Torture and Suffering in the name of God
When I was a child I was pretty cruel. I no longer engage in such cruelty — which assumed various forms and those manifestations were not subject to regret until much later in my existence.I have since encountered people, particularly but not exclusively females, who are by comparison much more cruel than I ever envisioned behavior in this time. They will lie, cheat, steal, and fornicate to get ahead and that is simply the way some of my cohorts at work have been.
 Tomas de Torquemada The Grand Inquisitor October 14, 1420 - September 16, 1498 |
He was an officer of the church called the "Grand Inquisitor" and in the name of God he would inflict aggregious bodily harm on so-called blasphemers who were primarily Jewish and Muslim individuals captured for conversion to the "one true church" according to them.
Tomas de Torquemada, aka Thomas of Torquemada, was a Dominican friar of Castilian origin and first Grand Inquisitor in Spain's movement to bring all persons into the Catholic Church or send them to God if they refused.
This transpired in the late 15th century and became known as the Spanish Inquisition resulting in expulsion thousands of people of Jewish and Muslim faith and heritage from Spain in that misguided attempt to bring everyone into a single compliant catholic fold.
Life was such that it was simply expedient in all aspects to convert to catholicism or die. The fear invoked at the thought of being the subject of the Grand Inquisition was enough for many to convert. Other more staunch adherents were tortured for their piety and many murdered by Saint Peter's Holy See congregation.
In retrospect, it is no wonder that my personal opinion of the catholic church with the passing of John Paul II has suffered over the years. The present regime with two incompetents playing pope simply aggrevates my disdain for what I view is pure evil in religion even more.