As we approach a new era; religious intolerance has grown to be a wide spread epidemic throughout religions such as Christianity, Hinduism, and Islam. Christians have been persecuted by the Roman Empire and Gaul in earlier centuries and still to present day being tortured by members in the Far East, Islamic world, and Asia. Historically, Hindus have been oppressed by Christians and Muslims since the 1300s and still struggle with their freedom in countries such as Pakistan and Russia. Other members of the Islamic faith have been tyrannized by Arabians since the time of Muhammad and still to this day being discriminated in Europe. There were many reasons which led to the hate of Christians. “They were regarded as being unpatriotic. While among Romans it was considered the highest honor to possess the privileges of Roman citizenship, the Christians announced that they were citizens of heaven. They shrank from public office and military service (Guizot).” Because “the ancient religion of Rome was an adjunct of state dignity and ceremonial (Guizot).” Christians were viewed as being disrespectful to Roman religion. “It was hallowed by a thousand traditional and patriotic associations. The Christians regarded its rites and its popular assemblies with contempt and abhorrence. The Romans viewed the secret meetings of the Christians with suspicion, and accused them of abominable excesses and crime (Guizot).” The suspension generated false accusations and injustice toward Christians in Rome. “When Christianity began to penetrate into Gaul, it encountered there two religions very different one from the other, and infinitely more different from the Christian religion; these were Druidism and paganism (Guizot).” Christians were treate... ... middle of paper ... .... made-no-decision-as-to-what-we-will-do-with-him/>. (Morgan ) Morgan , Ryan . "Persecution International Christian Concerns ." Persecution of Christians: No room at the inn. N.p., 19 february 2014. Web. 26 Feb 2014. . "Musalla ." Persecution of Muslims . N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Feb 2014. ("Musalla ") "Persecution of Hindus." Infoscource . N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Feb 2014. . ("Persecution of Hindus")"Religious Persecution in Europe: Focus on Muslims." Women's Muslim League . N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Feb 2014. .
The rise of Christianity in Rome did not come easily. It came with much destruction and death. The spark of Christianity in Rome came from an appearance of Martyrs in Rome. Martyrs were people that were executed for going against the common beliefs of pagan (polytheistic) ways. (Tignor, 2011, p. 286) Because of these awful executions, Christianity is said to be based off of “the blood of martyrs.” One of their main ways of spreading Christianity was through the sharing of their writings and by 300 CE there was an exceptional amount of book production throughout Rome. (Tignor, 2011, p. 289) “Christianity operated as one among many minority religions in the Roman Empire, and on several occasions experienced widespread persecution, especially under the emperors Nero (r. 54–68), Decius (r. 249–251), and Diocletian (r. 284–305). However, the situation changed radically under the emperor Constantine (r. 306–337), who in 313 issued the Edict of Milan that made Christianity a legitimate religion in the empire.” (Melton, 2010, p. 634)
Between Pliny’s letter and Livy’s account it’s pretty easy to get the impression that Romans were fairly tolerant of many different religions up until they got in the way. The Christians were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, and doing the wrong things. The Bacchanalians were converting elites with a religion that the Romans considered unsavory to say the least. Both the Christians and the Bacchanalians suffered horrendously at the hands of the Roman authorities, and it goes to show that they were only going to tolerate so much from either group before going out on a witch hunt for them.
Religious Repression In what ways do countries differing religions affect our ever changing society? Does our diversity, combined with our lack of resources and overpopulation, ensure constant violence? I believe that the religious persecution of certain nations has been nothing more than denial of a human right. In Brave New World, Huxley predicts an all powerful government: “the world state”.
...have apostatized from Islam, and who actively proselytize. For nearly two millennia, starting with the Sassanians in the 2nd century and extending to the current Islamic regime, Christianity has been a main target of the state. In recent decades the Iranian regime has actively attempted to destroy the Church of Iran, and root out all Christianity from their country, but they have desperately failed, as the church continues to grow to this day. Yet the United States and countries of the West do not address this issue nearly enough, or take any action against it. The persecuted should not be ignored, and the persecutors should face punishment and justification for what they have done. If the silent majority who oppose the persecution of the minority would simply let their voices be heard and insist on engaging those who oppress, the world would be a better place.
