Christians aren’t always saints
When Oliver Cromwell took over as Lord Protector of England, he thought of himself as a deeply Christian man.
As leader of the Puritan Army, he was dedicated to purifying the Church of England of all traces of popery (i.e. Roman Catholicism). In his eyes, being a Catholic was nothing less than being a heretic, so when he took his army into Ireland, he put entire towns to death, including women and children. About 20 years later, the French Catholics showed their piety during the St. Bartholmew’s Day massacre, and slaughtered thousands of Huguenots (French Protestants).
My point is this: Islam does not have a monopoly on murderous fanatics. The recent IS-inspired terrorist attacks in Turkey and Indonesia (both Islamic countries) shows how twisted their theology is, but to claim that Christians aren’t capable of such savagery is clearly not true.
Brent Dannells, Pismo Beach
This story was originally published February 20, 2016 at 8:40 PM with the headline "Christians aren’t always saints."