Why do people think Ancient Pagans were stupid and illiterate?

Question

The Egyptians were scholars of astrology and discovered the 0. (If you don't think that is impressive talk to a mathmatician)
Philosophy and modern medicine. Every heard of thy Hypocratic oath? That was a Greek guy. They were Pagans.
Sumerians (Pagan) are the founders of the first forms of writing ever found.
These cultures fell because of Christianity. Constantine most likely burned down the Library of Alexandria because it was "pagan". He banned all books but the Bible, cutting people off rather effectivly from any of that found knowledge. Constatine banned artist using thier talent preaching "vanity" effectively smothering art. He banned bathing as a "pagan" practice.
This is the roots of Christianity. Sure some pagans were illiterate, but so were most Christians in the dark ages. So why do people think ancient Pagans were so stupid?

Christian ask not to be judged by thier "ancestors". Why do SOME (Notice the some people) Christians do it to us?

LOL Ok India. They are still thought of as Pagans by most Christians.

you know what they say about great minds Boar *giggle*

Answer 1

You beat me to it! I was sitting here thinking about asking something very much like this after yesterday's asstardery by that persian something-or-other guy. ;-)

As I recall, one of his points was that with "modern agricultural methods" we no longer needed to turn to "primitive superstitions" for the fertility of our crops . . .

*snerk*

Sorry, trying to type while controlling my guffaws is difficult. I'm just thinking that our pesticide-drenched, topsoil-compacted, tilth-eroded, fossil fuels-dependent, out of balance with nature, monocultured, gene-modified, Frankenfood-producing, e coli spreading, industrialized modern agriculture could probably do with a good solid infusion of "superstitious" pagan ideas about living in balance with the natural world . . . maybe even a last sheaf ritual or a good old fashioned plow charming, while we're at it! ;-)

Answer 2

Number 1... it's not a Christian thing... Your example of Constantine is not a good one because he, by our standards, was an "Ancient People" himself. He wasn't banning the practice because it was a stupid thing done by illiterate people, but because the practice was Pagan... that is, non Christian... the same goes for the books that he banned... So one could say that those acts them selves were "stupid and illiterate" If you look at how Hollywood depicts tribal aborigines, especially in older films, they are almost always shown as stupid and illiterate regardless of religion. They also show Medieval Christians that way... Even text books make this mistake of showing ancient or tribal people as stupid. Ancient people may have been ignorant of certain scientific facts, but they weren't stupid. Many solved problems of engineering and building that would be difficult to duplicate today. Don't blame Christians... it's a human problem

Answer 3

The religions of the ancient Greeks are now considered "pagan", and the ancient Greeks were quite advanced in scholarship, philosophy, and the beginnings of science. The circumference of the Earth was measured with surprising accuracy by Eratosthenes in 240 BCE.
The rise of the Christians and acts like the burning of the library of Alexandria (and others) and the murder of Hypatia ended scholarship, science, and human progress in the West for over 1,000 years.

Answer 4

Don't forget the Astronomy of pretty much every ancient civilization was far ahead of its time. If Xtianity hadn't banned all pagan practices and destroyed the ancients, just think of where we would be at now.

Ancient Egypt had a battery and a 'neon' type lightbulb.

Ancient Babylon with their Agritecture
Is it no wonder that the 7 wonders of the world were built by pre-abrahamic people?

Answer 5

I think I know who you are talking about, the guy who criticized neopagans? I forget his name. He was an angry idiot. The ancient pagans were neither stupid nor illiterate. As you pointed out so eloquently, they were highly educated and intelligent people. Anyone who says otherwise is the stupid one.

I think that guy has an agenda. There are a couple of pagan bashers making the rounds these days. Beware!

Answer 6

Because that is what we are taught from grade school up. Nothing is farther from the truth. They had technology that rivals our own and even surpasses ours. They thought and believed just as we do today. They teach lies and utter nonsense in our schools and in our libraries. Finding the truth is not always easy, but it can be done. Constantine and others burned books and all libraries to cover up the truth of their new religion christianily. If people learned the truth christianity would be over.

Answer 7

actually the 0 was discovered in India, get it right.

in response to your question, it is only stupid muslims and christians that believe the pre-abrahamic societies were undeveloped. As far as they are concerned, before the arrival of islam and christianity, mankind was living in darkness, which is total ******** because the civilisations that were forced to become muslim and christian were actually better off before than what they became after. Such as Zoroastrian Persia, Classical Greece, Babylonia, Byzantine Europe, Ancient Egypt, Vedic North India (what is now pakistan) etc.

Answer 8

I'm pagan,and I never put that much thought to it...
Here,you lionized paganism...makes me feel...proud...to be pagan...

I don't believe that people think ancient pagans were stupid...on the contrary...they know they were smart...but they are not interested to tell their achievements...makes their religion smaller in a way.

No religion is small or great !
What matters is what is the point of it...does it spread love or not...

Answer 9

One good example of this is Roman medical knowledge... one facet of the 'Pagan' knowledge that was 'lost' (destroyedm actually) by Christianity as it dragged humanity into the Dark Ages... so, while Christians maintained hospitals, you were more likely to get killed there, than cured. In fact, a level of medical knowledge and proficiency approaching that of the Romans was not again achieved in history until around the time of World War I.

It is only after the Renaissance and the Age of Enlightenment kicked in, and revived secular (Pagan) knowledge (preserved through the Dark Ages by the Muslims) began to trickle throughout the West, that the dark, evil pall of ignorance and oppression that had been imposed by the christian Church began to recede, and non-canonical knowledge began to emerge into the light of day. Consider this: If not for Christianity, Christopher Columbus would probably have been in a space ship, on a mission to establish a mining colony in the Asteroid Belt, rather than being on the Santa Maria, trying to prove that the world was a sphere, and looking for a shortcut to the Orient.

God, today, has been reduced to a 'God of the Gaps'. The Genesis description of a 'terrarium universe' is, of course, absolute nonsense. But it wasn't ALWAYS nonsense... once upon a time, it was the WORD OF GOD. But the word of god was replaced by scientific knowledge... and God was PUSHED BACK. It used to be that demons and 'vapors' were responsible for illness... but science has shown that viruses, microbes and genetic defects are responsible for illness... and, again, god gets pushed back.

And so it goes... god gets pushed back and secular (scientific) knowledge fills the void. The 'God of the Gaps' gets diminished, and scientific knowledge grows.

In the good old days, the church establishment had some very effective means of fighting this problem... they would publicly torture and very painfully and messily kill anybody who dissented. Today, though (much to their dismay) they can't do that anymore. Today, all they can do is lie, misrepresent science in general, intentionally misinterpret scientific data and evidence, misrepresent what a scientific 'theory' is, misquote scientists (or otherwise misrepresent their statements by taking them out of context)... and most importantly, try to keep their 'flock' from learning, evaluating, and accessing genuine science by deceitfully portraying themselves as the only 'trustworthy' source for information on science, and interpretation of it.

To witness this absolutely shameful and deceitful process in action, all one need do is look at the totally bogus 'Intelligent Design', and christianity's campaign against 'evolution'. What this represents, and ALL that it represents, is religion's desperate attempts to protect the 'God of the Gaps' from losing still more ground to 'science'.

Christianity is absolutely the WORST THING that has ever been inflicted upon the world.

Answer 10

The people that think, or thought that the Pagans were illiterate and incompitant........ are, and were afraid of somthing that they are unfamiliar with. They are ignorant and really do not have a clue, because all in all they were quite brilliant.