Richard, thanks for sharing your perspective. I completely understand where you're coming from, and I appreciate you taking the time to comment. I want to be clear that this was not meant as an anti-Christian statement at all. The image I used showed Crusaders, but only as an example - not as a criticism of Christianity specifically.

You're right that the Crusades began as a response to earlier Muslim conquests, and that they were often framed as efforts to reclaim territory and defend the faith. But like most large-scale conflicts, they became complicated very quickly. Some campaigns did involve expansion, forced conversion, and political power plays. And that's not unique to Christianity - throughout history, nearly every major religion has, at one point or another, spread or defended itself through violence. The Muslims did. The Jews did. Even pre-Christian and non-Abrahamic faiths have done the same.

And just for clarity - it's not a "mistake" to say that some Crusaders spread their faith by the sword. If you read the actual history, that's exactly what happened in parts of Europe and the Middle East. For example, during the Northern Crusades, Christian armies invaded pagan regions in the Baltic and converted entire populations by force. That was a real campaign, authorized by the Church itself, sanctioned by the Pope.

My point wasn't to single out one group, but to highlight a broader human pattern. Across cultures and eras, we've often justified conquest or violence in the name of belief, nation, or progress. The hopeful side of that story is that we've slowly learned better ways to share ideas - through understanding, science, and dialogue instead of force.

That's the kind of growth I was trying to celebrate in the piece.

No, I never, for one minute (second even) construed that as anti-Christian. I just wanted to point out that it was remiss not to include the major "faith" that relies on conversion by the sword.
Unfortunately, in today's age of media flak, it  is hard for the Truth to get through uninjured.
That is why I love your tutorials/lessons and your ability to cut through the "fog" of illiteracy and come out with clarity, in your area of expertise.
-LLAP

Thanks, Richard I really appreciate that - and thank you for the kind words. You're absolutely right that it's hard for truth to cut through all the noise these days.

And yes, there's no denying that in modern times, many of the most visible acts of violence have come from extremist factions within Islam. One needs only to look at the World Trade Center. That's tragic, and it's fair to acknowledge. But if we take a step back in time - five or six hundred years - the roles were often reversed. There were periods when Christian nations were carrying out conquests and persecutions just as terrible, while parts of the Muslim world were leading the world in science, medicine, mathematics, and philosophy.

My point isn't to condemn or defend any particular faith, but to recognize that almost every civilization has gone through cycles of both brutality and enlightenment. Power, ignorance, and intolerance aren't bound to any one religion - they're part of the human condition. The hopeful side is that we can keep learning and evolving.

That's why I like to talk about "reflection" more than blame. The more we understand where we've all come from, the better chance we have at not repeating the same patterns.

LLAP, and good talk! I love this kind of healthy, mature discussion. It's nice to be able to share our differences of opinion in a thoughtful and respectful way.

Christianity and Islam are the two religions with the most followers in the world, so it is expected that they should have the most detractors as well.

"Decline of Christianity in the U.S. Has Slowed, May Have Leveled Off," says this article:

     https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2025/02/26/decline-of-christianity-in-the-us-has-slowed-may-have-leveled-off/

But it was still a steep drop from what was once over 90% to today's 63% of Americans who are Christians.

Kevin yeah, I read that Pew study too. The main takeaway seems to be that the decline has slowed more than anything else. Christianity isn't suddenly rebounding - it's just not dropping as fast as before. Pew attributes most of that leveling off to generational replacement - the older, more religious generations are passing away, while younger ones aren't becoming more religious as they age. So overall numbers are stabilizing, not growing. Still, it's an interesting turn. After decades of steady decline, even a pause suggests that American religion might be settling into a new equilibrium - smaller, but maybe more committed among those who stay.

It's interesting how that trend has flipped over time. A few centuries ago, Europe was far more religiously observant than America, with churches and clergy at the center of daily life. But now it's the opposite - most European countries have become largely secular, especially in places like Norway, Sweden, and the Baltic states, where only a small percentage of people regularly practice any religion. Meanwhile, in the U.S., being religious is still pretty mainstream. It's a fascinating reversal when you think about how history cycles like that.

The important thing to draw out of all of this; is that Man hasn't forgotten that he is a created being, and being such he owes his exitance to his Creator.  There is Good and Evil in all of the various religions. Even in those who claim no belief in a Creator. We need to keep pursuing the Good and avoiding the Evil.
Good day, gentlemen.

For a movie fan like me, the decline of religion has one big drawback: gone are all the big-budget religious epic films that the major studios used to make, like Ten Commandments (1956), Song of Bernadette (1943), Ben-Hur (1959), The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima (1952), etc.  Those are always a great experience, whether you are a believer or not (and I'm not -- not currently anyway).  Depiction of religious believers is not necessarily an endorsement of such belief, I should say.  And even if it's fiction, a film can still be enjoyed, since we enjoy all kinds of fictional films.  Oh, but a film about pedophilia in the Roman Catholic church?  Hollywood studios would jump on that -- an Oscar-winning film called Spotlight (2015) was made on this very subject.

Richard - I appreciate your comments. I completely understand and respect that viewpoint. For many people, faith provides meaning and comfort, and I have no problem with that at all. Personally, I've always leaned more toward science and evidence-based reasoning. For me, understanding comes from testing ideas, looking at data, and following where the evidence leads.

I realize that faith and science approach truth from very different directions. One starts with belief and seeks reassurance - the other starts with doubt and seeks proof. They often reach different conclusions, but I can still appreciate how faith gives people hope and a moral compass. We may take different paths, but many of us are still trying to reach the same place - understanding, compassion, and progress.

At the end of the day, I think we'd agree that whether one's guide is faith or reason, what really matters is choosing the "good" and avoiding the "evil," as you said - and that's something all of humanity can unite around.

Kevin - I agree completely. I loved those classic religious epics too - The Ten Commandments, Ben-Hur, The Robe - all beautifully made. Charlton Heston could make reading the phone book sound dramatic. I've loved his acting ever since I saw Planet of the Apes.

One thing that always struck me, though, was how graphic some of the crucifixion scenes were. The TV stations would play them every year around Easter, and my grandma would make me watch them. She thought it was a wonderful thing - "The Life of Jesus," all that good stuff. But to me as a kid, it was traumatizing. Watching the nails being driven into his hands and feet, the blood, the agony - I remember sitting there terrified. I know a lot of people find those scenes beautiful and moving, but for a six-year-old, that was nightmare fuel. I had bad dreams for weeks. Children can't truly process the meaning behind it or even understand the story that's being told. So when my kids were little, I skipped those movies until they were old enough to really understand what they were seeing.

That said, I've always enjoyed religious art, architecture, and history. You don't have to share the belief to appreciate the beauty or cultural significance. I loved seeing the inside of Westminster Abbey when I visited the UK recently. Standing there, you can feel the centuries of craftsmanship and devotion that went into every stone. So yes - you can absolutely admire those things without endorsing the doctrine behind them.

And remember... Soylent Green is people!!!