take up arms to aid the Byzantines and recapture the Holy Land from Muslim control. This marked the beginning of the Crusades.Pope Urban’s plea was met with a tremendous response, both among the military elite as well as ordinary citizens. Those who joined the armed pilgrimage wore a cross as a symbol of the Church.The Crusades set the stage for several religious knightly military orders, including the Knights Templar, the Teutonic Knights, and the Hospitallers. These groups defended the Holy Land and protected pilgrims traveling to and from the region.
It seems nowadays that we are taught that the Muslims were the innocents in the Crusades when it reality, like I noted above, they had barbaric armies.
I minored in history in college, concentrating in Middle Ages and Renaissance, and in many of those classes we discussed the crusades and one battle really stuck out to me…The Fall of Acre in 1291. The fall of Acre eventually led to the loss of the Crusaders’ hold on Jerusalem.
Anyway, long story short, the Muslims, led by al-Ashraf Khalil, began a siege on the important city in early April 1291. His armies moved towards the towers by May, which caused people to run into the sea to avoid murder by the invaders.
Those who couldn’t leave…well, Khalil’s army either killed or sold them to slavery.
I encourage everyone to read up on the eight crusades, stories of how the Christians defended the Holy Land.
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