With the creation of the Christian religion followers of it obtained peace and tried their best to avoid the impurities of the world, interestingly enough, these “worldly” impurities consume the religion that is Paganism, which Christianity is heavily based off of. As time has progressed mankind has always searched for their purpose. Religion is often used to help one discover their ultimate purpose and give them guidelines to live a pure life by that may be amorphous without spiritual guidance. The religious fundamentals in Christianity help its believers to fathom why they are on this Earth and what their greater purpose is. Unknowingly, they develop their character through this religion without knowing that it is heavily stemmed from Paganism! Many practices, cultural elements, and habits in Paganism are strongly seen as ignoble by a majority of the modern Christians. A supreme amount of the text in the Seamus Heaney’s translation of Beowulf help to entirely clarify the religious transitions that have occurred between both Paganism and Christianity. Throughout the ages, human beings used a religious power to help them evaluate their lives and wellbeing, specifically Paganism, Christianity; the transition from paganism to Christianity illustrates how much religion effects one’s life.
At one time a common religion was a huge factor that kept Romans united. Once the right of free worship was denied Rome became an empire of raging anger. Christianity a new religion appealed to the majority of the people of the Roman Empire. The message especially appealed to the poor and the slaves; it was also something new to put their faith in. Christianity was spread like wild fire. The Roman emperors felt that Christianity was so influential that it could be a possible threat. Around 100 AD. the first persecutions of the Christians occurred. Many of the Romans had already committed to the faith of Christianity and they refused to abandon it because it was the most important part of their life. This led to many social problems as well as a decline in the patriotism that had once lived in the hearts of all Romans. The People objected to Roman politics and became independent of the government. By the time that Constantine legalized Christianity it was much too late and the Empire was too deep in disunity to recover. The decision to outlaw Christianity was a terrible decision and caused the once united empire to crumble.
The pagan and Christ share a great deal in common, particularly from a metaphysical perspective, and the profound influence of pagan philosophy on Christian theology and mysticism is well documented. Nevertheless, this essay will attempt to identify a few basic differences between pagan and Christian religion and religious practice. We will begin with a brief overview the pagan, using Plotinus as our exemplar, and then we will offer an account of how Christ fundamentally differed from the pagans.
During the first half century after the crucifixion of Jesus, the Roman government including governors in the eastern provinces took no active measures against Christians. The attitude of the higher Roman authorities had always been that Christianity was merely a sect of Judaism, and as such, were entitled to share in its privileges as a recognized religion. In 64 A.D. this attitude suffered a severe alteration. On July 19, 64 A.D. occurred the great fire of Rome. Half a million people were left homeless. Popular rumor persistently asserted that the fire was started by incendiaries acting under the orders of the Emperor Nero. It was said that Nero wanted the city burnt down so he could build a new city which was to be re-named after himself. Nero felt that something must be done to deflect the public indignation against him. To do this he contrived that accusations should be brought against the Christians. So Nero began an aggressive persecution of the Christians in Rome. Those who confessed their guilt were brought to trail. During these trials a great number of other Christians were uncovered and were also brought to trial. Oddly enough, these people were not charged with starting the great fire of Rome, but rather for “hatred of the humankind.”
In 2007, according to the Federal Bureau Investigation of the Nation’s law enforcement agencies “there were 9,535 victims of hate crimes; of these victims17.1 percent were victimized because of a bias against a religious belief which totaled to be 1,628 victims of an anti-religious hate crime” (1). Almost ten thousand people were victims of hate crimes alone in 2007. That is something to be alarmed about because part of living in the U.S.A as minority is to have freedom to do and be anything you want and yet we find that you really don’t have that freedom because you get attacked for practicing that freedom. The increasingly rate of hate crimes is soaring that many states like New York, New Jersey and California now have the highest number of hate crimes committed due to religion (“Hate Crimes”). Religion is a major contributor into hate crimes against other people and religions. These acts are defended because they are believed to be true for the offender. Because of religion, hate crimes are still very much prevalent in society.
