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Originally Posted by Daycare Nation
Things were fine until the Edict of Milan legalized Christianity, and then Constantine had to make it the state religion...from then on it losts its original values and became associated with imperialism.
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true, & a good historical point. Absolute Power corrupts absolutely. Religion & State should always be kept separate. Jesus said so himself in the saying attributed to him:
"Render unto Caesar what is Caesar's & to God what is God's."
Constantine had a crumbling empire spread far too thin on his hands & converted to Christianity to hopefully whip the people into shape & once again instill a work ethic back into society. The Cult of Dionysus, great wealth & power, & improved quality of life & mostly, the Circus Maximus, which had come to monopolize the Roman calendar in lieu of work, had made the Roman Empire extremely lax & weak & subject to barbarian invaders. Ultimately though, he did a profound disservice to the religion & everyone is familiar (or at least should be) with the horrible abuses of the Roman Catholic church during the Middle Ages that followed as a direct result. Yep, folks, evil does exist.