Posted on 02/20/2007 1:39:19 AM PST by neverdem
Could you source this? I don't think the people of Europe previous to the 13th or 14th century knew much of anything about the world east of the Indus, let alone knowing about a city called Pagan in Burma.
On the other hand, the Latin word "paganus," (Italian, "pagano") means country-dweller, and many dictionaries note that this ties in with the fact that (1) country people often propitiated nature spirits in an attempt to control weather, fertility, and crops, whereas (2) Christians were often city-dwellers. Hence the Christians called the nature-spirit people "pagans," i.e. people with countryside beliefs and practices.
That's what I'd heard.
Pagan is latin for rural countryman. Pagans were the country folk, the bumpkins, the last to accept Christianity. It's very similar in derivation to Heathens, people of the Heath, again the backcountry folk. Hicks.
[Middle English, from Late Latin paganus, from Latin, country-dweller, civilian, from pagus, country, rural district; see pag- in Indo-European roots.]
Heathen. [OE. hethen, AS. h??en, prop. an adj. fr. h??
heath, and orig., therefore, one who lives in the country or on the heaths and in the woods]
Death by Government
Just so. Here's the entry from Dictionary.com:
pa·gan
noun 1. one of a people or community observing a polytheistic religion, as the ancient Romans and Greeks.
2. a person who is not a Christian, Jew, or Muslim.
3. an irreligious or hedonistic person.
–adjective
4. pertaining to the worship or worshipers of any religion that is neither Christian, Jewish, nor Muslim.
5. of, pertaining to, or characteristic of pagans.
6. irreligious or hedonistic.
Thanks for the ping!
Your wisdom seems sound. Our unfortunate problem is a pretty hefty crowd of home grown goatherds kept deliberately poor and perpetually ignorant. The left has been effective. The right, less so, mainly because the right has been unwilling to accept the nature of the problem and to deal with it. What a pity.
Thanks for the ping!
WTF?? Oh, I forgot - must be a klintoon bimbo ............ FRegards
I've learned about the Pagan - Buddhist interrelationship from being married to a Buddhist for 35 years. In that time I've had countless discussions with various Buddhist Monks, Lamas and Abbots who are friends of my family. A simple Google search on Pagan and Buddhism will give you thousand of references, including several of the texts that I have read along the way.
That quote is from Pagans and Christians by Robin Lane Fox, University Lecturer in Ancient History at Oxford.
I don't dispute that there was a center of Buddhism in Burma called "Pagan." What I'm fairly sure of, is that 4th century Christians knew nothing of Buddhism, nor indeed of Burma. They were Latin- or Italian-speakers, and chose a bit of slang from their own language, referring, not to Buddhists, but to the polytheists among whom they lived.
Inaccurate etymology.
Pagan and paganism come from Latin paganus, meaning country-dweller. When Christianity took over the Roman Empire, it first took root in the cities. Rural regions clung to the old beliefs much longer, leading to the new meaning of the old word.
My apologies to all for not reading the entire thread before posting the previous.
"Lebanon (Sabra) 1982. Christians killed 750 to 3,500 Palestinians."
This one I'll have to look up. I'm suspicious about this. If true, does it qualify as genocide or maybe self defense?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.