What inquisition?

Apparently, the Catholic church downplayed to death count due to inquisition while they asked to be forgiven for it. http://after-words.org/grim/mtarchives/2004/06/Jun161425.shtml
According to skeptics, religious violence has led to many millions of murders, not just through Christians or inquisition, in the past millennium. http://www.theskepticalreview.com/JAHPoliticsDeathToll.html
How then am I to reconcile the church's apology, the fact of the killings, Christians' destruction of sacrificial "pagan" beliefs around the world, skeptics' accusations about religion as a source of violence, and the assertions of other Christians I know personally that none of them would support such actions? How then, also, am I to handle the remains of my pagan heritage, destroyed as it were by evangelism? Should I claim the Catholic supplanters' faith, the older beliefs, both, or neither? Which path would gain me the richness of an established tradition which will live on for generations after me? Sometimes we cannot learn answers, only questions. The rest is up to us. I sure wish I had a narrative to guide me, but the clearest story in the Bible is actually composed of four viewpoints, and the ancient narratives of my culture appear to be lost.
I guess I should love each person, as Jesus would do. Then, I should judge their actions as closely as I can to how God would. It comes down to credibility, after all. We shall know them by their fruit, not what they say or what they believe. A Satanist who harms no one is a good person. A Christian who engineers the destruction of others is evil. My beliefs do not change. Like a skeptic, I say that I have a higher standard of morality than Christians. Knowing skeptics, I believe I am more truthful than they.

Literature vs. politics

Imaginative literature - science fiction and fantasy - is much more than escapism. By creating new cultures and scenarios, we create a rare opportunity for people to step outside their own reality, and freely consider the real issues in their lives. The mythology we are creating in this age is the cure for ethnocentrism. And no, Virginia, we are not going to cram ourselves into the Western Judeo-Christian conception for our stories. I don't think a black and white fantasy world, no matter how many millions we spend on the special effects, is going to get people out of the current black and white thinking which dominates American culture and led us to be the largest negative influence on the world.

Fundamentalism isn't Christianity

Thought of the moment

Atheism, the religion

Atheists may claim they have no religion, aren't religious, don't believe in God. The first two claims are called into question when atheists try to spread their beliefs in a manner very similar to some evangelical Christians. The "truth," available to you free. If you say this 'prayer,' your life will change for hte better.
Even if I believed that Jesus' story was a myth, and I've examined quite a bit of evidence against that, I still think following his teachings would do a lot more for individuals and societies than joining the "I don't believe in God" club.
http://www.blasphemychallenge.com/
I didn't watch their "critically acclaimed" documentary "The God Who Wasn't There." I did watch their trailer. They take the religious right, the most extreme among them such as Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson, and they don't mention any of the good done by Christians in the world. I don't like the religious right either, and I prayed for Jerry Falwell's sould because I worry what God thinks of him. I am a Christian and I don't believe in hating everyone for God, nor do I believe in a Rapture iwhtin the next 50 years.
Then they examine the "hero story" and imply that the Jesus myth is just like every other myth about virgin birth and resurrection and ascendance into Heaven. That's their opinion, since there is no strong proof. The Bible is printed more than any other book, and before printing it was copied or memorized more than any other book. It's a little harder to find copies of these supposed texts which Christians plagiarized. No one wanted to keep them, apparently. Maybe it's because the Bible offered them good news and a better life, something no other myth did.
A persecuted minority of Christians, formed from a bitter minority of Jews in the Roman Empire, probably didn't have the power to establish a religion that didn't work or wasn't original. there were plenty of religions at that time, even though there are many fewer now.
I looked up the "documentary" on Wikipedia. It didn't express opinions about the film so I'm not getting any from them. Let's just talk facts: everyone interviewed in the film, except one, has written something claiming Jesus is a myth. That's called card-stacking in the world of public relations. It's a sign of propaganda. The other one interviewed: a Christian accuses the documenter of misrepresenting himself, and walks out.
It's awful easy to make something look true when you only ask people who already believe it, and ignore those who believe differently. Please people, relieve yourselves of the 'Jesus is a myth' myth.

To Those Who Take the Bible as the Perfect Word of God:
To accept your truth, I must deny everything I know. I must say that my accomplishments which make myself and others happy and which make the world a better place are worthless. I must become nothing to be anything to you. I cannot conceive of a transcendant love which would wish that loved ones are nothing. You are the anti-example of Christ's love.
Through doubting, questioning, and discovering great men of faith became more faithful and influenced Christians and others to this day. Why then should I deny my questions and simply accept things at face value?
The Bible is not the Word of God, unless I believe it is. There is no evidence that it is, neither does that matter to me in my faith. The Word is not the Truth. The Truth transcends the Word.
If I am to trust the Book and not the words of men, shut up. Everything you say must be a lesser version of the Truth if I believe you at that point.