Opening Comments

This blog will seem to wander between odd and arbitrary topics -- but, there will be an underlying theme.

The central theme is that I am fatigued. With propaganda, that is. I've come to the (admittedly jaded) conclusion that we are all relentlessly propagandized from birth to death. And I'm tired of it. Now, past the statistically-predicted halfway point of my life, I have grown sick of being told how I should think about things, and I am weary of seeing how often the same old ideas are reinforced in numerous types of communication and media.

The image in this post is symbolic of one example of the propaganda. It may appear to depict events of long ago, but one doesn't have to search long on terms like Cathar and Albigensian Crusade to realize that there is no shortage of opinions supporting the actions of the Church in this period.

So as not be coy, I'll say straight out that the actions of the Church and the "noblemen" they employed to execute the crusade were those of remarkably intolerant, power-fixated monsters. A telling quote about this disgusting episode of history is revealing:

The history of the deeds and actions of these persecuted [Cathar religious leaders] might well have proved as rich in inspiration and instruction as that of a Francis of Assisi: they too were messengers of God's love. It is not immaterial to recall that these torches were put out for ever, their faces obliterated and their example lost to all those whose lives they might have guided during the centuries that followed. Nothing can make reparations for this crime against the Spirit.

(from Z. Oldenbourg's Massacre at Montségur, Pantheon Books, New York, 1961)

The propaganda about the Albigensian Crusade is designed to excuse the Church for its responsibility in calling for the Crusade, and to excuse the reprehensible actions of clerical fanatics whose inhumane behavior justified the Cathar belief that the Church in Rome was the seat of Satan. Amazingly, it is still easy to find those who will defend the Church's actions during this period with gusto! Well known historians continue to present the Church's case, refusing to consider how things must have looked through Cathar eyes in the dark days of the 1200's.

Next post, I will present a couple examples of this. It is just more of the propaganda of which I have grown exceedingly tired, and I feel compelled to share some of these insights.