Thread by @ArunKrishnan_

THREAD
Watched a short feature on how the "pagan" Roman Empire became Christian. Some very interesting lessons there for Hindus.

Christianity initially spread, apparently, through Paul and through his trading networks. He also targeted women converts. 1/n

They slowly converted and kept their heads down. This did lead to families getting divided since Christianity had the US vs Them mentality. So Christian converts in families would look askance at their non-Christian family.

Sounds familiar? 2/n

Then there is the Great Plague in the 2nd Century CE. The Chrisitians use that to provide "social service networks" and get more converts that way.

Reminds anyone of what happened after the Tsunami?

3/n

As the numbers grow, Elites now start converting. Again, there is the whole Us vs Them coming into play again. And this is when there is a backlash by the Roman Empire against the Christians.

Historians say that most of the martyrs were probably political in nature. 4/n

The Romans are in general tolerant of religions, as long as they don't cause any disturbance. That is not true of the early Christians.

Anyway, once Emperor Constantine converts, and the Nicene Creed comes into play, the Church becomes all powerful and also roots out 5/n

all the diverse views. There is now only ONE view of CHristianity.

The army now starts making sure Christians get promotions etc, giving more incentives to convert.

But Christians are only 10% of the population. Constantine does not outlaw paganism yet. 6/n

Constantine's nephew Julian is raised as a Christian. Even if Julian tries to sever the connection between the Church and the Empire, Christianity is the religion of the empire. And so the persecution is now the other way.

Andhra, TN, Kerala anyone?

After Julian's death, Theodosius takes over. There is a proclamation .. paganism is outlawed. Temples destroyed. Reading of pagan texts outlawed. Olympics disbanded. Alienates born and bred pagans. 8/n

They repurpuse the pagan festivals into Christmas and other Christian festivals. Mary comes about in places of Artemis.

We have seen this more recently in South East Asia, where with the conversion of King Parameswaran, the whole region was converted to Islam.

9/n

Christianity, an exclusivist religion, made use of the freedoms inherent in the Roman pagan religion to undermine it and ultimately finish it.

Some serious lessons there for Hindus. 10/10