Communism economy system is it good or.....?

[Soldier4Christ]

The Crusades of the 13th century were larger, better funded, and better organized. But they too failed. The Fourth Crusade (1201-1204) ran aground when it was seduced into a web of Byzantine politics, which the Westerners never fully understood. They had made a detour to Constantinople to support an imperial claimant who promised great rewards and support for the Holy Land. Yet once he was on the throne of the Caesars, their benefactor found that he could not pay what he had promised. Thus betrayed by their Greek friends, in 1204 the Crusaders attacked, captured, and brutally sacked Constantinople, the greatest Christian city in the world. Pope Innocent III, who had previously excommunicated the entire Crusade, strongly denounced the Crusaders. But there was little else he could do. The tragic events of 1204 closed an iron door between Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox, a door that even today Pope John Paul II has been unable to reopen. It is a terrible irony that the Crusades, which were a direct result of the Catholic desire to rescue the Orthodox people, drove the two further—and perhaps irrevocably—apart.

The remainder of the 13th century’s Crusades did little better. The Fifth Crusade (1217-1221) managed briefly to capture Damietta in Egypt, but the Muslims eventually defeated the army and reoccupied the city. St. Louis IX of France led two Crusades in his life. The first also captured Damietta, but Louis was quickly outwitted by the Egyptians and forced to abandon the city. Although Louis was in the Holy Land for several years, spending freely on defensive works, he never achieved his fondest wish: to free Jerusalem. He was a much older man in 1270 when he led another Crusade to Tunis, where he died of a disease that ravaged the camp. After St. Louis’s death, the ruthless Muslim leaders, Baybars and Kalavun, waged a brutal jihad against the Christians in Palestine. By 1291, the Muslim forces had succeeded in killing or ejecting the last of the Crusaders, thus erasing the Crusader kingdom from the map. Despite numerous attempts and many more plans, Christian forces were never again able to gain a foothold in the region until the 19th century.

One might think that three centuries of Christian defeats would have soured Europeans on the idea of Crusade. Not at all. In one sense, they had little alternative. Muslim kingdoms were becoming more, not less, powerful in the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries. The Ottoman Turks conquered not only their fellow Muslims, thus further unifying Islam, but also continued to press westward, capturing Constantinople and plunging deep into Europe itself. By the 15th century, the Crusades were no longer errands of mercy for a distant people but desperate attempts of one of the last remnants of Christendom to survive. Europeans began to ponder the real possibility that Islam would finally achieve its aim of conquering the entire Christian world. One of the great best-sellers of the time, Sebastian Brant’s The Ship of Fools, gave voice to this sentiment in a chapter titled "Of the Decline of the Faith":

            Our faith was strong in th’ Orient,
            It ruled in all of Asian
            In Moorish lands and Africa.
            But now for us these lands are gone
            ’Twould even grieve the hardest stone....
            Four sisters of our Church you find,
            They’re of the patriarchic kind:
            Constantinople, Alexandria,
            Jerusalem, Antiochia.
            But they’ve been forfeited and sacked
            And soon the head will be attacked.

Of course, that is not what happened. But it very nearly did. In 1480, Sultan Mehmed II captured Otranto as a beachhead for his invasion of Italy. Rome was evacuated. Yet the sultan died shortly thereafter, and his plan died with him. In 1529, Suleiman the Magnificent laid siege to Vienna. If not for a run of freak rainstorms that delayed his progress and forced him to leave behind much of his artillery, it is virtually certain that the Turks would have taken the city. Germany, then, would have been at their mercy.

Yet, even while these close shaves were taking place, something else was brewing in Europe—something unprecedented in human history. The Renaissance, born from a strange mixture of Roman values, medieval piety, and a unique respect for commerce and entrepreneurialism, had led to other movements like humanism, the Scientific Revolution, and the Age of Exploration. Even while fighting for its life, Europe was preparing to expand on a global scale. The Protestant Reformation, which rejected the papacy and the doctrine of indulgence, made Crusades unthinkable for many Europeans, thus leaving the fighting to the Catholics. In 1571, a Holy League, which was itself a Crusade, defeated the Ottoman fleet at Lepanto. Yet military victories like that remained rare. The Muslim threat was neutralized economically. As Europe grew in wealth and power, the once awesome and sophisticated Turks began to seem backward and pathetic—no longer worth a Crusade. The "Sick Man of Europe" limped along until the 20th century, when he finally expired, leaving behind the present mess of the modern Middle East.

From the safe distance of many centuries, it is easy enough to scowl in disgust at the Crusades. Religion, after all, is nothing to fight wars over. But we should be mindful that our medieval ancestors would have been equally disgusted by our infinitely more destructive wars fought in the name of political ideologies. And yet, both the medieval and the modern soldier fight ultimately for their own world and all that makes it up. Both are willing to suffer enormous sacrifice, provided that it is in the service of something they hold dear, something greater than themselves. Whether we admire the Crusaders or not, it is a fact that the world we know today would not exist without their efforts. The ancient faith of Christianity, with its respect for women and antipathy toward slavery, not only survived but flourished. Without the Crusades, it might well have followed Zoroastrianism, another of Islam’s rivals, into extinction.

