What is Reddit's opinion of Saints Behaving Badly: The Cutthroats, Crooks, Trollops, Con Men, and Devil-Worshippers Who Became Saints?

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>Lets just say that a thousand year ago making your country Christian meant something akin joining the EU.

Yes people don't realize how true that is for a lot of European countries. That there were a lot of elements way back then "Christianity" was mostly "Byzantine empire and some other places", that were things like denying trade and diplomatic relations (not to forget marriage alliances).

Saints Behaving Badly had some pretty fun stories on some of those leaders who converted (some more genuinely than others): http://www.amazon.de/Saints-Behaving-Badly-Cutthroats-Devil-Worshippers/dp/0385517203

Like St. Olga of Kiev or St. Vladimir or St. Olaf (actually not officially recognized by the church btw).

It was like a really, really early version of "forcing people to sign the Geneva Convention".

For all the way Christianity is shitty, I'm really not convinced that we would really be better off if instead we had every European country following their own pagan religion instead.

Yeah it would be more fun diversity, but people forget that the local pagan religions were usually assholish and hostile of others in their own way.

For example for all the bad that a focus on monogamy has done, I'm deeply convinced that way back then focusing on monogamy was ultimately a vote in favor of a focus on stable societies over a focus on a "kill the men, take their women and children" lifestyle, as well as it being a vote towards a more clean line of succession which would ideally lead to fewer wars of succession.

Want to read about some interesting and entertaining criteria that is ignored or honored when people are made saints? =) I recommend this book: http://www.amazon.com/Saints-Behaving-Badly-Cutthroats-Devil-Worshippers/dp/0385517203. Saint Olaf and Olga are some of my favorites.

Pretty horrible.

Saints Behaving Badly: The Cutthroats, Crooks, Trollops, Con Men, and Devil-Worshippers Who Became Saints