Fundamental Christians are to blame. We are the cause of untold suffering and mass death. We are the force behind the environmental crisis. We are the purveyors of hatred and intolerance. At least, that’s what many in the New Age and interfaith movement would have the public believe.

The following article is part one in a three part series titled "Casting Stones"—an examination of allegations against the Faith.

I have heard, and little doubt you have too, that more death and destruction has occurred in the name of Christ—and through the venue of Christianity—than through any other "religious or philosophical" system known to man. As a researcher who has attended interfaith conferences, I have witnessed this form of rhetoric first-hand. Moreover, this line of thinking has been proclaimed via radio and television talk-shows, liberal commentators, and within the classrooms of universities across North America.

Understand, this charge against Christianity is not new. Madame Blavatsky, the founder of the Theosophical Society and the "Mother" of the New Age movement, wrote in 1877,

Other leading figures within the occult revival of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century held similar views. Aleister Crowley called Christianity a "fiendish" superstition and wrote that Judaism is "savage" —this is certainly no surprise coming from a man who, in mocking all that was considered sacred, adopted for himself the title of Beast 666. Alice Bailey, founder of Lucis Trust [originally Lucifer Publishing Company], took a similar stand in antagonistically accusing Christianity as a religion focused on death and wrath.

More recently, this type of "Christianity-is-evil" thinking has become so prevalent in certain circles that in an article titled "Are Pagans Preoccupied by Christians," the writer—a professing pagan—exhorts fellow pagans to start practicing tolerance and quit labeling Christians as evil. While this is refreshing to see, especially from a neo-pagan source, it does emphasis the fact that Christianity is viewed very negatively.

Is there any basis for this negative view and the allegations of historical mass death? Does Christianity have a dark side?

In a certain twisted way, yes. The Roman Catholic Crusades against the Muslims, which lasted from AD 1096 until the final battles of the 1290’s, were horrific events spurred on by the political powers of the Church. The killing and conquering that was done—including acts against Jews and non-Catholic Christians across Europe and the Middle East—has left a historical scar that will never go away. And while evangelical Christians recognize that these atrocities were done in the name of Christ, but certainly not in the spirit of Christ, the non-Christian world understandably fails to see this distinction.

Another example often used is that of the Inquisitions, a time when the established political/economic Mother Church hunted down "heretics," torturing and executing them in the most inhuman ways. Is this historical example, often used by critics of Christianity, a proper indictment against the Faith? Not really. Yes, the Church of Rome committed atrocious acts against "mystics," "witches," and others of similar belief. But in using this argument, it must be pointed out that the Church also intensely persecuted Protestant Christians, using unspeakable methods of torture and death.

Amazingly, some critics have naively suggested that the "true Christians" of that era should have protested against the actions of the Roman Catholic Church. They did; that’s why they were called "Protestants," or "Protestors," and they were slaughtered by the hundreds of thousands. Moreover, some critics have tried to negate this fact by arguing that these "Protestants" were protesting on theological grounds and not concerns over "social justices." It’s agreed that these "protesters" focused on theological issues—but it must be remembered that these theological issues directly threatened the power base of the Vatican, which in turn elicited an unbelievable response of wrath from the Church.

If anything, the Inquisition, like the Crusades, are an indictment against the Church of Rome and not Christianity per se.

In examining historical genocide, especially as it relates to religion or philosophy, one comes upon a startling irony. While the critics of Christianity—be they from the New Age movement, the interfaith camp, paganism, or even atheism—claim that Christianity is guilty of mass bloodshed (often calling Christianity the most bloody of all religions), they have frequently failed to recognize that modern history has demonstrated something completely different.

If you haven’t read the works of Professor R.J. Rummel, you should. Mr. Rummel has extensively documented the modern history of genocide with a depth that few of others have attempted. His findings are significant; of the mega-murders of the last one hundred years, communist governments have killed more people—even more than all the twentieth century wars combined—than any other form of government. Between 1917 and 1987, approximately 110 million citizens had been killed by communist regimes, the greatest perpetrators being Soviet Russia and Red China. And this number doesn’t include "war dead," soldiers killed in battle.