[nChrist]

THANKS PASTOR ROGER!

That was a lot of information in a small package. As Christians, we should know that there will be wars and rumors of wars until the SECOND COMING OF CHRIST. ONLY GOD has the power to make peace, and only GOD has the appropriate attributes to GOVERN over the peoples of the earth.

Until then, there will be horrible atrocities effecting great hosts of people. People of morals, conscience, and of GOD will have to determine whether to sit and do nothing or get up and go to stop it. The atrocities I speak about are happening right now, and they effect millions of people - many of them completely innocent. Some of the atrocities are as basic as starving helpless people to death or otherwise killing them in the cause of genocide. The question should eventually arise:  is there a time when decent people have some moral obligation to do something about it? This sounds like an EASY question, but it apparently isn't in these confusing times that we live in. Should this question be easier for Christians to answer? YES - I think it should be! Has GOD ever led or sent HIS People into Battle? MOST OBVIOUSLY YES!

[Pizza_Mahal]

Thanks, Roger, I ever take notes (Copy and paste, of course), but where the reference? So when the fools will ask us, where we got it from.

Back to topic,

What is the differents between Communism and Socialism?

And is it pure capitalist came from The words of God?

I agree completely...however one cannot judge something always by it's relationship with something else.  Otherwise most people would relate Christians to the Crusades, the Inquisitions, the Salem Witch Trials....

I'll make another topic later.....
the title is "Christophobia".

[Soldier4Christ]

For some excellent information on the Crusades try "The New Concise History of the Crusades"  by Thomas F. Madden or "A Concise History of the Crusades (Critical Issues in History)"  by Thomas F. Madden

There is a lot of debate as to what communism and socialism is even among the communist and socialists. As most history shows communism is nothing more than a more extreme version of socialism. In either case they are both systems that lead to total domination of the people by the government.

And is it pure capitalist came from The words of God?

No. God does not advocate any type of economic system in the Bible. He did tell us that we should provide for the poor which many take as being socialism but it is not the case either.

[Brother Jerry]

No misconceptions on the part of the crusades.  Even as you pointed out in the information you had there.  The first few crusades were largely supported by the Church at the time.  Funded, blessed, and sanctioned.  The later crusades mostly were organized, funded, and operated by kings of the region. 

We also know that we as Christians understand that although Jerusalem does hold a special meaning in our hearts it is strictly a piece of land.  It has religious significance but does not hold any "spiritual" significance.  This is true today just as it was true 1000 years ago. 

I also understand the violent spread of Islam in the region.  And that initial crusades were to halt that aggression.  But even after Richard had succeeded in negotiating peace with Saladin, that lasted only a generation if not less before some different kings rallied the troops again.  Europe was not in pleasant times during this period at the beginning.  Europe was still coming out of the downfall of the Roman Empire.  One of the unifying factors of this time was the Catholic Church.  It was also during this period that the Catholic Church started to exert itself as a temporal authority, independent of the secular kings, over all of the Christian nations.  Thus birthing the Holy Roman Empire. 

The crusades were not simple acts of defense against the growing nation of Islam.  It also acted as a means for the Holy Roman Empire to expand its reaches as well.  One must also remember that there were crusades that ventured into "barbarian" territories in Northern Europe that were not Muslim. 

I maintain that the crusades were started first and foremost to battle the aggression of Mohammed.  To stop the violent expansion of Islam.  However like most everything, eventually it goes bad.  I think that crusades were used as an excuse to gain political power, money, and influence.  Not every crusade was in retaliation to Muslim aggression.

[Pizza_Mahal]

For some excellent information on the Crusades try "The New Concise History of the Crusades"  by Thomas F. Madden or "A Concise History of the Crusades (Critical Issues in History)"  by Thomas F. Madden

There is a lot of debate as to what communism and socialism is even among the communist and socialists. As most history shows communism is nothing more than a more extreme version of socialism. In either case they are both systems that lead to total domination of the people by the government.

I'll buy it, but I can't find on Amazon, but I did find The New Concise History of the Crusades (Critical Issues in History) and Crusades: The Illustrated History, they are both from Thomas F. Madden, is these okay?

No. God does not advocate any type of economic system in the Bible. He did tell us that we should provide for the poor which many take as being socialism but it is not the case either.

What about Moses times? Y'll know, how the Lord given laws to his people?


BTW= I always thought crusades are corrupt people claim to be righteous. But thanks to you, I begin to understand and I had to rewrite the story for the game.

I guess, I watch history channel too much, BBC or whatever. I hope our homeland is not like CCP, who try change the history.


Edit: Sorry DreamWeaver, I didn't see your post about Russia, I just starting to reading and note it.