The Crusades: Salvation or Exploitation (Essay Sample)

THE CRUSADES: SALVATION OR EXPLOITATION.
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Abstract
This essay makes use of the tenth century anti-Muslim campaigns by early Christians to create a vivid picture of the immense power that crusades hold with regards to the salvation or exploitation of religious followers. The essay takes into account the early Roman Catholic Church usage of various crusades and its exploitation of religious and doctrinal differences between Christians and Muslims as a disguise to mobilize and turn early Christians against Muslims. The early Roman Catholic Church took advantage of the religious fanaticism of its followers to fight off Muslims and expand its sphere of influence on the global map. It managed to do so under the disguise of a holy war against early Muslims. The Roman Catholic Church made proper usage of various propagandas to solicit for support from its followers and justify its acts of aggression against early Muslims.
Keywords: Salvation, Christians, Exploitation, Muslims.
The Crusades: Salvation or Exploitation.
The early tenth century saw well-organized anti-Muslim campaigns by Christians (France, 2006).The Roman Catholic Church was at the epicenter of the whole crusade, the main reason behind these numerous anti-Muslim campaigns being the redemption of the Christian faith. The attacks were fueled by the stereotype of the Muslim sect as a blemish by early Christians. Tyerman (2009), argues that the proclamation of the first crusade by Pope Urban the second was the start of the close to the one-hundred-year long conflict between Muslims and Christians. Both were contesting and fighting over the complete control of the holy city of Jerusalem. In the course of the one-hundred-year long struggle between these two major religious groups, there have been a total of seven major anti-Muslim crusades by Christians. The main ideology behind the waging of war against Muslims by early Christians was the dogmatic belief that they would only get to go heaven by conquering the holy land of Jerusalem controlled by Muslims at that time (Tyerman, 2009).
Kedar (2014), explains that the holy land consisted of the present day Jordan, Lebanon and Israel. Most religious scholars perceive the numerous anti-Muslim crusades as acts of aggression by early Christians to protect themselves against a possible invasion of their territory by Muslims. Muslims under the leadership of Saladin managed to maintain control of the city of Jerusalem after winning the war against Pope Urban the third. Saladins' victory came as a shock to many Christian empires in the European continent.Pope Urban the third allegedly succumbed to a heart attack upon the reception of the news of his defeat by Saladin (Kedar,2014).According to France (2006), it is apparent that most early Christians who took part in these crusades against Muslims did so willingly. They were guided by the belief and firm conviction that it was their sole purpose to