I think a couple of factors come together: Pagans disappearing, Christian's prime directive to be the only true religion and convert the world (and thus all others are wrong and thus they shouldn't exist) and the well documented unpleasantness of the centuries past paint an uncomfortable picture that may be easily misrepresented..
Pagans never disappeared wholesale - that's something that often seems to get parroted even though no one discusses the multiple groups/organizations and cultures that were and are still pagan (with
Christians being the minority within them - be it in Japan or India within Hindu culture or even other places).
Caricatures are never good - as Christianity (as defined by Christ and what early believers noted) was never about eradicating all others who disagreed - and many times, it seems pagans try to push that forward even though there's no basis for it. Christians often and repeatedly noted how it was never the case that all others are wrong at all points simply because they are not Christian
Christianity (as based on what Christ noted - facts alone) was never based on having a prime directive as seeing itself as the only true religion...for it never set out to make itself into a new religion anyhow. It was about a lifestyle and proclaiming Christ as Lord/what He had to offer to change the world - but it was never based on the mindset that the whole world would convert since Christ already noted otherwise (Matt 7, Matthew 10 on bringing division, Luke 13, John 16, etc). It was about living in light of a coming kingdom in the world to come/spreading God's Love as Christ defined it to others - changing the lifestyle in the process.
Others such as N.T Wright have often discussed the issue in-depth when it comes to showing what Christ was focused on ....and how many often miss that point that early disciples of Christ understood quite well.
N. T. Wright - Simply Christian - The Veritas Forum - YouTube
Revelation and Christian Hope (N. T. Wright) - YouTube
What Gods Do We Believe in Now? NT Wright and Gary Morson at Northwestern - YouTube
I was one of the people who just assumed Christians killed off pagans. I'm sure they did but I retract my belief of how widespread it is.
Christians who killed off pagans - VERY unfortunate and the same happening within Christianity when it came to other groups of Christians persecuted, such as blacks/Native Americans and others harmed by Imperialistic Christian groups - more
here in
#12 ,
#35) )
Nonetheless, it is EQUALLY unfortunate when it seems people try to romanticize what occurred with Paganism as if Pagans either didn't kill off Pagans - or that Pagans never killed Christians excessively. That is something that is always a bit of a double-standard when people talk on the evils of what Christians did while remaining silent on why many left Paganism in the first place when seeing how others treated one another....be it violence or abuse and so many other documented things.
In example, there can be no escaping where there was persecution of the Christians by the Goths and Vandals. For many Scythian Goths having embraced Christianity about the time of Constantine the Great ended up spreading the Gospel spread itself considerably in Scythia, though the two kings who ruled that country, and the majority of the people continued pagans. Fritegern, king of the West Goths, was an ally to the Romans, but Athanarich, king of the East Goths, was at war with them. And the Christians, in the dominions of the former, lived unmolested, but the latter, having been defeated by the Romans, took terrible vengeance on his Christian subjects, commencing his pagan injunctions in the year 370.
And outside of that, many movements from the 20th century had their roots in Pagan ideology ...some of those movements harming others A LOT. There was an excellent review on the issue by another - as seen in
The Pagan Roots Of The Fascist Culture
Even outside of that, we have the Vikings as well. In fact, the recent epic saga produced by the History Channel, entitled
Vikings , gives a panoramic view of the life of those who fit the definition of Pagan that many pagans don't want to address. For they were indeed a violent and pagan culture whose aim was to steal from others, rape and pillage the weak. Of course, this goes in addition to them showing strong familial bonds and the teaching of the roles of the sexes, which, while definitely swayed and erratic at times, led to a culture that was one of patristic protection and maternal bond. Nonetheless, it was a blatantly pagan society. And while the Vikings were definitely brutally violent and explicitly sexual, the internal want for the divine transcendence was a major facet of their culture.
And when seeing how they attacked monasteries/peaceful monks in other lands outside of their territory, the standard stereotype of "Paganism was always a matter of peace" doesn't fly.
For some humor:
Horrible Histories - Vikings and Monks. - YouTube
As mentioned before, historian/scholar Richard A. Fletcher did a rather amazing job addressing the issue in
The Barbarian Conversion: From Paganism to Christianity (especially on the part of the Vikings and stereotypes of them that Christians often place up - as well as stereotypes of them which Pagans do likewise in the opposite direction). We do have examples of Vikings who did leave behind a great legacy - examples being the stories of two families -
the Olafssons, who transformed a pirate camp in Ireland into the kingdom of Dublin, and the Haraldssons, whose rule encompassed Hebrides, Galloway, and the Isle of Man. But we also have a lot of examples of where those in Paganism did the SAME things often accused of Christians (when they did violence) and often BEFORE even encountering anything of Christianity.
