but i thought that they killed us?
2007-10-10 01:37:57 · 34 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
OK here's how it happened.
From the time it started the religion of Christianity (which was then so small it was seen as a cult) continued to grow slowly.It started to annoy the Romans (who-given that they'd spent centuries trying to take over the world-were quite easy to annoy) who worried the Christians would rebel against their control and that's when you got Christians being thrown to lions in the gladiator pits etc.
Then a couple of hundred years after it's creation a Roman emperor became Christian and made it the official religion of the empire which meant everyone in the empire HAD to be a Christian.Those who refused were tortured and killed.
Even after the Roman empire collapsed the persecution of Pagans by Christians continued-the witch trials etc.It only really ended in the last hundred years.Over the 1800 or so years it did last many thousands,perhaps hundreds of thousands of Pagans are believed to have been killed by Christians worldwide simply for refusing to be Christian.
Luckily those days of 'Convert or die' are over and my kind no longer have to hide our religious beliefs.
2007-10-12 14:25:06 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Everybody killed everybody back in the day.
Although the Catholic conversion of Europe was a party compared to the conversion of South and Central America. The Catholics simply took pagan gods of Europe as saints and pagan holidays as Christian ones.
And if she meant the Inquisition, that killed more good Christians than it ever did pagan holdouts. But the fear tactics worked and paganism in Europe died, at least where the Inquisition was prevalent.
2007-10-10 01:40:57 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 9⤊ 0⤋
She's right and so are you.
In the very beginning of Christianity, they were causing alot of troublefor the Romans so the Romans are known to have put some (not very many, though the Christians would love you to think it happened every day and that it was thousands because they have this persecution complex unrivaled by anyone in history) in the Gladiatorial ring to be eaten by lions or killing ring leaders by crucifixion.
However, the Christians killed far more Pagans than the Pagans ever killed Christians and in far more disgusting ways than being eaten by lions. Go look it up in history.
The Christians on known for wiping out whole peoples who refused to convert. The so called loving Christians that landed in the America's wiped out whole tribes of Native Americans as heathens. They are also the cause of the Inquisition, the Crusades (including the Childrens Crusade), the witch hunts, and more.
Nothing anyone in history has done even remotely touches the horror that the Christians have visited on the earth. And they did it all because others refused to convert to their particular religion.
2007-10-10 01:51:25 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 2⤋
In the early days of the Catholic Church it was common to be told Convert or Die. St. Patrick drove the serpents out of Ireland.... He actually lead the drive to eliminate the Druids.
The Inquisitions were responsible for uncounted deaths.
As Christianity/Western civilization matured this became less common. But the Crusades were another example of killing "Non Believers".
2007-10-10 01:43:18 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
Protestants killed Catholics
Catholics killed Protestants
Muslims killed Christians
Christians killed Muslims
Pagans killed Christians
Christians killed pagans
Sadly, there has been a lot of hate justified in the name of god. You only have to spend a few minutes on Yahoo Answers religion and Spirituality Section to see that.
2007-10-10 01:41:38 · answer #5 · answered by Sldgman 7 · 6⤊ 0⤋
The Christians at the time thought that pagans were devil worshippers, but they just didn't understand what the pagans believed, and that made them scared, and like so many things that people find scary, instead of trying to understand it they killed it.
2007-10-10 01:40:57 · answer #6 · answered by sparkleythings_4you 7 · 3⤊ 1⤋
In the crusades countless men women and children were killed (normally locked in churches that were then burned to the ground) simply because they would not turn their backs on their religion and convert to being catholic. So yes...they did kill many pagans in senseless cold blooded slaughter.
2007-10-10 01:48:28 · answer #7 · answered by Victoria Sparda 5 · 3⤊ 0⤋
In all truth, there's been a lot of both.
Prior to the 4th century, Christians were heavily persecuted, especially in Rome. And what were most Romans? They were called pagans.
On the other hand, during the Inquisition and various "witch" trials throughout Europe and North America, witches and pagans were persecuted.
Both were wrong. Live and let live.
This makes both you AND your friend correct.
2007-10-10 01:43:41 · answer #8 · answered by The_Cricket: Thinking Pink! 7 · 4⤊ 1⤋
"Us" being whom?
For much of recorded history, being part of a religious group was part of what it was to be a citizen. The reason the Romans killed Christians was because the Christians would not offer the symbolic pinch of incense once a year, as did all Roman citizens (no matter what their religion) The British tortured and killed Catholics by the thousands, and seized control of their property - because they refused to be part of the state religion, the new "Church of England."
So I don't doubt that there were times when a Christian government persecuted those who refused to be part of the state community
2007-10-10 01:42:26 · answer #9 · answered by Uncle John 6 · 4⤊ 1⤋
Its not the religion that killed the pagans its the people who believed in them that killed them. I mean Ever since history began there have been religious wars..but is it about the relgion... NO! Its about the need to control and conquer..but they use God as the ultimate excusefro complete power
2007-10-10 01:44:21 · answer #10 · answered by Smartblonde92 2 · 4⤊ 1⤋