Here, again, we have an identity debate. Moonbattery reports, via Pewsitter about some folks freaking out because a Marine squadron has switched back to their former name: “Crusaders.”

[2008 is] when it was changed to Werewolves to be more politically correct, since our rulers would rather have us identify with evil supernatural creatures that degenerate into animals than with heroes who took the fight to the enemy on behalf of Western Civilization during Islam’s long centuries of relentless forcible encroachment on Christendom.

I agree that “Crusaders” is better than “Werewolves” for the reason given at Moonbattery and do think they should be allowed to retain the name. Having said that, I also think we Catholics could all do a better job of explaining that the real-life Crusaders did do some bad things, particularly to Jews, and that they were not always in keeping with what Christendom is about. If people believe that Catholicism is about murdering people, then they don’t know what Catholicism is about. While we Catholics have the better end of the argument on the need for the Crusades, in general, we look to the saints as our models for what Catholicism is. The Crusades were justifiable as defensive wars, but Crusaders themselves were not always saints.

Moonbattery rightly points out that the Left hates things having to do with “heritage.” I agree. They are anti-tradition, anti-military and anti-patriarchy. There is a common thread, however, in the things that they hate. Tradition, defense (military) and patriarchy are all Judeo-Christian things. That is not by accident. More generally speaking, it is pretty clear that they are often anti-Christian and anti-Semitic. Sometimes, pre-existing anti-Christian, anti-Semitic sentiment within a person will result in a desire to push back against tradition, defense and patriarchy, and sometimes anti-tradition, anti-defense or anti-patriarchy sentiment results in hatred against all things having to do with Jewish or Christian identity, including the Crusades, because Judaism and Christianity manifest those things.

If you had to choose between being identified as a “Crusader” or a “Werewolf” which would you choose, and why?