(September 28, 2016 at 1:55 am)Minimalist Wrote: Uninformed speculation. In general the so-called "pagans" were far more tolerant of other religions that your xtian pals.
The Romans were far more tolerant than the Jews, yes. That's why we know Jesus wasn't executed for blasphemy - that was a lesser Roman offence that might get you beheaded, but certainly not crucified. The operative word being "might" - that is to say Romans didn't want to execute people just for "blasphemy" as Trajan's letter to Pliny the Younger shows. Also, what they considered blasphemous was quite different to what the Jews considered blasphemous, which is why even today Judaism is quite tolerant in its beliefs compared to the other Abraham religions.
For Religion & Health see:[/b][/size] Williams & Sternthal. (2007). Spirituality, religion and health: Evidence and research directions. Med. J. Aust., 186(10), S47-S50. -LINK
The WIN/Gallup End of Year Survey 2013 found the US was perceived to be the greatest threat to world peace by a huge margin, with 24% of respondents fearful of the US followed by: 8% for Pakistan, and 6% for China. This was followed by 5% each for: Afghanistan, Iran, Israel, North Korea. -LINK
"That's disgusting. There were clean athletes out there that have had their whole careers ruined by people like Lance Armstrong who just bended thoughts to fit their circumstances. He didn't look up cheating because he wanted to stop, he wanted to justify what he was doing and to keep that continuing on." - Nicole Cooke
The WIN/Gallup End of Year Survey 2013 found the US was perceived to be the greatest threat to world peace by a huge margin, with 24% of respondents fearful of the US followed by: 8% for Pakistan, and 6% for China. This was followed by 5% each for: Afghanistan, Iran, Israel, North Korea. -LINK
"That's disgusting. There were clean athletes out there that have had their whole careers ruined by people like Lance Armstrong who just bended thoughts to fit their circumstances. He didn't look up cheating because he wanted to stop, he wanted to justify what he was doing and to keep that continuing on." - Nicole Cooke
