this post was submitted on 29 Jan 2025
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A Comm for Historymemes

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[–] PugJesus 56 points 6 days ago (3 children)

Explanation: In late antiquity, once Christianity was in power, it dropped the whole "We just want to coexist 🥺" thing that prior generations of Christians had pled to the authorities, and promptly set to book burnings, mob killings of pagans, destruction of temples, and defacement of objects, especially of those terrible temptress pagan goddesses, making good Christian men think impure thoughts by their very visages!

[–] [email protected] 34 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Never realized that defacing is a literal term.

[–] PugJesus 21 points 5 days ago

Language is a funny thing, isn't it?

[–] Zombiepirate 5 points 5 days ago

One of the best novels I've read that's set in late antiquity was Julian by Gore Vidal. It gets into the politics of religion before and during his reign, and how the Christians were angling to be the only game in town by monopolizing religion in Roman society.

Fascinating stuff.

[–] MothmanDelorian -3 points 6 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (2 children)

Graven images are forbidden in that faith which everyone seems to forget.

edit: This is in the 10 commandments. It’s weird that Christians now have so many graven images

[–] PugJesus 18 points 6 days ago

The destruction of statues of goddesses, however, was accompanied by a great deal of exceptional misogyny, sexual self-loathing, and aggressive asceticism in addition.

[–] Hawke 15 points 6 days ago (1 children)

“Graven images are forbidden”

Engraves an image in/on everything

[–] MothmanDelorian 4 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (2 children)

Graven images are representations of human beings. It is identical to how Islam forbids images of Mohammed because you are supposed to worship god rather than the statute or painting. Judaism and Christianity both have this rule.

Im not saying the destruction is right but this is motivated by the same beliefs that lead the Taliban to destroy non-Islamic statutes. Again not saying this was right but this is why it happened.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 days ago

It’s almost like religions generally do why they think will get them more followers/tithes rather than follow any strict moral codes…

[–] Hawke 2 points 5 days ago

Not just human beings, anything.

Wikipedia:

... any graven image, or any likeness [of any thing] that [is] in heaven above, or that [is] in the earth beneath, or that [is] in the water under earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them.

Really much more about worshipping them than about making them though.

[–] NeilNuggetstrong 6 points 6 days ago

Lmao that's brilliant

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 days ago

spooky looking. would make a fun spin on the classic "scary statue" horror game enemy

[–] [email protected] 4 points 6 days ago (1 children)

And yet these days they have no problem with putting up their Trump idols everywhere.