Obscure? You need to step out from the cocoon they keep you in. Learn what what going on that led the Israelites into captivity. Learn what it was that was so abominable. The same thing is happening today.
Yes, obscure, but that doesn't mean I am unaware of Hislop's claims.
You guys are as bad as the Gnostics, or more appropriately, the Truthers. You always think you know more than everyone else when they don't agree with you.
So what are you going to toss out next because of supposed pagan origins: the virgin birth?
In case you hadn't heard "correlation is not causation," and frankly, I find CS Lewis "good dreams" concept a perfectly reasonable explanation for the Fisher King myths.
I'll start paying attention to your theological fairy tales just as soon as you guys start justifying your doctrinal inconsistencies and extra-biblical rationalizations instead of redoubling your accusations (as if that somehow answers Protestant failings and self-serving emphasis). Criticizing Catholics for not subscribing to doctrines that you extrapolated from the Bible, when we make no pretense of accepting Sola Scriptura, is nothing but a conceit born of, and preserved by, a chauvinistic myopia.
And for the record, I was a practicing evangelical/biblical fundamentalist for over twenty years, so if you want to go toe to toe with me on Scripture: bring it on.