Saturday 22 September 2007

The Tragic Death of Hypatia: Revealing The Murderous Trait of Christianity & Religion

All too often, a potent mix of murderous intent & overzealous religious fervor can be a catalyst for disaster: From the disastrous Crusades (Raging from 1095 - 1291 A.D), launched by the erstwhile Vatican, to the disastrous writings and execution of the religiously-influenced book, The Hammer of the Witches (Malleus Maleficarum), history has shown us that whenever religion is at the threshold of power, it never ceases to inculcate its doctrines and destructive teachings to the masses, who will then unwittingly execute the will of the powers-that-be.

Unfortunately, the unquestioning trait which the Church has advocated for much of two millennial works wonderfully like a charm: Faith, in its most unadulterated form, involves an unthinking belief and obedience to doctrine and whoever is in charge, and it is this terrible, deceitful trait, over-glorified by the powers that be, that caused the death of one of the most enlightened, enigmatic scholar in Alexandria, Egypt.

Hypatia of Alexandria

Hypatia of Alexandria (350A.D? - 415 A.D)

One of the most enchanting and enlightened philosophers of her time, Hypatia was born around the time of A.D 350. Hypatia was also the daughter of Theon, who was her teacher and the last fellow of the Museum of Alexandria. As a Neoplatonist philosopher, Hypatia became head of the Platonist school at Alexandria in about 400.

Patriarch Cyril of Alexandria: Christian Mafia Leader

A Egyptian-born Greek, she was, quite unfortunately, born in a time where a complex brew of religious wrangling and secular learning were waging an underground war. The murderous hordes of pious Christians, under the leadership of the thug-like Patriarch Cyril of Alexandria, were plotting to drive the likes of Hypatia and her "heretic" lot out of the Roman Empire. Cyril's aim was to ultimately create a puritan society with Christianity as the sole, official religion of Alexandria, and ultimately the Roman Empire.

One of the earliest recorded woman in the field of mathematics, astrology and astronomy, Hypatia's extensive background in education, plus her connections with the Library of Alexandria, meant that she was always the subject of controversy.

In addition, Hypatia's somewhat open and vocal support for the Prefect Orestes further earned her the ire of Cyril. A secular man who scoffed at Cyril's tyrannic ways, Orestes did not take a liking to Christianity's encroachment of secular affairs and governance (Sounds familiar???).

& so it was, that events took a turn for the worst, and in tandem with the nature of Christianity, opposition is always dealt with the most barbaric, treacherous manner: Death.

Death of Hypatia, Decline of Alexandria

Cyril's disdain for Hypatia and her "pagan" teachings reached boiling point: In A.D 415, as Hypatia was taking a ride on her carriage from lecture hall to her home, she was waylaid, dragged to a nearby church, where mob-rule took control. She was stripped, beaten and hacked into pieces by a pious, loving crowd of Christians, who, in spite of their overzealousness, did not forget to burn all remains and traces of her dismembered body.

This terrible tragedy was chronicled by church historian Socrates Scholasticus, who wrote in his
Ecclessiatical History:

Yet even she fell a victim to the political jealousy which at that time prevailed. For as she had frequent interviews with Orestes, it was calumniously reported among the Christian populace, that it was she who prevented Orestes from being reconciled to the bishop. Some of them therefore, hurried away by a fierce and bigoted zeal, whose ringleader was a reader named Peter, waylaid her returning home, and dragging her from her carriage, they took her to the church called Caesareum, where they completely stripped her, and then murdered her with tiles. After tearing her body in pieces, they took her mangled limbs to a place called Cinaron, and there burnt them. This affair brought not the least opprobrium, not only upon Cyril, but also upon the whole Alexandrian church. And surely nothing can be farther from the spirit of Christianity than the allowance of massacres, fights, and transactions of that sort. This happened in the month of March during Lent, in the fourth year of Cyril's episcopate, under the tenth consulate of Honorius, and the sixth of Theodosius [AD 415].

With the murder of Hypatia, Alexandria began to fall into a precipitous decline, as waves of scholars, fearful for themselves after witnessing the ignominious death of one of Alexandria's brightest, left Alexandria for fear of their own safety. Alexandria had, with the actions and jealous whims of one religion and a crazy cleric, lost her place as the chief center of learning.

