Renouncing and Repenting Christian Terrorism

It isn't as if church history isn't clear enough that at many points in history, traditional Christianity has been one of the murderous and vile instigators of evil. 

Our "christian fathers " have killed the prophets, and today we adorn their graves. Meaning, that many "Christians" in times past were against Martin Luther King, the Civil Rights movement, and segregation, but the majority of Christianity today would say that if they lived during those days, they would have stood up for civil rights. We adore the Christians who died in the Holocaust, and say that if we were in their place, we would have done the same. But the fact is, the majority of evangelical Christians in Germany supported Hitler. 

http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/mistic/religionsplanetearth11.htm

“National Socialism was a religion,” noted Professor George Lachmann Mosse of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, whose wealthy Jewish family fled Germany in 1933.

“The depth of the ideology, the liturgy, the element of hope, all helped to give the movement the character of a new faith. It has been shown that [Nazi propaganda minister Paul Joseph] Goebbels quite consciously used religious terminology in many of his speeches. Moreover, Nazism was a total worldview which by its very nature excluded all others.

From this it followed that traditional Christianity was a rival, not a friend. But here Hitler at first went very slowly indeed, for he needed (and got) the support of the majority of the Christian churches.”

Despite Nazi hostility to Christianity and thanks to Goebbels’s propaganda, many Germans believed that Hitler was heaven-sent.

 

A Cologne children’s prayer began,

“Fuehrer, my fuehrer, bequeathed to me by the Lord.”

And, with the notable exception of some anti-Nazi clerics such as Pastors Martin Niemoeller and the martyred Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German congregations all fell into lockstep with the Nazi government.

 

Violent Christianity! Martin Luther promoted the following in his book, On the Jews and their Lies

1. for Jewish synagogues and schools to be burned to the ground, and the remnants buried out of sight;
2. for houses owned by Jews to be likewise razed, and the owners made to live in agricultural outbuildings;
3. for their religious writings to be taken away;
4. for rabbis to be forbidden to preach, and to be executed if they do;
5. for safe conduct on the roads to be abolished for Jews;
6. for usury to be prohibited, and for all silver and gold to be removed and "put aside for safekeeping"; and
7. for the Jewish population to be put to work as agricultural slave labor.^[4]

 

One such outstanding example is the Ku Klux Clan.  A quote has surfaced all over the internet, but I cannot find it's source. It was quoted here: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080209170737AA7pm7H

"The hierarchy of the Ku Klux Klan was drawn exclusively from the hierarchy of the white Southern Baptist church. There were no Catholics, Jews or Jehovah's Witnesses in the Klan. There were a few Methodists in their ranks but their Kleagles, Exalted Cyclopses, Grand Wizards, etc., were all deacons, Sunday school teachers, ministers and preachers of that violent religion. The Klan was the enforcement wing of that white Southern Baptist church." ---http://www.mississippidays.com/murder

According to Wikipedia's pages on Christian Terrorism and also the KKK, 

Beginning after the Civil War, members of the Protestant-led^[64] Ku Klux Klan organization began engaging in arson, beatings, cross burning, destruction of property, lynching, murder, rape, tar-and-feathering, and whipping against African Americans, Jews, Catholics, and other social or ethnic minorities.
They were explicitly Christian terrorist in ideology, basing their beliefs on a "religious foundation" in Christianity.^[65] The goals of the KKK included, from an early time on, an intent to "reestablish Protestant Christian values in America by any means possible," and believe that "Jesus was the first Klansman."^[66] Their cross-burnings were conducted not only to intimidate targets, but to demonstrate their respect and reverence for Jesus Christ, and the lighting ritual was steeped in Christian symbolism, including the saying of prayers and singing of Christian hymns.^[67] Many modern Klan organizations, such as the Knights Party, USA, continue to focus on the Christian supremacist message, asserting that there is a "war" on to destroy "western Christian civilization."

  The Second Klan saw threats from every direction. A religious tone was apparent in its activities; "two-thirds of the national Klan lecturers were Protestant ministers," says historian Brian R. Farmer.^[82] Much of the Klan's energy went to guarding "the home;" the historian Kathleen Bleeits said its members wanted to protect "the interests of white womanhood."^[83]

Indiana's Klansmen represented a wide cross section of society: they were not disproportionately urban or rural, nor were they significantly more or less likely than other members of society to be from the working class, middle class, or professional ranks. Klansmen were Protestants, of course, but they cannot be described exclusively or even predominantly as fundamentalists. In reality, their religious affiliations mirrored the whole of white Protestant society, including those who did not belong to any church.<sup>[95]

The second Klan adopted a burning Latin cross as its symbol. No such crosses had been used by the first Klan, but the burning cross was used as a symbol of intimidation by the second Klan.[96] The burning of the cross was also used by the second Klan as a symbol of Christian fellowship, and its lighting during meetings was steeped in Christian prayer, the singing of hymns, and other overtly religious symbolism.[14]</sup>

I had never realized the normalcy of the KKK among many Christians. It was a Protestant movement! I feel convicted that the church has to "make full teshuvah". The KKK was really the tip of the iceberg after centuries of crusades, pograms, inquisitions, etc. We cannot afford to ignore the facts. We must face them, for only then can we be authentic followers of Christ,

1) Cry out to God for forgiveness for our pride, arrogance and selfishness
2) Utterly repent of, renounce, and turn away from racism, anti-semitism, Christian supremacy, and the pagan western-supremacist elements in our Christianity.
3) Ask for forgiveness from those we have offended.   
4) Pursue love and grace in our conduct. 
5) Spread awareness of the horrible history of Christian terrorism and antisemitism. Speak the truth about Church history!

Only then can we have a testimony in this world. How can we shine as lights if the world still accuses of the past misdeeds? The only way is for us to be completely broken over the wrong that is in the church! If only we would see as God sees.