The Importance Of Religious Intolerance

“God wanted the Christians to win. My Cid and his men made the Moors run.” (Pg.167) According to the Christians, divine fate was the reason for their success in the destruction of the Muslim’s land. The sheer force of God was the reason defeat over the Muslims came so easily. The Christians believed that God backed them because no other religion was a ‘true’ religion. The cruelty towards those of other religions by Christians came from the idea that they had God on their side and were working in God’s name. The treatment of the Muslims was satisfactory for the Christians because they believed they were carrying out God’s work. They deserved all the riches that they were rewarded because they followed the one true God. Intolerance is the inability

Orthodox Christianity introduced religious intolerance into the world and the conflicts that emerged from this intolerance helped shaped the world in which we know. The moments of intolerance are counterbalanced with moments of acceptance and tolerance by many different religions, including the Jews, Muslims and Christians. Medieval Spain witnessed many such moments; it has been said that “despite intractable differences and enduring hostilities, [these religions] nourished a culture of tolerance” (Menocal, 1). Yet in the texts that we have read, intolerance is the prevailing theme that is displayed. In The Song of El Cid, the acts of violence towards the Muslim people help showcase the negative feelings that developed since the introduction of Christianity. The coexistence that they were once able to share is eliminated with only few gestures of tolerance. The question that can be asked though is if these moments of tolerance are really acceptance of the other cultures, or acceptance based on fear. The triumph of intolerance is visible throughout The Song of El Cid, as well as other Christian texts, such as the writings of St. Paul and the works of Hildegard of

The Christians steal from and slaughter the Muslims. They are encouraged to do so by their king and have established that they are doing the right thing. The King accepts the gifts that were taken from the Muslims happily, “Still the gift was won from the Moors, so I’ll take it” (pg. 61). Even though the gift is coming from someone who the King has exiled, he accepts the gifts because it is coming from those of another religion that they seek to destroy. Even though the King and El Cid may have a disagreement on something between the two of them, they are able to agree on things when it comes to the Muslims, like taking the Muslims possessions to increase their own riches. They also agree on the defeat of the Muslims and the bloodshed that comes with the killings. “Happy to be attacking fifty thousand Moors…. Killing so many Moors that no one could count them; their blood ran to his elbow, all down his arm” (pg. 123). The killing of the Muslims was brutal and many were killed, but El Cid accepted it because it was in the name of God, “And thanks to God the Moors were defeated” (pg.123). The intolerance to the Muslims was extreme and the acts that were taken on them were violent and cruel. It was accepted though, because it was done in the name of God, their reasoning behind their