For his part in the murder, Cyril was venerated by latter generations of pious Christians:
He was declared a doctor of the Universal Church in 1882.

.
Religion: A Self-Fulfilling Prophecy???

With its rich history of book burning and murder, Christianity, like Islam, has an incredibly huge amount of unspeakable deeds to answer for: Unfortunately, the Church's victims are long dead, and they are allowed to run roughshod, scott free for much of two millennial.

As Jebus prophesies accurately, without ambiguity:


"Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword." (Matthew 10:34)

Christianity and murder: Blood-brothers in arms. A chilling thought indeed.



35 comments:

Unknown said...

The Christians will say they have moved on from such barbarity for heavens sake!

Wait! Murdered for Being an Atheist

tina FCD said...

If christians have moved away from such barbarity how can they believe in the bible? Why follow such a horrible book? We can do good deeds and be loving without a book or gods.

BEAST FCD said...

Murderous hordes of religious barbarians indeed.

Glad to be an atheist. Any time, any day.

Beast

concerned citizen said...

ditto beast
The philosophy of Christianity is such that it condemns hatred & at the same time condones it.
Then calls it God!

& this is the best humanity has to look forward to?

Anonymous said...

well, this piece has many areas to which I could comment, suffice it to say, chosing questionable history of men (fallen sinful men) to use as an example of why Christianity is bad, is a poor use of deductive logic.

I could certainly choose many atrocities, in my very city, propagated in the name of 'self-interest' and no religion at all, and make the same claims against secularism you have made here.

Also, to shed some light on your prior assertion that Einstein was an atheist, read this quote from an interview he did and it was quoted in Time Magazine.
Interview:
"To what extent are you influenced by Christianity? "As a child I received instruction both in the Bible and in the Talmud. I am a Jew, but I am enthralled by the luminous figure of the Nazarene."

You accept the historical existence of Jesus? "Unquestionably! No one can read the Gospels without feeling the actual presence of Jesus. His personality pulsates in every word. No myth is filled with such life."

Do you believe in God? "I'm not an atheist. I don't think I can call myself a pantheist. The problem involved is too vast for our limited minds. We are in the position of a little child entering a huge library filled with books in many languages. The child knows someone must have written those books. It does not know how. It does not understand the languages in which they are written. The child dimly suspects a mysterious order in the arrangement of the books but doesn't know what it is. That, it seems to me, is the attitude of even the most intelligent human being toward God. We see the universe marvelously arranged and obeying certain laws but only dimly understand these laws."

BEAST FCD said...

LOL!

Note that Einstein uses the word "myth"........clearly Einstein is mocking Christianity without you morons even knowing it!

As for the universe, he mentions "certain laws": certain laws in the universe, like energy, are fixed, no one doubts it, but does it prove the existence of God? Think again.

You claim that Hypatia is "questionable"? Hypatia was a woman of enlightenment; a enigmatic figure and one of the first woman mathematician known in recorded history. I dare say that Hypatia was more important than a thousand Jebuses dying on the cross.

Beast

concerned citizen said...

beast

I agree that Einstein was being facetious.

I think that in our day we would him atheist by the way we define the word.

In his day he would define himself as agnostic, I think.

That is my opinion. In any sense he certainly WASN"T a Christian.

BEAST FCD said...

Einstein couldn't have been a Christian: He was, foremost, a Jew, and a non-practicing one. He had expressed his profound awe and respect for the laws and physics that are still mysterious to us, and this almost religious aspect of Einstein has been misquoted time and again by Christians, who did not realize that even if he was religious, he would almost certainly not be Christian.

In any case, DRD's quote is a great insight to the mind of this great genius: Not only is he a scientist and a genius, he's got a wacky sense of humour too! (Too bad the Christians who quote him are such dumb asses!)

Beast

tina FCD said...

Drd says>I could certainly choose many atrocities, in my very city, propagated in the name of 'self-interest' and no religion at all, and make the same claims against secularism you have made here.

I won't deny this statement by you. But it still doesn't make it ok in the name of religion.

"No myth is filled with such life."

Hmmm...That could mean, the gospels way surpass being a myth, or, it could simply mean it is an amazing myth filled with such life...? Hmmm....

Pyramidhead said...

This is exactly what I'm talking about in my blogs. How they kill,rape,steal, all in the name god! I don't believe in good and evil. But if there is evil in the world I would call it the church!What a bunch of shitheads!

