Most Canadians would fail own citizenship test

[Emperor Pan I]

What about Messopotamia and the cradle of civilization. Of the ancient world I thought that the entire region was pretty interesting to study.

 

[Vadriel]

Yeah, that's mostly the stuff I'm talking about. I mean, the Greeks and the Egyptians aren't Mesopotomia, but the Sumerians and the Mycenaeans are two pretty prominent Mesopotamian cultures. All of those civilizations are quite intriguing. Almost everything Sumerian is just amazing.

 

[Emperor Pan I]

I've never really studied the Aztecs...most of the ancient civilizations my classes have discussed were chiefly located in Europe or Africa.

Greeks > all. Even the mighty Roman Empire consisted of Greek wannabes. The Greeks defined philosophy and art, shit even basic nuances of society. Without the Greeks, the world would be very grim indeed.

And Constantine was an idiot. If it wasn't for him, Christianity would have probably been stomped out ages ago, and the world would be a much better place.

Constantine united the European world and laid the groundwork for ages of European power.

If Constantine hadn't bothered with Christianity, we would be living in a darker world. It would be muslim. If Constantine hadn't spread christianity, nothing would have stopped the muslim advancement and would have swallowed up Europe.

 

[Vadriel]

Yeah, I guess you have a point...but why the hell do we have to have religions anyways dammit? Either Islam or Christianity, both are horrible in practice...it's like Communism. On paper it's a beautiful thing, but apply it in the real world and let humans do as they will with it, and you get some seriously ****ed up problems going on.

 

[N[U]TS]

Yeah, I guess you have a point...but why the hell do we have to have religions anyways dammit? Either Islam or Christianity, both are horrible in practice...it's like Communism. On paper it's a beautiful thing, but apply it in the real world and let humans do as they will with it, and you get some seriously ****ed up problems going on.

eh we just have some pretty ****ed up people in this world who like to take things to the extreme.

 

[Vadriel]

Yeah, they're called the "humans".

 

[PauseBreak]

Yeah, I guess you have a point...but why the hell do we have to have religions anyways dammit? Either Islam or Christianity, both are horrible in practice...it's like Communism. On paper it's a beautiful thing, but apply it in the real world and let humans do as they will with it, and you get some seriously ****ed up problems going on.

The world would be a hell of a lot worse place if there wasn't religion...of any kind.

 

[Vadriel]

Only good things religions give us are ethics and organization. Ethics go out the window at earliest convenience, and organization is used to accomplish horrible things.

I think religion causes more damage than help.

 

[TrongaMonga]

Constantine was as christian as the dog next door.

He also was not dumb, and he devised a way of better controlling his empire by doing what religion is there to do, brainwash.

And since there were more christians than there were pagans, he turned the Roman Empire into a christian power.

 

[PauseBreak]

Ethics usually do go out the window at convenience. But a lot of times they stick. The world isn't as dark as you make it out to be.

"Organization is used to accomplish horrible things."
I can counter that quote with my quote.
"Organization is used to accomplish great things."

 

[Tipsy]

The wonders of centralized control of education...

 

[Emperor Pan I]

The Constantine I mentioned I meant to say charlemagne, who was the Frankish king who took control of France, Northern Italy, and Germany and was the first sort of European kingdom. No one caught on to the fact (before I edited my post out of the stupidity) that I mentioned how Charlemagne had stopped the muslim advance out of Spain from reaching the rest of europe.

 

[TrongaMonga]

The world would be a hell of a lot worse place if there wasn't religion...of any kind.

I didn't saw this post, and I wouldn't like to derail this thread, but I have to disagree.

This, however, depends on the definition of religon a person has. For me, a religion is based upon an organization that tries to make everyone believe in their philosophy of life.

The philosophy of life may not be the best, it may not be the worst, but it's up to every single on of us to do what we want with our lives. It's human nature to try to make other people think like you, either using good ways or bad ways. And the more impersonal a situation is (I mean, if you're a king sitting in a chair, and you have to judge someone, you don't give a damn of what their status is), the more biased and the harsher it will be.

Religion's only good thing is the good people who actually try to help. Most do not, unfortunately.

I follow christianity's philosophy of life, but I am no christian. That philosophy of life is a good thing, the Church isn't.

--Edit--

The Constantine I mentioned I meant to say charlemagne, who was the Frankish king who took control of France, Northern Italy, and Germany and was the first sort of European kingdom. No one caught on to the fact (before I edited my post out of the stupidity) that I mentioned how Charlemagne had stopped the muslim advance out of Spain from reaching the rest of europe.

Eh, Charlemagne didn't spread any christianity either, he simply halted the moorish invasion of Europe at the battle of Poitiers.

So it made sense talking about the Roman Emperor Constantine

 

[N[U]TS]

we have Vadriel to thank for taking this thread off topic lol

 

[Emperor Pan I]

He didn't so much spread it as he simply converted his kingdom to christanity and cemented an alliance with the church etc.

 

[TrongaMonga]

Well, considering Constantine's empire was the whole Europe, I'd say he spread it around

 

[Vadriel]

Lol. All Constantine did was make it legitimate and acceptable. Christianity was an insurgent cult, one of a great many at the time. Most of these cults were considered heretics, hunted down and slaughtered, and operated in secret. Christianity was no different, except that its doctrines and dogma made it very easy to control people. So Constantine did what any ruler who wanted to keep ruling would do: he legitimized the cult into an official religion, encouraged its use, and became the loved king who set them free. Rulers have been using religion to manipulate their subjects ever since.

 

[B~E]

Either Islam or Christianity, both are horrible in practice...it's like Communism. On paper it's a beautiful thing....

Christianity is a personal religion. How could it be horrible?

Lol. All Constantine did was make it legitimate and acceptable. Christianity was an insurgent cult, one of a great many at the time. Most of these cults were considered heretics, hunted down and slaughtered, and operated in secret. Christianity was no different, except that its doctrines and dogma made it very easy to control people. So Constantine did what any ruler who wanted to keep ruling would do: he legitimized the cult into an official religion, encouraged its use, and became the loved king who set them free. Rulers have been using religion to manipulate their subjects ever since.

Constantine institutionalized christianity as a State religion because it wasnt marginal anymore, because it was already widely populare.

Which christian dogmas makes it easy to control people? The one that says that christianity is a personal religion, an intimate link between an individual and God, and nothing else? Or the one that says that you should rather be killed than kill? Or the one that says that God is in everyone's heart, and as such, nobody is more christian or closer to God than anyone else, which makes the concept of religious authority a contradiction? Or the one that says that glory achived in the name of christianity means nothing?

Christians were historicaly controled in the name of their religion; but it was because they were ignorant of it. Christian dogmas, if anything,say that individuals should make a difference between politics and their religion.

 

[Emperor Pan I]

In the middle Ages the Catholic church had absolutely no power until around 1000, hundreds of years after the Roman Empire fell. Even then at that point the Roman Empire had control over its people for the most part when they were pagan, Christianity was just instituted because it was gaining huge amounts of popularity.