Juan had seen a movie depicting early Christians who joined the Holy Crusade to recover Jerusalem from the Saracens. They were nobles, knights, children, even criminals who thought they could wash their sins by joining the Crusade.
By treading the path of the Nazarene, they were promised eternal glory, but once they were in the Holy Land, they became wrathful, merciless, rapists and murderers.
Juan saw a noble knight holding a broad sword dripping with blood of the helpless children, women and old. He was mad and unrepentant, for the eternal glory promised him became a living hell. He was a French baron from the famous vineyard of his land.
Damn that pope who extorted us to join the Crusade. Curse him for depicting the Muslims as godless barbarians. I was ashamed to discover that this people love their Allah more than they love themselves. That they abhor vices like liquor which is glorified in the West, especially in my land. The women could not just mingle with men in public and were required to cover themselves from head to foot lest they became the victims of sexual harassment.
We failed to respect their culture and religion. When they rebelled against us, we stormed their mosques, put everyone to sword until their blood flowed like river. To atone for our sins we made a pilgrimage to Golgotha where the Messiah was crucified. We crawled on our feet, asking for forgiveness. But the Arabs would rather die than embrace Christianity.
We slew them without mercy, raped the women, burned the young and old alike like straw. I stopped going to pilgrimage for what's the use of asking God's forgiveness when our hands were heavy with blood?
Then Saladdin stormed Jerusalem and I perished with thousands of crusaders who became the victims of greed and violence. Now I am rotting in hell and the promise of eternal glory was nothing but empty promise.