Anonymous said...

You all or really blinded by your ignorance here ...read again:

You accept the historical existence of Jesus?

"UNQUESTIONABLY! No one can read the Gospels without feeling the actual presence of Jesus."

Now you think he was mocking???
My dear beast, your more blinded than I dared imagine.

Anonymous said...

Tina:
Again, "no myth could be filled with such life" is a clear statement that he does NOT think its a myth...if you read it in context you will plainly see that

In regard to whether by todays standard he would be considered an atheist...not a chance.

He clearly states he believed a god ordered the universe and set its laws in motion...the entire article points to that as well as a number of other printed excerpts from him.

"God does not play dice with his creation" is another quote from the same interview.

This in NO WAY is the statement of agnostics.

He clearly states he believes in the god of Spinoza, which is a god that starts everything and then leaves it alone.

He was also a big proponent of predestination, which only a god could foreordain.

Your attempts to minimize Einsteins obvervations that a god is the most rational explanation for our universe is reaching proportions of irrationality that even I did not think you could reach.

Anonymous said...

Where is larro when you need um..or how bout you beast...have you read Pyramidhead's 'interests' on his bio?
WOW...not real big on human rights this fella..not real keen on toleration for others...he just wants us all dead. Yes, the whole human race. Interesting how the atheist mind thinks hu?
He wants to promote the atheistic way or evangelize atheism...and wipe out the human race...Nice.

And religion is the cause of all evil? Ok, I see your point.

Unknown said...

In defense of Bob (Pyramidhead), I will say this: He's more than willing to let the "faithful" destroy humanity all by themselves.

Maybe he can elaborate on this himself.

BTW, DRD, there you go making assumptions about people. Granted most of what you listed is indeed what you read (except, perhaps "evangelize atheism"). Yet you've failed to see the cutting sarcasm.

That's enough about Bob from me. I'll let him explain/defend himself in his own way.

Anonymous said...

No Larro, he specifically has 'spreading atheism'(evangelism) as a part of his interests.

I am only listing that which he puts down himself. No slander, no twist, its from his own hand.

In fact, its so clearly consistent with what you charge Christians with, nothing could make my point stronger. You seem willing to defend an atheist, and condemn a Christian for the same behavior? A little prejudice perhaps? Biased, indeed? Yes, thats clear.

If a Christian posted what he did, it would confirm your assertions and you would pound your chest in "I told you so" righteousness.

Pyramidhead said...

Sssooo advocating thinking for yourself is a bad thing? As for my love of the human race....Hhhhmmm I wonder where that comes from. Oh I know the lifetime of shit I had to put up with. As for the "church" or "god" has done more damage in the course of human history then I could ever hope to do. You have a right to spirituality. I'm not going to fault them for that. Most of my comment are aim at the fundies. And as Larro note it...you miss my sarcasm. Personally my philosaphy in life is what ever floats your boat...as long as your not trying to shove it down my throat.

Unknown said...

DRD; "chosing questionable history of men (fallen sinful men) to use as an example of why Christianity is bad"

Oh, ho! (Here, I am going to lump every single religion together, after all the end goal of each is circuitously the same.)

But first:
Fallen? Apparently, if I remember right, this guy is still considered a saint. Not "fallen" I'm afraid. Apparently the CC still thinks this guy is a good example to live up to.
Sinful? Nah, how about self-serving assholes. That sounds better.

Secondly:
Have we forgotten the attacks of 9/11? Muslim on Hindu massacres in India? The secret Catholic NAMBLA Chapter? Countless religious leaders taking advantage of their congregates? (Mojoey at Deep Thoughts keeps an especially close watch on this one)

I could go on and on.

Or, how about this gem: Pope Canonizes First Brazilian Saint, Cheered By Hundreds Of Thousands On Visit To World's Largest Roman Catholic Country - CBS News

"Friar Galvao, who died in 1822, began a tradition among Brazilian Catholics of handing out tiny rice-paper pills, inscribed with a Latin prayer, to people seeking cures for everything from cancer to kidney stones."

Now, I might understand how, at the turn of the eighteenth century, somebody would look for any way they could to cure a disease. However in 2007, the fucker was made a saint...canonized. The CC therefore is blatantly saying that this charlatan committed miracles with fucking paper pills. This is the present day for fucksake and this "modern" Pope is more or less sending a message that you can cure cancer by inscribing scripture on a pill made of paper.