This also goes for groups such as the Celts - or other groups outside of that. And this was present for some time. Historically, it goes back as far as the Roman Empire when the Empire began to fail and it switched to a model of serfs/peasants producing for themselves and selling to the community - smaller units begun rather than the larger models the Empire was used to and a model that persisted throughout the Dark ages after the B
arbarians came in/began to set up camp. ....(something
that had far-reaching impact into the future for many - including St. Patrick who experienced some of the
backlash from that when it came to the Germanic Tribes/others invading and having to help save civilization in the meltdown it experienced) - by the time the Barbarians came in, there were many who were no longer protected by the empire. When the Empire had reached its limits of expansion via gaining of slaves/territories, the slave system was addressed by switching to a simple distributed society of small units less socially differentiated, less specialized and with less central control - with this later connecting with the Feudal system that developed to combat the issue successfully in ways the Empire couldn't.
When the serfs had better conditions to work in and a huge stake in their livelihood, more got produced - even though moral choices weren't necessarily improved by better development. For in medieval Europea
guild system, wider ownership of the means of production, etc people still used the system for corruption when it came to conquest, violence, people harmed and others still devalued in other ways. War between different guilds/villages still occurred - the people united together against another one that was stronger - and thus, there were still problems
Violence was considered a necessary part of life in the Middle Ages (about 5001500 A.D.) - as people were surrounded by violence in many forms, including wars, brutal tournaments, and deadly rivalries for power and land. Brute force was accepted and even respected in the Middle Ages at multiple points - a
s violence played a major role in family disputes, in the justice system, and even in education and entertainment.
And Pagans were often a part of that violence. We have to deal with the facts...
Still, Christians to this day are very hostile towards pagans hence pagans hostility towards Christians. Plus minority religions are always scared of the majority religion's power.
That is a concept that goes both ways - for it was not always Christians who were hostile toward Pagans and thus Pagans becoming Hostile. It was very much reversed in many cases when Christianity began somewhere (with no one knowing what it was about) and Pagans hating it - and the same goes for today where Pagans have often been hostile without cause, even in places where Christianity is the minority religion.
Moreover, as you don't know every single Christian nor experienced all Christian groups in existence, it'd be sweeping to claim that Christians are "very hostile toward pagans" (in sweeping generalizations that cannot be verified for all times/accounts) and not really respectful of what even other Pagans have said when saying opposite in stating "Christians have been very peaceful toward Pagans (even in disagreements)" when it comes to their vast experience of Christianity being different from your own experience in the Mid-West.
As it is, we live in a Pagan world currently - pluralistic to be accurate and very much with focus on the supernatural. And that is something people have been realizing when it comes to seeing just how extensive Paganism is (Even within the realm of comics - more shared in
Orthodoxy & Comics: Is Paganism and the Old Ways being brought back via Comics? ) - and Christianity not being the dominant religion.
Many have spoken on this issue many times - one example being Post-Christendom Mission (as seen in
Post-Christendom Mission by Alan Hirsch and
The Next Christians by Gabe Lyons and
Catalyst Atlanta 2010: Gabe Lyons on Vimeo as well as
The Gospel in a Pluralist Society).
Many are fearful of is becoming minorities----feeling as if believers disagreeing with it will lose more power/influence while those disagreeing with Christ will become MORE powerful. To that, I came across Jim Wallis' thoughts about post-Christendom ([/COLOR]
A Christian Mistake - Jim Wallis | God's Politics Blog | Sojourners ), which for the most part I agree with. He says something I was literally just now trying to put words around:
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"Personally, I am not offended or alarmed by the notion of a post-Christian America. Christianity was originally and, in my view, always meant to be a minority faith with a counter-cultural stance, as opposed to the dominant cultural and political force
.. Martin Luther King Jr. did not get the Civil Rights Act passed because he had the most Bible verses on his side but because he entered into the public square with compelling arguments, vision, and policy that ultimately won the day. Those faith-inspired movements are disciplined by democracy, meaning they dont expect to win just because they are Christian. They have to win the debates about what is best for the common good by convincing their fellow citizens. And that is best done by shaping the values narrative, as opposed to converting everyone to their particular brand of religion.
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