Thread by @PnictogenHorses

it's been widely noted that #Christianity, during its early centuries, appealed to Mediterranean audiences by appropriating something of the form and iconography of the <i>mystery cults</i>.

it's probably impossible to summarize "mystery cults" in a tweet or two...

(1/x)

...for one thing, I have no idea how many existed, before the fusion of Christianity with Roman tyranny--which led to the wholesale desecration and destruction of all forms of non-Christian worship throughout the Roman dominion--made sure that we'd never know the answer.

(2/x)

right-wing frauds of the @DineshDSouza / @dalepartridge / @MattWalshBlog type love to pretend as though "terrorism" is a crime that only brown-skinned infidels ever carry out, but terroristic violence and pogroms have been central to #Christianity since its earliest days.

(3/x)

this is always to be borne in mind in dealing with and discussion Christianity: it made itself the One True Faith, honoring the One True God and his One True Son, *by force*. Judaism has coexisted with polytheism and paganism; #Christians have never able to manage this.

(4/x)

#Christianity inherited the Roman thirst for violent conquest; two thousand years later, almost ever #Christian celebrity in public life--@dalepartridge, @JerryFalwellJr, @laurenboebert, whoever--is a bloodthirsty, cruel, merciless spokesperson for organized violence.

(5/x)

the modern-day #Christian who (like @dalepartridge, @DouthatNYT, &c.) has made a *career* from publicizing their supposed #faith and profiting from it, is kindly to police-state rule, harsh and arbitrary "criminal justice", executions, and right-wing paramilitary violence.

(6/x)

there is *nothing new* in this. #Christianity has *always* been like this since the days when Christian street gangs cruised round the cities of the Mediterranean, smashing up everything sacred that wasn't _theirs_. @DouthatNYT would have done it, or at least *praised* it.

(7/x)

this must always be remembered about #Christianity. no honest discussion about #Christian history or "Christian values" is possible without acknowledging that Christianity has always been violent and "eliminationist"--unable to live peacefully with any sort of competition.

(8/x)

the #Christian God is "the One True God" not because there never have been other gods; it's because He tried His best to murder the others.

like Cronos, the Christian God tried to assure unquestioned rule by eating His rivals.

by the way: He failed.

~Mona Drafter of Pnictogen

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