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On July 14, 1099, an army of 40,000 Christian soldiers amassed at the walls of Jerusalem. Within days, nearly 40,000 Jews and Muslims had been massacred – with the survivors sold into slavery – in the name of Christ. The Christian soldiers bragged of city streets so thick with blood that the hooves of their horses became stained.
In the modern day, there is no question that this act would be called genocide. A city was invaded on the basis of religious beliefs; the original inhabitants were slaughtered. To add insult to grievous injuries, the reasoning for this slaughter came from the religion whose spiritual claims lie in the words of Jesus Christ, whom the Muslims describe as “The Prophet of Love.” Instead, it was called The Crusades, and it was only the first of many.
All of this happened more than 1,000 years ago and history is rife with counter-examples of extremist actions taken in the name of some holy book whose message of love tends to be ignored when politically inconvenient.
However, I have to ask myself, when I pass by Memorial Union and see the sing-a-longs of Christian songs performed by Campus Crusade for Christ, if they are all that familiar with the idea that their name stands for: The bloody persecution and slaughter of non-believers.
The word “crusade,” of course, has many meanings. It can be a mission, sure. But then again, there are many “Final Solutions,” as well. Yet, the German Club does not refer to itself as “The Final Solution for a German Campus.” Is it only because the Holocaust was so close to recent memory?
Crusade has a meaning similar to the Muslim term “jihad.” Jihad, in its unadulterated form, is simply the struggle, within one’s self, against the demons of negative influence. One has a jihad against alcoholism or gambling addictions, much as one can crusade against illiteracy or lice infections. The problem arises when the group is also dedicated to spreading the word of their religious faith. The word “jihad” has a legitimate meaning that has been corrupted by extremist acts of violence. Yet, there is no “Campus Jihad for Muhammad.”
Some might say I am advocating political correctness. That perhaps Muslims and Jews should simply accept that a word can exist outside of its disgusting history. If it were true that genocide, racial and religious intolerance and warfare over ideology were wiped off the face of the planet, I might agree. However, until that day, the continued use of words associated with this violence perpetuates a subtle acceptance of the measures used to obtain its goals. Simply put: why model your organization to spread the word of Christ on a 1,000-year-old act of military aggression designed to serve the same purpose?
The thesaurus has a number of synonyms for “crusade” that could be employed. I have to wonder why none of them were selected. “The Campus Campaign for Christ,” for example, brings to mind a democratic notion of ideas in competition. It accepts a willingness to engage ideas and questions. It brings to my mind an image of two individuals engaged in a heated discussion on the merits of Christianity, rather than knights with crosses on their shields slaughtering Jewish and Muslim women.
I don’t mean to cast aspersions on the group or its members. Their “I’m Sorry” campaign from a year ago was a genuinely open-minded gesture; the organization has never been in my face and all of the people in the group that I have met seem legitimately kind. Yet, I cannot help but wonder how they could have a campaign based on acknowledging Christian errors in history and ignore the central word of their organization’s name.
Eryk Salvaggio is a journalism, new media and international affairs triple major.
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