Moritz was much loved in this region during his time, which was in the late 200s AD. He was a leader of a Roman army stationed in the area. He was also a Christian.
The legend of Moritz began to build when he was first ordered by the High Command in Rome to harass Christians in the neighboring territory which is now France. He refused to comply. As punishment, his army was decimated, which meant one in ten of his soldiers were killed.
A second command came to persecute Christians. Moritz refused again, and as punishment, his army was decimated a second time, 600 of 6000 troops being murdered.
A third command was issued to do the same, and again, Moritz refused. This time his entire army was murdered, including Moritz. And that was the sad ending of his life. But the locals remembered the favor he had bestowed upon them, and have commemorated him ever since holding him in high esteem.
The story teller mentioned that Moritz was ahead of his time, for Constantine converted to Christianity around 325, I think she said, and then the tables turned. Constantine had issued an order for people to convert to Christianity, and if they didn’t, they were persecuted.
“Oh, the horrible atrocities that are committed in the name of religion,” I heard in the bus, as one rider expressed dismay over the evils religious groups commit against each other.
Her final comment gave me pause, for I’ve heard this exact type of statement many times before, and it’s always made me uncomfortable.
For example, I believe people who call themselves Christians and kill in the name of Christianity are not acting in accord with Christian teachings. They are following a selfish agenda and using Christianity as a cloak to cover their crimes. Jesus never taught people to kill. He taught his followers to love their enemies, not to murder them.
The comment, “The awful crimes that are committed in the name of religion,” tends to skew the picture of what the real problem is. The evil is not religion, but the evil motives and deeds of criminals who hide behind religion and use it to justify their wicked deeds, but couldn’t be further from living it in their heart.
The comment tends to give religion a bad name, and unfairly so. Religion has many good qualities that serve billions of people in many positive ways. It’s the criminal instinct manifest as lust, greed, hate and dark ego that need to be exterminated, and not allowed to mingle and mix with religion so closely that people can’t tell the difference. Religion is not the criminal. Abuse of it is.
It’s amazing what topics rise to the surface for mental wrestling when taking a road trip through Switzerland….
A taste of Switzerland