“Pope Innocent III declared that ‘anyone who attempted to construe a personal view of God which conflicted with Church dogma must be burned without pity’. In 1208 he offered indulgences and eternal salvation, as well as the lands and property taken from the heretics, to anyone who would take up the crusade against the Cathars. This launched a brutal 30-year pogrom which decimated southern France. Twelve thousand people were killed at St Nazaire and ten thousand at Toulouse, to give just two examples.”
“The inquisitor Bernard Gui instructed that no one should argue with the unbeliever, but ‘thrust his sword into the man’s belly as far as it will go.’ At Beziers, when asked how to tell who was a Cathar and who was not, the commanding legate, Arnaud, replied, ‘Kill them all, for God will know his own.’ Not a child was spared.”
And why were these people whole sale slaughtered, because they believed in concepts like reincarnation, the feminine divine, and vegetarianism.
http://www.innervision.com/mysteries/cathars.html
zorro, the Cathars very much considered themselves Christians. Just because they do not believe as many modern day fundamentalist do does not mean they were not Christians. In fact they probably were a lot closer to Christs teachings than those around them that were willing to murder in the name of God.
DougLawrence, I appreciate your response but it did not really answer my question. Did you write that piece or was it a copy and paste. Either way thanks for the info. I did not know till recently that they were vegetarians and believed an evil being created the material world.