"early Christian emperors stamped out classical religion by destroying temples and outlawing pagan rituals"
Perhaps Ms. McDonald would like to revive those quaint and charming "pagan rituals," like temple prostitution?
Novak is absolutely right that Christianity spread throughout the Roman empire despite savage and cruel persecution, before any "Emperors" became involved on its behalf. Christianity continues to spread in the third world, despite the departure of European colonialism, the decline of Christianity in the West, and persecution of the new believers by Muslims, Hindus, and others.
Ms. McDonald should also see what the Bible says about those who demand that God produce nice signs and wonders before they will believe.
""early Christian emperors stamped out classical religion by destroying temples and outlawing pagan rituals"
It wasn't "Christian emperors," true, but it was the Christian Spanish conquerors of Mexico who put an end to that cute Aztec custom of cutting the hearts out of countless living human beings. And the Jews put a stop to the infant-human sacrifice of the nice pagan inhabitants of Palestine. Today it's their spiritual descendants, Christians, who lead the fight against today's fashionable pagan infant sacrifice, called abortion. Perhaps Ms. McDonald regrets the loss of those "pagan rituals," as well?
Mac Donald's essay isn't profound theology and isn't meant to be. It is simply an all-too-rare example of an intelligent secular challenge to the often not-very- intelligent pronouncements of the religious right. While their policies are good, their God talk doesn't do much for us politically. The hard fact is that a huge percentage of influential Americans (some of whom can be converted to conservatism, including family-values or social conservatism) are agnostics or atheists. Many others, and a huge percentage of regular Americans, are religious, but, like Ms. Mac Donald, don't seriously believe that God is really in charge of our world, let alone everything that happens.
I say, let the discussion continue.