Question about the Inquisition

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In the talking with an Evangelical thread, a question about the Inquisition came up, and Cat Herder said that the inquisition was easier then the civil courts, and that the Pope protested Spain’s inquisition. I also noticed that the links were to places like Yahoo Answers and Wikipedia.

Anyhow, I am currently taking an argumentation class, and got an assignment where I have to debate to the class on the topic of religion (no individual faith named) is a net positive or a net negative for the world. The main arguments I am going to use is the scientific breakthroughs made by priests, the fact that the Church preserved so many important texts in the Middle Ages like Plato, and that most of the worlds wars/killing is not caused by religion. (Instead by Communism, Fascism, and conflicts over resources.

I thought that Cat Herder’s point about the inquisition could be very useful if an opponent tries to use that against me. The problem is that I would like to use a better source then Wikipedia. If anyone knows a good source that I could use to make that argument on the Inquisition, it would be very helpful.

One more thing I just thought about. Someone could site the Church’s stance against Galileo to debate me. I understand the Church’s position was against him writing in the vernacular but that they originally allowed him to do his work. Could someone correct me if I am mistaken and/or show me good sources for that. Any other good points that could be used in such a debate would also be helpful to me, thanks.
 
That sounds like an interesting assignment. Are you expected to consider religion as a whole, throughout all of human history? ie, include modern Muslim suicide bombers as well as Aztec human sacrifice? The scope of such an assignment seems too large to properly consider.

But, on the Catholic side, don’t forget about the social services that the Church has historically provided - hospitals, orphanages, elder care, soup kitchens, schools, universities, etc. For much of Catholic history, the Church was the only source of such services (and this is still the case in many regions).
 
DavidFilmer said:
That sounds like an interesting assignment. Are you expected to consider religion as a whole, throughout all of human history? ie, include modern Muslim suicide bombers as well as Aztec human sacrifice? The scope of such an assignment seems too large to properly consider.

But, on the Catholic side, don’t forget about the social services that the Church has historically provided - hospitals, orphanages, elder care, soup kitchens, schools, universities, etc. For much of Catholic history, the Church was the only source of such services (and this is still the case in many regions).
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I forgot to mention that I was going to bring those things up about charity.

The way that I planed to touch on the issue of violence is that killing is done all over the world for many different reasons. It is not religions fault that some people used it to justify all sorts of wrongs. Take out the religion, you still have killing. Ask the people who dies under Hitler and Stalin. I am going to point out that people experimented with the idea that religion causes war in the 20th century. Funny thing is that it is one of the bloodiest century in our worlds history, not because of the religious but the secular.
 
You might make a point about “what is religion”? For some people, their faith that aliens exist, without evidence, is a form of religion, even though they would refuse to acknowledge that.

You could do interesting things with that.
 
hockey-

Wikipedia is great for a “big picture” concept of a subject matter. For a more scholarly/valid “picture” access the works it cites; and do your own research that said cited material is scholarly/valid. Wiki is an easy way to find what works you need to actually look at.

As for war, its not just that “religion doesn’t cause war/conflict,” its “religion reduces war/conflict.” Modern Western thought concerning the use of war and the limitations placed on it can be traced back to the Church; and differs greatly from what was deemed acceptable prior to the Church. Outside of Christianiy, you could examine the built in limitations on war in Islam or the impact Buddhism played in regards to the Indian King Ashoka. This reduction of war/conflict, in my opinion is based on the fact religions view human life as sacred and its value above that of secular concerns [like nationalism, economics, social gain, etc.]. I also suggest you look into the French Revolutionary government and its actions for examples of what happens when one removes religion from the picture.

David-
-Muslim suicide bombers are an example of the dangers of extremism, not religion.
-Aztecs- one religion does not void the positive effects of all the others [Frank was a dirty cop, therefore all cops are dirty. or Communism is evil, therefore all secular political systems [like democracy] are evil.]
 
Well, I guess you could find a use for the links like:
Also, good articles in Wikipedia are essentially literature reviews and have some references - look for them too.

And, by the way, just as you can contrast “religious” wars and “non-religious” wars, you can also contrast Inquisition with its non-religious analogues, for example, Gestapo of the Nazis and CheKa/GPU/OGPU/NKVD/NKGB/MGB/MVD/KGB of the Soviets. In one case we see some mentions of criminals trying to end up in the hands of Inquisition. But can you even imagine a thief, robber or murderer trying to become a political prisoner so that he would be interrogated by Gestapo or CheKa?
 
hockeyfan said:
The main arguments I am going to use is the scientific breakthroughs made by priests, the fact that the Church preserved so many important texts in the Middle Ages like Plato, and that most of the worlds wars/killing is not caused by religion.
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You might want to look at the Church’s contributions in the area of Education and Healthcare as well.

I “heard” at some point during the recent Obama care debate that 25% of US hospitals are Catholic hospitals.

It would be interesting to see what percentage of Primary Schools, Secondary Schools and Universities were maintained by religious insitutions over the centuries.

Chuck
 
Also,

The most common error on the part of those who argue “religion causes war” is to cite a war in which religion was involved [Crusades being the number one example]. For some reason they seem to ignore political, economic, ethnic, social, and territorial considerations. The easiest way to counter this is to simply make a similar inane claim.