Let's follow this up: "Although doctors and even some Catholic clergy dismiss the pills as placebos or superstitious fakery, cloistered nuns still toil in the Sao Paulo monastery where Galvao is buried, preparing thousands of the Tic Tac-sized pills for free daily distribution. Each one carries these words: "After birth, the Virgin remained intact. Mother of God, intercede on our behalf." "

In my opinion, this is equally as monstrous as the example of Cyril.

On Einstein. He's fucking dead. Whatever he's written, somebody, somewhere (hint, hint) is going to interpret the mans opinion however they see fit. This rule is especially applicable to the bible. This is all I'm going to say on the matter of Einstein, as it isn't the topic of this post.

Anonymous said...

You can go on and on and try explaining which has been more destructive, religion, or atheism, the fact is, taking into consideration all the factors, atheists have still done more damage.

That's besides the point. Tina and Larro, it is my opinion that you can still be saved, you can be a christian and still refrain from doing all the bad things christians have done, it's not too late for the 2 of you. you just seem to be caught up in all the propoganda, and the evolution rubbish and the evil religion theory and all, you can still be forgiven. So please give yourselves a chance.

As for beast, he might as well continue to 'enjoy' life on earth, the next 60 or so years at the most, then he's got an eternity to spend in hell, Tina and Larro, not the 2 of you, I believe you can still be saved. so quit practicing atheism, give the rest of your lives to God. that's not a bad thing, it does not mean you'll have a boring, dull life on earth. You'll still live a fulfilling life here on earth. And the kingdom of heaven to look forward to after that.

tina FCD said...

Well thank you Shaun,for thinking of me. But I never said life was boring if you were a christian. My sister's life is far from boring,(she's a christian) I just don't feel the need to have a god in my life, not putting you down for it, I just don't have that need. I don't need to have fear instilled in me to do good. Personally, I have never read the bible.(aw oh, now am I going to get a lecture?):)You know, we can agree to disagree, you believe, I don't. But, like I have said before, I was just interested to hear a christians side of it, besides my sister, I don't come across christians everyday. Sometimes you guys sound so...ummm...weird. Sorry, but you do to me.My mom is religious and if that helps her through the rest of her life, fine with me. But I don't feel that need to have a god.

Anonymous said...

Fine, but in the mean while don't blaspheme God, so if you do ever change your mind, you'll still be able to be forgiven, and tell Larro too.

BEAST FCD said...

DRD:

You are guilty of what Christians typically call "taking words out of context". Any rational person can see how Einstein was making winding turns to evade the question of belief, and he definitely was mocking Christianity outright with the word "myth". Pretty obvious. You are the blind man, DRD.

Einstein was a genius in his day, and he was good with his wits. When he was doing the "playing dice with the universe with God" thing, he was talking about general relativity, not God. If you can't fucking read, don't humiliate yourself. You obviously have shot yourself in the foot.

Cheers!
Beast

Pyramidhead said...

and here we go the dumbass who rewrite history. You such a dumb fuck. So much of a dumb fuck that I'm just going to rip you a new asshole for being so fucking stupid! You assclown are all about one thing...Greed! And lets not forget forcing you imaginary playmate on me! So Shaun go home and take your dumb ass out of the gene pool. You want pissed I'll give you pissed! Shut the fuck about shit that you clearly have no clue about. Which would be the real would. Your god is dead and the bible is fucking lie!

Anonymous said...

Beast, are your serious? He said "NO" myth, he was clearly espousing a believe in the historical Jesus (not as God), but he clearly agreed that the historical man existed..you are making yourself the fool by even remotely arguing that point.

BEAST FCD said...

DRD:

I think the best way to give you a rough idea of what Einstein means is a juxtaposition of two suppositions:

"Unquestionably! No one can read the Gospels without feeling the actual presence of Jesus. His personality pulsates in every word. No myth is filled with such life."

vs

"Unquestionably! No one can challenge the beauty of Michael Jackson's face! His glowing radius pulsates with his every stage appearance. No plasticized face is filled with so much botox!"

Do you think I am really expounding on the beauty of Jacko's face?

This, DRD is called sarcasm, and if you can't even fathom that, then I supposed you are really a Martian or some other illegal alien!

Beast

Anonymous said...