Anayensi, the reason why most regions in the world don’t tolerate religions that are a minority in their country is because of traditionalism. Unlike Europe and North America most areas in the world are unwilling to change their beliefs or accept new ideas. Therefore, worldwide most people are conservatives as they adhere to traditions that has been transferred from each generation for thousands of years. Whenever a new idea or group of people is introduced to these parts of the world they are often responded to with violence as they are not used to change. The last several centuries western civilization has transitioned to abiding by liberalism. As western civilization is willing to accept new ideas and discard old traditions.
Roman religion was highly influenced by the Greeks, the the sense that there were multiple gods who controlled different aspects of the world. (The Twelve Caesars, pg.103) “As for Augustus’ attitude to religion: he is recorded to have been scared of thunder and lightning.” This shows that thunder and lighting were considered to be entities higher than what the leader of Rome was, and that it was good to be the positive sides of the gods. During the time of Augustus as emperor the rise of Christianity began but also the shift from a polytheistic view to a monotheistic view. This shift was very concerning to the Romans, so bad that they began to persecute Christians. (Shaping Of Western Civilization, pg. 146) “This persecution made sense to Romans for various reasons. First Christianity was as insistently monotheistic… This belief could only be an affront to all the other gods.” Christianity believed that God was one entity and was above the rest, but the Romans viewed this as almost a sign of treason to the rest of the gods. To the Romans cultus was considered to be a public thing, while the Christians wanted their cultus to be private which made the Romans question the Christian faith. The Fall of the Roman Empire lead to the full shift from a polytheistic view to the establishment of Christianity.
Hinduism is often viewed as a particularly tolerant religion. The lack of a single omniscient God, absence of a prophet, and the open worship of what may look like many Gods may tell a tale of open worship, individuality within religion, and a peaceful, tolerant way of life. Without further examining what Hinduism entails, this may seem like the perfect religion. When the impression of superiority is looked at with a little skepticism, the pretty picture is marred by the deep scratches of discrimination, sexism, and elitism.
Christianity, originally, was thought of as an outsider religion, and wasn’t accepted by most Romans. The Romans could learn to live with other religions, but not when they were harmful to public order. At one point, Romans viewed it to be just that. Christians tended ...
Humankind established from one stem and divided into many roots. Yet, we have come so far that no longer we admire the fact that we are equal. Religious intolerance is a major rising issue worldwide in today’s society. A country where there this is increasingly becoming a problem in India. In India, the Hindu majority is hostile towards minority religions, particularly Muslims. There have been outbreaks of violence against Muslims in villages all over the country. It has gotten so bad that recently Bollywood actor Aamir Khan stated in an interview that, “my wife fears for her child due to the atmosphere around us and asked me if we should move out of India” (The Indian Express). The actor who breaks the Box Office record each year was bashed pretty badly through twitter because he raised questions about religious intolerance. People whom considered him an Indian till now, all of a sudden started calling him names and saying he should go live in Pakistan. Just like the actor, many others have been bashes for their comments or opinions. Religious intolerance is a major
Religious prejudice is defined as the act of treating a person or group differently because of what they do or do not believe in. There are many cases throughout history of established religions tolerating other practices. Specifically, religious prejudice is when believers of different religions are treated unequally, either before the law or in institutional settings such as employment or housing. Even in societies where freedom of religion is a constitutional right, sometimes supporters of religious minorities voice concerns about religious prejudice against their group. Cases that are perceived as religious discrimination might be the result of an interference of the religious sphere with other spheres of the public. For a religious establishment to mistreat other religions for being ‘wrong’ ironically puts the oppressing religion in the wrong, undermining its own validity. Religious intolerance is unacceptable in general and more specifically, in the Holocaust and simply the idea that started the Holocaust. People have an inherent right to express their beliefs and not to be treated indignantly and inhumanely based on those beliefs.