Pastries cause war- Pastry War
Animals cause war- Emu War, Pig War
Furniture causes war- War of the Golden Stool
Alcohol causes war- Rum and Whiskey Rebellions
 
hockeyfan said:
In the talking with an Evangelical thread, a question about the Inquisition came up, and Cat Herder said that the inquisition was easier then the civil courts, and that the Pope protested Spain’s inquisition. I also noticed that the links were to places like Yahoo Answers and Wikipedia.

Anyhow, I am currently taking an argumentation class, and got an assignment where I have to debate to the class on the topic of religion (no individual faith named) is a net positive or a net negative for the world. The main arguments I am going to use is the scientific breakthroughs made by priests, the fact that the Church preserved so many important texts in the Middle Ages like Plato, and that most of the worlds wars/killing is not caused by religion. (Instead by Communism, Fascism, and conflicts over resources.

I thought that Cat Herder’s point about the inquisition could be very useful if an opponent tries to use that against me. The problem is that I would like to use a better source then Wikipedia. If anyone knows a good source that I could use to make that argument on the Inquisition, it would be very helpful.

One more thing I just thought about. Someone could site the Church’s stance against Galileo to debate me. I understand the Church’s position was against him writing in the vernacular but that they originally allowed him to do his work. Could someone correct me if I am mistaken and/or show me good sources for that. Any other good points that could be used in such a debate would also be helpful to me, thanks.
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Don’t forget to argue that atheists are the most destructive people on the face of the earth.

Pol Pot and Stalin come to mind off the top of my head.
 
Thank you Army. I did know what you said about Wikipedia, but as I am sure you know, wikipedia is not meant to be used as a source. I liked your point on wars like the Whiskey Rebelion. Come to think of it, the Revolutionary War was over taxes, the French Revolution was over food and even as far back as Greece a war was started by a beautiful woman. (Helen of Troy)

Army, MPat and Leon, I will use all of your links. I have already read yours Leon, and found it to be very strong. MPat, you provided a lot, so it will take a little time before I read through all of it. In the mean time, what I skimmed makes me think I will end up using most of it.

Anyone who may have a useful point to such a debate, or a book/article that is useful, I would be happy to hear it. Thank you!

The reason why I am doing this is that I am going back to school for my Bachelors in both History and World Religion. At that point I want to go for my Masters in History. I want to find a specialization where I can focus on the religious history of the west. At that point, I want to teach at the community college level. Who knows, I have even considered a vocation from time to time and I may decide to take that education further.

Again, thank you for your help and God bless!
 
Thank you, everyone. I did my presentation today and got a 100/100! My professor told me after class that he was very impressed and that I accomplished the main objective of argumentation. (He defines that as planting a seed in the hearts and minds of the people who are listening) He believes that I may have influenced opinions.

Thank you to everyone who helped me find resources.
 
hockeyfan said:
Thank you, everyone. I did my presentation today and got a 100/100! My professor told me after class that he was very impressed and that I accomplished the main objective of argumentation. (He defines that as planting a seed in the hearts and minds of the people who are listening) He believes that I may have influenced opinions.

Thank you to everyone who helped me find resources.
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Congratulations on that! 🙂
 
hockeyfan said:
In the talking with an Evangelical thread, a question about the Inquisition came up, and Cat Herder said that the inquisition was easier then the civil courts, and that the Pope protested Spain’s inquisition. I also noticed that the links were to places like Yahoo Answers and Wikipedia.

Anyhow, I am currently taking an argumentation class, and got an assignment where I have to debate to the class on the topic of religion (no individual faith named) is a net positive or a net negative for the world. The main arguments I am going to use is the scientific breakthroughs made by priests, the fact that the Church preserved so many important texts in the Middle Ages like Plato, and that most of the worlds wars/killing is not caused by religion. (Instead by Communism, Fascism, and conflicts over resources.

I thought that Cat Herder’s point about the inquisition could be very useful if an opponent tries to use that against me. The problem is that I would like to use a better source then Wikipedia. If anyone knows a good source that I could use to make that argument on the Inquisition, it would be very helpful.

One more thing I just thought about. Someone could site the Church’s stance against Galileo to debate me. I understand the Church’s position was against him writing in the vernacular but that they originally allowed him to do his work. Could someone correct me if I am mistaken and/or show me good sources for that. Any other good points that could be used in such a debate would also be helpful to me, thanks.
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I found something that you may really like. In the past, there has been some controversy on Real Catholic Tv but I believe this episode that they did is real good and worth looking at.

realcatholictv.com/cia/11inquisition/

God bless.
 
Armyvet007 said:
Also,

The most common error on the part of those who argue “religion causes war” is to cite a war in which religion was involved [Crusades being the number one example]. For some reason they seem to ignore political, economic, ethnic, social, and territorial considerations. The easiest way to counter this is to simply make a similar inane claim.

Pastries cause war- Pastry War
Animals cause war- Emu War, Pig War
Furniture causes war- War of the Golden Stool
Alcohol causes war- Rum and Whiskey Rebellions
Click to expand...
How about the “Football (Soccer) War”–sparked by a soccer game between Honduras and El Salvador in 1969? Sports cause war.
 
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