Can we trust religions to stay moderate?
Do you know why the fish is the ancient symbol of Christianity? Odds are you’ve never really thought about it, or considered it another oddity in the religion. However there was a time when the cross was not the official symbol of the Church. Instead, it was the fish (now often referred to as the “Jesus fish”). While they suffered prosecution at the hands of the Romans, many would use it as a symbol to demarcate their secret meeting places. The use of the cross as a symbol did not start until 312 AD, when in October of that year Constantine, who was fighting to become the Emperor of Rome, adopted the cross as a sign of his impending victory over the forces of Maxentius. Some say that he had a dream the night before the Battle of the Milvian Bridge that prophesied his victory over his rival, who’s forces nearly doubled his. In his vision, he was said to have seen the cross and heard the words: “Conquer By This”.
His victory left him with few rivals, and as he continued to consolidate his power, he managed to convince the other emperors (by then, the Roman Empire had been divided) to make all religions legal, giving special privileges to Christianity. By 320, his rival Licinius has reneged, and once again persecuted Christians. Constantine took the opportunity to rally his allies, and they defeated the pagan emperor of the East. Licinius’ defeat made Constantine the only emperor, and he was to be unopposed until his death.
Constantine was a pragmatist, and at first he gave no special favor to Christianity, despite the fact his victories were largely contingent on their strong support. However, he later decided orthodoxy would prevent religious conflict, and so he established the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD to remove the schism which had formed in the Church due mostly to the Easter controversy, as well as the growing Arian movement (which taught Jesus was not part of the Trinity).
The adoption of Christianity as the official religion of Rome drastically changed the Church. The symbol of the fish, which had long represented life, was replaced by the darker and more ominous cross. The previously passive and peaceful religion of Christianity had become a violent, repressive organization using its political power to effectively enforce their rule and edicts on others. By ‘Romanizing’ Christianity, Constantine had essentially made it a religion of war, not of peace.
As they consolidated their power, the Church began to systematically destroy any evidence of other pagan religions. Any works that violated the Nicene Creed were either suppressed or completely destroyed. What followed was a thousand years of brutal tyranny, prosecution, and religiously motivated wars. We call this time the ‘Dark Ages’.
Although the modern face of Christianity now more closely resembles its earlier form, the documents that eventually formed the Bible were brought together to create a political religion to control the masses and provide unprecedented power to the Church. Only during the Enlightenment did we succeed in breaking their stranglehold. The result was the modernization of our civilization.
Can we trust Christianity, or any other political religion (such as Islam or Hinduism) not to revert back to their combative and primitive selves? The answer is an emphatic no. Although it may be mild and nonthreatening now, moderate Christianity is only possible because it has adapted itself to our modern ethical understanding. There is no reason to believe this will continue to be true. As religion becomes more marginalized in our society, its more primitive and violent elements resurface; one only needs to listen to the utterances of religious conservatives to realize how tentative their modernity is.