The Most Hateful Man Who Ever Lived?
Tomás de Torquemada could vie for that title (Scroll to the end to listen)
Spain is littered with the scars of Catholic theocracy.
Every day, I walk past a statue of Jesus on my way to Spanish language school. It sits on a prominent mountaintop in my city. Francisco Franco put it there during his Christo-fascist dictatorship to subjugate the Basque people.
Hundreds of years before Franco, Tomás de Torquemada oversaw the torture and murder of tens of thousands of people as the first Spanish Inquisitor. From 1484 to 1494, he operated from the walled city of Ávila in the province of Castile y León.
If Castile sounds familiar, it was home to King Ferdinand II, husband to Isabella I of Aragon, co-sponsors of Christopher Columbus’ 1492 expedition. Torquemada acted as Isabella’s confessor from her childhood. When she and her husband wanted to cleanse Spain of “heretical” faiths, she turned to Torquemada because of her lifelong connection to him.
I was in Ávila last week. They celebrate St. Teresa, but they barely mention the man who bathed all of Spain in blood and viscera and fire. Here’s how his reign of terror relates to Project 2025.
According to Britannica, Torquemada demonized the “other.” He hated Jews and Jewish converts. He deplored Muslims and Moors. He considered anyone who refused to be Catholic an enemy to be destroyed. It’s very likely he used words like vermin to describe them.
This “othering” of his fellow humans led him on a decade-long killing spree. Capitalizing on his close proximity to the king and queen, he convinced them to make him the first Spanish Inquisitor.
Much like Project 2025 is a roadmap for a Christo-fascist theocracy, Torquemada brought the monarchs a plan to reorganize the Inquisition. He believed they could crush more “heretics” if they focused locally. Under his leadership, tribunals expanded from Castile to several regions throughout Spain.
Torquemada rewrote the rule of law, transforming the monarchial government into an aggressive, oppressive theocracy. People could be arrested and tortured not only for being accused of not being Catholic, but also for being Jewish or Arabic, being suspected of homosexuality, witchcraft and sorcery (which could include scientists), loose morals (like fornication and polygamy), taking God’s name in vain (goddammit!), among other “crimes.” According to Britannica, over 2,000 people were burned at the stake during Torquemada’s tenure, including many who admitted their “crimes” while being tortured.
Project 2025 Promise 3: Defend our Nation's Sovereignty, Borders, and Bounty Against Global Threats
Contrast that list to what Project 2025 and the Christo-fascist Republican Party demonize: LGBTQIA+ people; women who get abortions; couples who use IVF; women who use contraception; transgender people; people who buck “the colorblind ideal,” ie anyone who isn’t white; “pornographers” as Christian Nationalists define pornography; immigrants; scientists and those who believe science; Democrats; anyone who exposes their corruption or opposes them politically.
Like most autocrats, Torquemada became drunk on his own power. The pope eventually constrained him, but the Spanish Inquisition was not abolished until 1834. Europeans fled to the Americas to escape Inquisitions throughout Europe. Recent experience with religious oppression and warfare weighed on the minds of many of the founders of the United States, which informed their endorsement of separation of church and state and freedom of (and from) religion.
If Project 2025’s Christo-fascist framers win, history shows us their rule will be framed by corruption and bloodshed, helped along by a fanatical base that is already threatening political violence. In my newsletter on the death penalty, I highlighted far-right Christian Nationalist calls for Biblical punishments like stoning people to death.
I interviewed someone today for a future newsletter. He made many powerful points, but this one applies here:
For human beings, creating a sense of urgency is always a challenge. They see smoke; maybe they smell it or tear when it stings their eyes. But most don’t react with urgency until they feel the heat of the fire, until they see it burning, until they think it may cook them alive.
Americans, OUR HOUSE IS BURNING. You may not feel the heat because you’re not Black or Brown or an immigrant or poor or female or LGBTQIA+. You may not realize that smoky stench creeping under your door is an inferno because you’re “not political” or “both sides suck” or you’re “not excited by the candidates.” You march against genocide in Gaza and make protest votes and think your tears come from righteous anger, but it’s really our house fire burning your eyes.
Christo-fascist Republicans will use Project 2025 to usher in another cycle of hate. If they succeed, history will remember them as Torquemadas, some of the most hateful people who ever lived. Wake up, Americans. We cannot let them win.
Calls to Action to Keep P2025 From Ruining YOUR Life
Check your voter registration or register to vote: I Will Vote
Support Democratic campaigns directly in competitive races: Blue24
Support earlyworm’s 2024 Giving Guide: earlyworm
Report a Project 2025 incident: Not On Our Watch
Mail postcards to swing-state voters: Postcards to Swing States
I love today's post! Thank you!
Excellent post as always. I do wonder why you don’t include those who practice the Nature / Earth / Native-Indigenous/ Goddess-Horned Lord of the Forest / Dianic / Pagan (an umbrella term) based religions or spiritualities as CN’s target groups.? Those of us who are Pagan are historical targets of Christian extremists since they call us ‘Satinistists’. Those who are members of the Satanic Temple draw specific ire from CN’s since they fight back against the CN’s. Atheists and agnostics face the same CN backlash.
I’m well aware that CN’s will broad blanket attacks upon everyone who doesn’t conform or bend the knee to their brand of religious / punitive hatred. Many non-CN’s already view the above groups with distain and fear.
Please include the term ‘Pagan’ or ‘Nature-based’ religions / spiritualities. We’re not ‘New Age’ though CN’s hate that demographic as well and use it as an umbrella term. Great Gods but having candles, a quartz crystal or a cat is enough to condemn a person!
I fear greatly for the historical targets of Christian extremists. Far too many people aren’t aware that their proverbial house is on fire, until it’s too late and no fireman will come to save them.
Thank you for this and all your posts. 🙏💕