Ojuice5001

Well, there have been several threads lately about what a secular society would be like. Which I find rather annoying, since the people who post on these threads take it as a given that the gods don't exist. Even the theists come too close to arguing that way.

But I don't think a thread about a Roman-pagan culture would be boring. What do you think things would be like if my dreams were realized and, within only ten years, the US and Mexico became 85% Roman and Greek pagans? How would the rest of culture and society be affected? Would things be better or worse than our current Christian-dominated culture?

seanie

I'd noticed that.

Weird huh?

I wonder why that might be....

sullster

Why do you have to do so much visualisation? The Roman Pagan world is still very much with us. The catholic religion absorbed and used it to establish itself.

The christian holidays are the same as the Roman Pagan ones.(What a coincidence!!)
The saints were originally the pagan gods still around to be prayed to, now that they converted.
Look where the seat of the church is? Rome. No sense putting the center of the religion where the christ lived. Heck no.

All the Greek gods are still with us everywhere. The moon lander was called Apollo for instance. There are many other examples.

I can only scratch the surface and there are others here far more qualified to discuss this.

The christians have failed utterly to get rid of the pagan religions and culture. Even the maniac Protestants haven't expunged all of its influences. It lives on all around us.

Marduk

Well it sure would be a boon to 'reality' TV, people hacking each other to bits in the arena, feeding people to lions, The Fox network would be pleased.

Eudaimonist

That depends on how moral values would change. Please compare and contrast Hellenistic pagan values with modern Christian values, and then we can speculate.

philechat

It should be somewhat better than a Christianity-dominated world. The Roman Pagans do not discriminate against homosexuality and tend not to call themselves believers of The One True Religion (tm). I know I am partial to Pagans in these ways.

I like Pagan values actually, in that they are more relativistic than the righteousness/sinful dichotomy found in Christian texts. The Pagans are a crazy bunch, but IMHO not crazy in harmful ways (except to Christians ).

hinduwoman

For one thing it would be a very expensive one --- all these sacrifices and divinations!

The Naked Mage

I propose we convert as a society right away!

Sarpedon

I suspect that in 2000 years the roman pagans would have gotten over things like slavery and gladitorial combat. They would still have a healthy appreciation for sports, Ancient rome also featured a running track for spectation. Also wrestling, chariot racing, boxing, swimming, throwing things. I think they were less rascist than the cultures that followed after them. If Rome hadn't fallen, I think that we as a culture would have gotten over that particular scourge earlier. Ditto with sexism. There were many empowered positions for women in Roman society. Not as good as today, but a heck of a lot better than in mideval europe. Also, the multiplicity of deities would have contraindicated a strong religious authority able to cripple science for as long as the christians were able too. Perhaps if Christianity had never entered the scene, religion would be dead by now, and science would have advanced even farther.

paul30

I really like the Greek and Roman deities. They were all nature spirits, and lend support to the view which I hold, namely that the universe is alive.

The particular deities are just particular aspects of this organism.

All this is in sharp contrast to the 3 big religions of the West--Judaism, Christianity, Islam--which are radically dualistic, and say that God is completely separate from creation.