When it comes to religion and history, the record of human violence is often tied to faith. The Catholic Church and Islam are two of the world’s largest religions, and both carry legacies of conquest, persecution, and atrocities. Judaism, by contrast, stands apart. While no religion is spotless, Judaism does not share the same scale of bloodshed or organized oppression as Catholicism and Islam. The reasons why are rooted in history, power, and circumstance—not simply morality.
Catholicism: Faith as an Empire
From the Middle Ages onward, Catholicism was more than a faith; it was a global empire. With papal authority, monarchies, and armies at its disposal, the Church orchestrated some of history’s most infamous atrocities:
- The Crusades (1096–1291): Wars of conquest in the name of Christ, marked by massacres of Muslims, Jews, and even Eastern Christians.
- The Inquisition (12th–19th centuries): A system of persecution and torture targeting heretics, Jews, Muslims, and dissenting Christians.
- Witch Hunts: Tens of thousands of accused witches executed under Church sanction.
- Colonialism: Missionaries often accompanied European expansion, leading to forced conversions, the destruction of indigenous cultures, and widespread bloodshed.
The Catholic Pedophilia Scandal: Centuries of Abuse
Perhaps one of the most damning stains on Catholic history is the systemic sexual abuse of children by clergy. While the modern scandal exploded into public view in the early 2000s, documented cases stretch back hundreds of years. Historical church records, court cases, and survivor testimony reveal a pattern of abuse that was long covered up by Church authorities. Instead of protecting victims, the institution often shielded abusers, moving them from parish to parish. This wasn’t a localized issue — it occurred globally, from Europe to the Americas to Africa. The scale and longevity of the abuse, combined with institutional complicity, marks it as one of Catholicism’s most heinous legacies.
The Catholic Church’s global reach made it a uniquely powerful religious institution, and with that power came centuries of sanctioned violence and systemic abuse.
Islam: The Power of the Caliphates
Islam’s history also reflects the fusion of faith and empire. From its earliest days, Islam was tied to military and political expansion.
- Early Islamic Conquests (7th–8th centuries): Rapid expansion across the Middle East, North Africa, and into Europe, often achieved through military campaigns.
- Ottoman Rule: Practices such as the child levy for Janissaries and suppression of Christian uprisings left lasting scars.
- Religious Justification of War: Leaders throughout Islamic history have invoked jihad as a reason for expansion and violence.
- Modern Extremism: Groups like ISIS and al-Qaeda claim religious justification for terror, even if most Muslims reject their ideology.
Like Catholicism, Islam’s access to armies and states allowed its leaders to pursue religiously justified violence on a massive scale.
Judaism: A Religion of Survival
Judaism, by contrast, has a vastly different historical trajectory. While ancient texts record wars and conquests, post-biblical Judaism tells another story.
- Diaspora Reality: After the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, Jews lived largely in exile, scattered across Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East. They had no empires, armies, or sovereign power for nearly two millennia.
- Focus on Community: Rabbinic Judaism emphasized internal law, ritual, and identity rather than conquest or forced conversion.
- Victims, Not Conquerors: More often than not, Jews were the targets of atrocities—pogroms, expulsions, ghettos, and ultimately the Holocaust.
- Limited Violence: While fringe zealot groups existed (such as the Sicarii in the 1st century), systemic atrocities on the scale of Catholicism or Islam are absent from Jewish history.
Even in modern times, the State of Israel’s wars are better understood as geopolitical conflicts than religious crusades, and they do not reflect a systemic campaign of religious violence.
Why Judaism Stands Apart
The difference is not that Jews are inherently less capable of violence, but that they rarely had the opportunity. Atrocities require power—armies, states, and empire-building machinery. Catholicism and Islam had it; Judaism, for most of its history, did not. Instead, Judaism’s story is one of preservation under oppression rather than expansion through force.
Why This Matters
Understanding these differences is important in a world where religion is still used to justify violence. History shows us that the most dangerous mix is religion plus unchecked political power. Catholicism and Islam, at their peaks, had both. Judaism did not—and that’s why its record looks so different.
References
- Madden, T. F. (2014). The Crusades: The War for the Holy Land. Penguin.
- Johnson, P. (1987). A History of the Jews. Harper & Row.
- Kamen, H. (1998). The Spanish Inquisition: A Historical Revision. Yale University Press.
- Doyle, T. (2006). Clericalism: Enabler of Clergy Sexual Abuse. Pastoral Psychology, 54(3).
- Frawley-O’Dea, M. G. (2007). Perversion of Power: Sexual Abuse in the Catholic Church. Vanderbilt University Press.
Disclaimer:
The views expressed in this post are opinions of the author for educational and commentary purposes only. They are not statements of fact about any individual or organization, and should not be construed as legal, medical, or financial advice. References to public figures and institutions are based on publicly available sources cited in the article. Any resemblance beyond these references is coincidental.
