It's often been pointed out that polytheistic cultures tended not to care all that much if their neighbors had different Gods. Some Gods even got shared, others syncretized. This has lead some to characterize polytheistic societies as more tolerant than the Abrahamic faiths. Of course, that's a bit of a generalization. The Romans could be pretty intolerant at times, as the link below discusses. However, while the Romans appear to have been very rough with the Christians, many others pagan cultures were quite tolerant. In Scandinavia, Ireland, and a number of other places, Christians were allowed to preach freely by local rulers.. In many cases throughout history, pagans have even worshiped the Christian God alongside others.
ww.quora.com/Ancient-Rome/Why-did-the-ancient-Romans-persecute-Jews-and-Christians-but-not-many-other-religions-Is-it-because-they-were-offended-by-the-idea-of-a-one-true-god-that-rejected-their-many-gods
The Romans are everyone's go-to example of pagan intolerance. Interestingly, it seems that the Romans could be tolerant of Judaism. So the rejection of Christianity was more nuanced than simply being intolerant of monotheism. I've also heard it argued that the Roman motivations for persecuting a religion were largely political; they only persecuted those religions which were seen as inherently seditious, or in direct opposition to Rome, which Christianity sometimes was. The fact that it was overtly antagonistic towards all other religions probably scared them, and ultimately, you could argue that all of their fears of Christianity were proven to be well-founded. It seems that the Christians were persecuted as a political threat, not as heretics.
To be fair, you could argue that when someone is persecuting you, it really doesn't matter all that much whether it's for political or religious reasons. However, I think it does matter in the modern context; the political motivations that the Romans had for persecuting Christians are easily removed from the Roman religion itself. Originally , the Roman religion didn't even have an Emperor or Empire to be intertwined with. To me, this is just more evidence that politics corrupt religion, and vice-versa.
Divesting Christianity of its old intolerant habits is more difficult in modern times, because in my opinion, a large part of that intolerance is the very foundation of Abrahamic religion. Feel free to disagree, or offer any other thoughts or opinions
ww.quora.com/Ancient-Rome/Why-did-the-ancient-Romans-persecute-Jews-and-Christians-but-not-many-other-religions-Is-it-because-they-were-offended-by-the-idea-of-a-one-true-god-that-rejected-their-many-gods
The Romans are everyone's go-to example of pagan intolerance. Interestingly, it seems that the Romans could be tolerant of Judaism. So the rejection of Christianity was more nuanced than simply being intolerant of monotheism. I've also heard it argued that the Roman motivations for persecuting a religion were largely political; they only persecuted those religions which were seen as inherently seditious, or in direct opposition to Rome, which Christianity sometimes was. The fact that it was overtly antagonistic towards all other religions probably scared them, and ultimately, you could argue that all of their fears of Christianity were proven to be well-founded. It seems that the Christians were persecuted as a political threat, not as heretics.
To be fair, you could argue that when someone is persecuting you, it really doesn't matter all that much whether it's for political or religious reasons. However, I think it does matter in the modern context; the political motivations that the Romans had for persecuting Christians are easily removed from the Roman religion itself. Originally , the Roman religion didn't even have an Emperor or Empire to be intertwined with. To me, this is just more evidence that politics corrupt religion, and vice-versa.
Divesting Christianity of its old intolerant habits is more difficult in modern times, because in my opinion, a large part of that intolerance is the very foundation of Abrahamic religion. Feel free to disagree, or offer any other thoughts or opinions
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