Well, Beast, I guess you must read the entire interview...look it up, it was in Time Magazine.

You will see the extent to which your off base here. In fact, once you read the article, you can retract your comments.
Oh, thats right, even when proven wrong, youd don't do that....sorry, I forgot.

Anonymous said...

In fact Beast, here is a quote for you with a specific reference:
Please refrain from making a fool of yourself on this topic.

“In view of such harmony in the cosmos which I, with my limited human mind, am able to recognize, there are yet people who say there is no God. But what really makes me angry is that they quote me for the support of such views.”

Albert Einstein, according to the testimony of Prince Hubertus of Lowenstein; as quoted by Ronald W. Clark, Einstein: The Life and Times, New York: World Publishing Company, 1971, p. 425.

Anonymous said...

according to the above quote, your pissin old Albert off Beast.

Unknown said...

Shaun; "Tina and Larro, it is my opinion that you can still be saved, you can be a christian and still refrain from doing all the bad things christians have done, it's not too late for the 2 of you."

I AM part of the atheist propaganda machine. You see I've never been Christian. I have no desire whatsoever. If ever I HAD to make a choice it certainly wouldn't be Christianity. But that's not going to happen. I guess you can say I am a full blooded atheist.

Hilariously, I get all "fuzzy" inside when I here or find out that people like Pete Stark, Douglas Adams, Pat Tillman, Ira Glass are or were atheists.

Obviously you have not been following the conversation here. Maybe you hadn't noticed that I am co-authoring this blog as well. Keep in mind that some posts you read here may have been written by yours truly. To be honest I don't think you noticed that.

"quit practicing atheism"

Man! I got a chuckle from that one. You are making a connection between atheism and organized religion. Atheists don't "practice" atheism. Christians practice Christianity. What I mean by this is the prayer, the rites and the liturgy. I suppose you meant "quit being atheist". Is that better?

Don't proselytize to me. I really hate that shit.

concerned citizen said...

It was, of course, a lie what you read about my religious convictions, a lie which is being systematically repeated. I do not believe in a personal God and I have never denied this but have expressed it clearly. If something is in me which can be called religious then it is the unbounded admiration for the structure of the world so far as our science can reveal it.-- Albert Einstein, 1954, from Albert Einstein: The Human Side, edited by Helen Dukas and Banesh Hoffman, Princeton University Press

here

tina FCD said...

To concerned citizen, Thanks for posting that link, very interesting.

Anonymous said...

LT
This quote was posted by Beast long ago...note the context of the debate.

I first proposed that the evidence of a God was overwhelming in nature. Even Einstein who was predisposed to atheism at one point, became a believer in a god who created the laws of nature.

I never said he believed in a 'personal god' and I agree he was not a Christian.
So, your quote is accurate, but, again, off topic.

Thanks though.

Unknown said...

DRD: Nice propaganda.

concerned citizen said...

you are welcome Tina

I think Einsteins thoughts & ideas concerning religion are fascinating also.

I do believe that it is true he had to veil some of his opinions because of persecution by a mainly Christian society. That is a sad fact of a high profile public figure living in a theocracy, I guess. Oh *slaps forehead* I forgot, we don't live in a theocracy... :)

Anonymous said...

Larro, propoganda?

Again, in what way do you suppose this is propoganda? It is fact, pure and simple.

Are you sure your using this word in the proper context?

I am not proposing that Einstein was a Christian, despite LT's ill informed contention, Einstein was not at all abashed or veiled in his 'non-Christian' position.
He did not feel pressured to conceal his disbelief in the jewish or christian God.

This is just an incorrect assumption based on poor presuppostions.

I never implied Einstein was a Christian, so how you say "propoganda" in relation to my post is beyond reason.

Thats seems to be par for the course, just throwing out terms to rebut, without any real substance behind it.

BEAST FCD said...

DRD:

Einstein was an agnostic, as evidenced by his admittance and the fact that the Jewish community even lamented at his lack of religiosity.

Occasionally, he is asked about his religion, and invariably he gets mad, and if you look into the Real authentic codes of Einstein, he gets really pissed when people asked him about religion, and that was why he sometimes include cynical remarks that only the discerning atheist or an alert individual can detect.

As for being a fool, the masses here can see for themselves. I think it is clear that you can't read much, and like I said, if you are a doctor I won't even pay you a visit.

Beast