Kev, Kev, Kev once again you let your god bother tendencies get in the way of logical thought. The "Judeo-Christian" myth is only pushed by Judeo-Christians funnily enough. European civilisation early roots where not Judeo-Christian but rather Greco-Roman. Modern Europe was born form the secularisation of Europe. The period were the Judeo-Christian ethic reigned supreme is rightly called the dark ages. As for the moral equivalency of the crusades and 9-11 I’d say it’s spot on. Both represent disenfranchised youths committing terrible act’s of violence and terror on innocent people in the name of Religion, but really for poli cal motives. So I’d say it’s spot on. Religious fanatics rale see themselves as such. Old religions like Christianity, Judaism and Islam are less relevant to average Australians and so they should be. For much of the churches history it has showed little of the attributes you describe. All of these ideas have only been embraced by the church in it’s death throws.

Kev you are a riot.
You ask how can the crusades be compared to the attack by terrorists. I'll answer by a quote from a vengeful crusader Raymond of Aguilers [dated 1099] concerning the fall of Jerusalem.

"Wonderful things were to be seen. Numbers of the Saracens were beheaded...Others were shot with arrows, or forced to jump from the towers; others were tortured for several days, then burned with flames. In the streets were seen piles of hands & feet. One rode about everywhere amid the corpses of men & horses. In the temple of Soloman, the horses waded in blood up to their knees, nay, up to the bridle." Is Raymond lamenting all this barbarity? By no means, for he adds "It was a just & marvelous judgement of God, that this place should be filled with the blood of unbelievers"

The terrorist attacks were caused by religious fanaticism that was made use of for political gain. The crusades were also [as the quote above shows] caused by religious fanaticism & which was made use of for poitical gain. What is the difference in motivation between the two Kev? Or is this whole article [as I suspect it is] a sly parody of the religious right's views?

Kevin Donnelly complains about a school text which states: "there are many perspectives on events and...explanations are often incomplete and contested"'. I would have thought that was just a statement of fact. And a desirable state of affairs. For example, peruse On Line Opinion with its wide range of contested opinions. Even the perspectives of someone as illogical and narrow-minde as Donnelly gets regular airing. Now stand back and witness the truth of the quotation in the forum that follows. If Donnelly is really arguing for just one world view, I hope it is not his that is the chosen one.

Some good sense here. Thanks for the article. Already a few knee-jerk angst-filled reactions in the posted comments thus far, show you have hit the spot.

For those who would like to read further, about the Crusades, by a well researched writer, please click on to: http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2005/118/52.0.html

The article appeared in Christianity Today, but I am sure many open minded secularists, in pursuit of truth, will at the least consider it. It may be a great help and compliment to the numerous good points you have made.

Cheers

Further to Bosk's post on the fall of Jerusalem in 1099 and in light of Kev's concern for all things Judeo-Christian: Re the JUDEO, Arab historian Ibn al-Qalanisi reported that: "The Jews [of Jerusalem] had gathered in their synagogue and the Franj [Crusaders] burned them alive. They also destroyed the monuments of saints and the tomb of Abraham, may peace be upon him!" Re the CHRISTIAN we read in Amin Maalouf's 'The Crusades Through Arab Eyes': "Not even their coreligionists were spared. One of the first measures taken by the Franj was to expel from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre all the priests of Oriental rites...Dumbfounded by this degree of fanaticism, the dignitaries of the Oriental Christian communities decided to resist. They refused to tell the occupiers where they had hidden the True Cross, on which Christ died...But the invaders...arrested the priests...and tortured them to make them reveal the secret." A fine application of Judeo-Christian values.

"School texts present the 9-11 terrorists and Christian Crusaders as morally equivalent"

Sorry to turn the light on but they are equivalent.
Terrorism, brutality and murder of innocent people is evil doing, it does not (and should not matter) which religion the culprits claim to follow.