In examining communist acts of genocide, it must be remembered that the communist philosophy, by its nature, is rooted in atheism. However, we also need to keep in mind that these masses were killed not in the name of atheism, but in the name and power of the Utopian state of Communism. Hence, in giving atheism its due, it must be noted that I have friends who are atheists and that they, like the vast majority of Christians, would never intentionally harm anyone. But the genocides of communism were not about state or personal constraint, these atrocities were the final and extreme conclusion of the atheistic ideal. In this format, the state—or in the case of leaders like Lenin and Stalin, the individual—is more akin to the archetype of some wrathful demigod; placating itself by unleashing death and destruction in the name of peace. After all, in the supreme communist mindset, "peace is the destruction of all opposition."

As a philosophy of death, communism wins hands-down. No other form of philosophy or religion, including Christianity, comes remotely close to its benchmark.

A second example of non-Christian oriented mass killing can be found in German National Socialism, better known as Nazism. It must be noted that in this instance, critics of Christianity have lodged acquisitions that the Nazi regime had a special working relationship with the Roman Catholic Church. This is true. John Cornwell’s book, Hitler’s Pope: The Secret History of Pius XII, makes this case succinctly.

Critics have also pointed out that evangelical Germans were likewise supportive of Hitler’s regime. This too cannot be denied. In fact, Joseph Carr, author of The Twisted Cross, wrote that,

However, some Christians, such as Dietrich Bonhoeffer, came against the Nazi juggernaut. And as the most visible Christian protestor, Bonhoeffer was imprisoned and executed. While it’s true that the Nazis used Christianity as a tool to further the cause of National Socialism, and in the case of Roman Catholicism actually formed a political/economic alliance between themselves and the Vatican, it had no love for those who stood upon the truths of Jesus Christ.

But there was much more to the Nazi’s religious affiliations than just using naïve or government sympathizing Christians. It is no secret that the Nazi regime was historically influenced by the New Age doctrines of Madame Blavatsky, along with other mystics such as Guido von List and Rudolf von Sebottendorf. The Nazis were also indebted to a number of occult secretive societies, such as Order of the New Templars, the Edda Society, and the Thule and Vril societies.

However, in a strange twist, the Nazis persecuted German Masonic lodges and individuals associated with Rosicrucianism and Theosophy. This persecution of occultism even led to the suppression of some of the Germanic orders that originally watered the philosophical roots of Nazism, including the Order of the New Templars and the Germanan order. Hermann Rauschning, in his 1939 work titled The Revolution of Nihilism, viewed this dichotomy as the result of "envious rivalry." Joseph Carr, in speculating on this phenomena, also suggests that the Nazis may have suppressed these groups in order to stamp out any rivals or potential adversaries.

Whatever the reason for this strange twist, it cannot be denied that Nordic/Germanic mysticism, such as Wotanism, was part and parcel of the Nazi system. In fact, the SS division under Heinrich Himmler was rife with occult doctrines and deeper mystical brotherhoods. Unquestionably, the SS was a new Germanic occult military order, complete with its own ceremonies, rituals, rites, doctrines, symbols, and mythologies. Indeed, the SS was more than just an effective and terrifying arm of the Nazi war machine, it was an armed occult priesthood.

Why bring all this up? For the simple fact that it demonstrates the reality of historical mass murder. Once examined more closely, it is evident that the New Age view of Christianity as having the "bloodiest record" is significantly flawed. Instead, the two systems which have the bloodiest histories—Communism and Nazism—are intrinsically linked to an extreme version of atheism and a deeply rooted version of Germanic occultism.

This isn’t saying that Christianity has clean hands. Sadly, many Christians have individually and corporately committed acts that truly shame the cause of Christ and seriously hurt others. It still happens today. But we can’t overlook the fact that Christianity has probably done more to help humanity than any other form of religion or philosophy. Hospitals, disaster aid programs, humanitarian support, food and medical aid agencies, soup kitchens, orphanages, and institutions of higher learning are all aspects of Christianity’s contribution to the betterment of mankind. This is a fact that few critics of Christianity recognize or are willing to admit.

(Carl Teichrib is a Canadian-based writer and researcher on globalization.)