A Small History of the Protestant Church
A vast number of English speaking people claim to be of the protestant
sect, or members of a particular protestant denomination within the Christian community. Most have only been taught
some of the more popular Bible stories, such as Noah's Ark nd the story of Moses and the Israelites. Only a very
few are aware that their particular "tradition" is an "off-shoot" of the Catholic Church.
At the very beninning of the medieval "witch-hunts," an heretical Christian
sect founded in the Alps by Peter Waldos was one of the main groups targeted by the Catholic Church due to their somewhat
heretical views on such things as ordaining women. It was and is against Catholic teachings to ordain women as priests.
Nuns do not have the same authorit and rank as a Catholic priest.
Peter Waldos' followers became known as Waldensians and also as witches
as were countless numbers of men and women. The largest crime that some of them committed in those times when little
was known about how to prevent such things as the bubonic plague and still-birth, was attempting to assist a lady in surviving
childbirth and attempting to ease the horrible suffering of plague victims with herbs.
The birthrate in those times and the causes of many childhood deaths
has been determined to be caused by many things, such as a lack of proper diet and exercise, improper birthweight, and inherited
dieases. Only a few inherited diseases were even know back then and they were usually something that had very visible
symptoms such as tuberculosis.
Many people were condemned and killed as witches simply because they
had lived to a more advanced age than was common, or because they had some obvious physical deformity. Prior to these
times, it was customary to train physically deformed people as the tribal "shaman" or medicine man which was not necessarily
a vote of popularity. Most shamans were shunned unless their direct assistance was needed, such as, in cases of incurable
diseases, famine, or drought. It appears that fearing those who are different is a custom. During the middle ages, numerous boys who had no prospects in life or those who had a physical deformity became either
monks or priests.
The purpose of this article is to spread valid information to those
who may not realize the history of their own religious sect and to ask them, if they believe after reading this article, that
is it fair to condemn anyone simply because of another's claim that they are a "nasty little witch?" Not everyone who
condemns a witch understands the basis for the condemnation. Most people know little about neo-pagans, witches, or devil-worshippers.
But they reject the idea that they could be positive people outright!
