It should come as no surprise that many Christians in the United States today endorse social policies and ideologies that cause real harm—often cloaked in the language of morality, tradition, or divine will. What’s more troubling is how so many within the faith seem completely unaware—or willfully ignorant—of the long, often brutal, history of Christianity itself.
From its very inception as a state-sanctioned religion, Christianity has left behind a trail of violence and repression. After Emperor Constantine legalized the faith with the Edict of Milan in 313 CE, Christianity quickly shifted from a persecuted sect to a dominant force. By 315, Christian mobs were destroying pagan temples across the Roman Empire and murdering pagan priests with impunity. These weren’t isolated events; they marked the beginning of a centuries-long pattern of religious intolerance and forced conversions.
As the Church grew in power, it became an agent of persecution against anyone who challenged its authority. Thinkers, reformers, and scientists were silenced, imprisoned, tortured, or killed for daring to express independent thought. Galileo Galilei was condemned for proving the Earth revolved around the sun. Giordano Bruno was burned alive for his philosophical and astronomical theories. Hypatia, a brilliant philosopher in Alexandria, was murdered by a Christian mob. William Tyndale was executed for translating the Bible into English. Joan of Arc, a devout Christian herself, was burned at the stake for heresy. Even Thomas Hobbes, whose political philosophy laid the groundwork for modern democracy, was persecuted for challenging religious orthodoxy.
And that’s just the intellectuals.
The Crusades brought even more horror, as Christian armies massacred Muslims, Jews, and Eastern Christians alike in a so-called holy war. These campaigns were soaked in blood and justified by a perverse interpretation of divine will. The brutality didn’t end there. During the Reformation, Catholics and Protestants waged savage wars against each other over minor theological disputes. England and Ireland were plunged into chaos and civil war, with generations of people caught in the crossfire of religious hatred.
Here in the United States, Christianity was far from innocent. Many denominations actively opposed women’s suffrage, using the Bible to argue that a woman’s place was in the home, not the voting booth. The Church also played a central role in justifying slavery—pastors quoted Scripture to defend the buying, selling, and brutalizing of human beings. Today, many of those same religious voices are leading the charge against reproductive freedom, using faith to legislate over women’s bodies.
All of this history paints a very different picture from the one many Christians like to present—a faith rooted in peace, love, and the teachings of Christ. And yet, too often, it has been used as a tool for power, suppression, and cruelty.
So when modern Christians lack empathy for immigrants, women, the LGBTQ+ community, or people of other faiths, it’s not a surprising departure from Christian history—it’s a continuation of it. When they cherry-pick Scripture to defend discrimination or injustice, they’re following a well-worn path of religious hypocrisy.
Christianity, at its best, is about compassion, humility, and justice. But its institutional history is filled with examples of the opposite. If we want to understand why so many Christians today act in ways that seem antithetical to Christ, we must first look honestly at the legacy they’re drawing from.
History explains it all too well.
If you are interested in this topic, i highly recommend the following:
A People’s History of Christianity: The Other Side of the Story by Diana Butler Bass – https://civilheresy.com/People’s History
God’s War: A New History of the Crusades by Christopher Tyerman – https://civilheresy.com/God’s War
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