Do you agree that Democracy is based on Pagan values, rather than Christian?

Question

Think about it.

Democracy was founded way before any Christian document was every written.

Would go far as to say that it is based on a Pagan Values System rather than a Christian one?

Answer 1

You do have a point there. Democracy was a Pagan Greek idea. Christianity ushered in the "Rule by Devine Right" ideas of the Holy Roman Empire. Our founding fathers rejected that.

Answer 2

First, politics and religion do inherently have anything to do with one another. Yes, the first democracy was pagan (Greece), but that doesn't mean they were democratic because they were pagan.

Second, ancient democracy was considerably different than modern democracy. Only about 10% of Greeks could vote in their "democracy."

Third, there is no such thing as a Pagan Value System, because there is no system of thought called "Pagan." Pagan in this context simply means "non-Christian." You can easily have two pagans with vastly different and conflicting value systems.

Answer 3

I can agree to that.

Democracy was NAMED by the Greeks but many of the clan and tribe systems of Europe used the same concepts.

Family values: very clan oriented. With out family, you didn't survive.

Justice: Most pagan cultures were VERY advanced and had intricate Justice systems and usually the punishments were far LESS brutal then Christian or Jewish. For example, the Norse tended to outlaw (banish). No stoning required, it was considered worse then death. But the gods of justice Ma'at, Tyr, and a slew of them I can't think of with no sleep. These gods existed VERBALLY far before the Christian god who whole thier followers insist he has always been, his story was apprently lost because no one had heard of him until the Hebrews. There is no record of evidence of the Hebrew culture before....crap....hmmm 1500 BCE? Sounds right, I'll look it up later.

And any other of the ten commandments. We have shown time and time again, archaeological evidence that DOES match with the Bible time lines, that the Bible was NOT the first to write these values down or put them into law. There for one can argue that Christian values ARE based of of some pagans values. *gasp* Oh no, not that!

This is one of the reasons people feel Christians are arrogant. They refuse to acknowledge their own roots half the time and take credit for EVERYTHING decent under the sun. Everyone else is just too stupid to figure it out.

Answer 4

Democracy is based on majority rule; the belief that the many are smarter than the few. This has little to do with either Pagan or Christian values.

Answer 5

Christians back in the day were not dumb.There were few of them and needed ways to attract others to the church.They used many pagan symbol's to attract them. The Cross Jesus died on if you research it was a simple T no top on it. The christians adapted the pagan celtic cross For it design and colors. They took many pagan ideas into the church as ways to get pagans to come in.They used Holiday's,Symbol's,Anything the could. At the time this was a good idea after all What religion is god? What Faith was Jesus? It was not till man got greedy That suddenly everything else was wrong.

Answer 6

Yes and no. America was for the most part built by Christians which means that it was built on Christian values. Much of Christianity however grew out of Pagan religions.

Answer 7

I thinlk the founding father's had a variety of belief systems. I remember the concept of the clockmaker God being one of them. That God created the universe, set in motion, and stepped back to watch it tick. Although this is not a typical Christian view, I believe, my father holds this belief. He has been a strongly faithful Catholic/Christian all his life. My sister, on the other hand, believes God give signs/messages for what actions she should take on a daily basis. This may be more pagan, in some ways, almost like astrology.

Answer 8

Yes and I would go one step farther in that a lot of the forefathers were not Christians. They were deists.

Jefferson is an example that combines the points of view. Jefferson was a deist because he believed in one God, in divine providence, in the divine moral law, and in rewards and punishments after death; but did not believe in supernatural revelation. He was a Christian deist because he saw Christianity as the highest expression of natural religion and Jesus as an incomparably great moral teacher. He was not an orthodox Christian because he rejected, among other things, the doctrines that Jesus was the promised Messiah and the incarnate Son of God. Jefferson's religion is fairly typical of the American form of deism in his day.

Answer 9

Democracy is based upon the notion that one will be rewarded according to their level of contribution.

That is a Christian value.

Those who are not rewarded with above average earnings are often blessed with other intangibles that those at the top of the earning pyramid more often lack.

Family values, inner peace and happiness ,a better sense of one's parameters, loving and close relationships, time spent with loved ones and closer relationships with God are among those intangibles, which a lot of heavy wage earners could never hope to touch upon.

I never feel sorry for those with below average incomes. Oftentimes, I actually envy them.

Life is what we make it regardless of our net worths.

Answer 10

Democracy is a system of government not a religion. Its not based on either, its based on one man one vote. I can't see how that is religious one way or the other.