Posted by Nikos on April 30, 2002 at 17:30:56:
In Reply to: In response to Cristina and Panos posted by AncientGreek on April 30, 2002 at 08:49:20:
I agree with you Ancient Greek and would like to add that it is most disappointing to see otherwise reasonable people believing in Eastern superstition, which is what I think Christianity is. It also appears that people these days tend to forget, or rather, never go read basic Roman history to see that Emperor Constantine adopted Christianity as the state religion as a matter of political expediency. Even he didn't bother to be baptised until just prior to his death when he was a very sick man (and one wonders how able he was to choose to be baptised!). Be that as it may, I see it as a question of Humanism. Ancient Greeks were humanist in philosophy and religion, unfortunately, Christianity is not. It would be nice to think that people could see that religion, any and every religion, is a human invention. In this, one cannot discout the role of the Orthodox church in helping keep some aspects of Hellenism alive. But in this non-humanist world where God used to be king and now the dollar (or euro) is king, it's a pity that rational humanism is largely an artefact. Times change but people's need for simple answers and cowardice in the face of an apathetic universe (OK, if there's a grand old God like the one of the Bible or Qoran or Torah, where exactly does he show his mercy and where exactly does he show his judgement - oooooh, that's right I nearly forgot - after one dies....oooooh, just where it CANT be proved!) It seems to me that ancient Greeks knew that life is now and it is people who act mercifully or judge one another...semetic superstitious creeds were politically expedient: how could one DEMAND fair and equal rights in the ancient world, (and today's) if one's rewards for being 'meek' and poor were in the next world? Never mind the fact that Emperor Constantine managed to undermine and eradicate a very strong power-base that may have indeed opposed him, the pagan priesthood....all lost histories to the general public of today who believe in fairytales, goblins, spiritual judges who judge for eternity...I'm ashamed that people are motivated by FEAR of invisible gods rather than LOVE of humanity...