Atheists & Agnostics

LiberalAndProud

(12,799 posts) Sun Apr 5, 2015, 06:52 PM Apr 2015

On the topic of Christian persecution, there are stories often left untold.

The persecution of pagans in the late Roman Empire began late during the reign of Constantine the Great, when he ordered the pillaging and the tearing down of some temples.[1][2][3] The first anti-Pagan laws by the Christian state started with Constantine's son Constantius II,[4][5] who was an unwavering opponent of paganism; he ordered the closing of all pagan temples, forbade Pagan sacrifices under pain of death,[2] and removed the traditional Altar of Victory from the Senate.[6] Under his reign ordinary Christians started vandalizing many of the ancient Pagan temples, tombs and monuments.[7][8][9][10]

From 361 till 375, Paganism was relatively tolerated, until three Emperors, Gratian, Valentinian II and Theodosius I, under Bishop of Milan Saint Ambrose's influence, reinstituted and escalated the persecution.[11][12] Under pressure from the zealous Ambrose, Theodosius issued the infamous 391 "Theodosian decrees," a declaration of war on paganism,[12][13] the Altar of Victory was removed again by Gratian, the Vestal Virgins were disbanded, and access to Pagan temples was prohibited.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persecution_of_pagans_in_the_late_Roman_Empire

While I was working my way from belief to clarity, it occurred to me that my Christian heritage came at great cost to a great many people. Above we have only one example of how Christianity came to be one of the big three.

11 replies

= new reply since forum marked as read

Highlight:

On the topic of Christian persecution, there are stories often left untold. (Original Post) LiberalAndProud Apr 2015 OP

That's a very uncomfortable truth. beam me up scottie Apr 2015 #1

I have a friend who was a missionary in South America. LiberalAndProud Apr 2015 #3

prohibited from swimming in the river for fear of the evil spirits in the water. AlbertCat Apr 2015 #9

While all the while claiming to "respect" other faiths skepticscott Apr 2015 #6

Religious predators. beam me up scottie Apr 2015 #11

And yet, Curmudgeoness Apr 2015 #2

Christians justified slavery with the bible mountain grammy Apr 2015 #4

The Vestal Virgins only disbanded temporarily. onager Apr 2015 #5

I will file this under LiberalAndProud Apr 2015 #10

Whoa, cool down. NOT persecuting pagans would have meant a "War on Christianity". DetlefK Apr 2015 #7

the Vestal Virgins were disbanded AlbertCat Apr 2015 #8

beam me up scottie

(57,349 posts)

1. That's a very uncomfortable truth.

Reply to LiberalAndProud (Original post)

Sun Apr 5, 2015, 07:12 PM

Apr 2015

One most christians don't acknowledge, let alone discuss.

They celebrate missionaries who continue to ~~valiantly spread the word~~ destroy native cultures.

Those lucky lucky savages.

LiberalAndProud

(12,799 posts)

3. I have a friend who was a missionary in South America.

Reply to beam me up scottie (Reply #1)

Sun Apr 5, 2015, 07:32 PM

Apr 2015

My memory fails me, but it may have been Nicaragua or possibly Honduras. She wrote of how the locals there were prohibited from swimming in the river for fear of the evil spirits in the water. "Wouldn't it be terrible to believe such horrible things?" my born again friend asked in her letter.

I'll leave that here for others to ponder.

AlbertCat

(17,505 posts)

9. prohibited from swimming in the river for fear of the evil spirits in the water.

Reply to LiberalAndProud (Reply #3)

Mon Apr 6, 2015, 10:35 AM

Apr 2015

Meanwhile..... the missionaries all got parasites ...the ones that weren't eaten by piranha and gators.

skepticscott

(13,029 posts)

6. While all the while claiming to "respect" other faiths

Reply to beam me up scottie (Reply #1)

Mon Apr 6, 2015, 08:16 AM

Apr 2015

And showing that respect by, in effect, saying "your gods are false and your beliefs misguided, but we're here to convert you to the correct ones".

That's Xstian (and especially Catholic) "respect" and "tolerance" for you.

beam me up scottie

(57,349 posts)

11. Religious predators.

Reply to skepticscott (Reply #6)

Mon Apr 6, 2015, 05:02 PM

Apr 2015

They prey on the vulnerable, like my ex bil who tried to commit suicide.

Don't even get me started.

Curmudgeoness

(18,219 posts)

2. And yet,

Reply to LiberalAndProud (Original post)

Sun Apr 5, 2015, 07:12 PM

Apr 2015

on this day, we celebrate a Pagan holiday. Go figure.

mountain grammy

(27,274 posts)

4. Christians justified slavery with the bible

Reply to LiberalAndProud (Original post)

Sun Apr 5, 2015, 08:39 PM

Apr 2015

everything is justified in the bible.

onager

(9,356 posts)

5. The Vestal Virgins only disbanded temporarily.

Reply to LiberalAndProud (Original post)

Mon Apr 6, 2015, 06:18 AM

Apr 2015

Last edited Mon Apr 6, 2015, 06:53 AM - Edit history (1)

Then re-organized later, to be called "nuns."

Under the leadership of a guy using exactly the same title as the former head pagan priest: Pontifex Maximus. Who ran the shiny new religion from pretty much the same place as the pagans, Vaticanus Mons (Vatican Hill).

Fun article from the History Channel, "10 Things You May Not Know About The Vatican:"

http://www.history.com/news/10-things-you-may-not-know-about-the-vatican

ETA - another huge "untold story" is the influence of Alexandria, Egypt on early Xian history. When Constantine was trying to impose Xianity as the new state religion, he had to referee the never-ending squabbles between two powerful rival sects in Alexandria. Led by 2 holy men who hated each other, Bishop Athanasius and his competitor, Arias. They disagreed on the nature of Christ.

IMO, much of the totally baffling Xian bullshit, like the Trinity, resulted from those fights. That's how we got the hilarious contradictions, like Jesus simultaneously being one-third of God and also God's son. Those were compromises that all had to be incorporated into the theology. Somehow.

Standard Disclaimer: I am not a Sophisticated Theologian.