Celtic Warriors
17 March 2006 by Bob
Just came across this hilarious account of the whole St. Pat’s thingy:
Into this world of the Irish Celts entered a highly energetic and devoted Christian Priest named Patrick. Because he believed so strongly in the tenets of Christianity, he thought that anyone who was not Christian had to become one in order to be “saved”. He came to Ireland to convert the Irish people to Christianity. The Irish people at that time were happy and doing quite well without Patrick and his ideas, but he was persistent. He noticed that the Druids were really the important people of the society. He thought that if he could convert the Druids to Christianity, the rest of the people would follow. Patrick’s main problem was that the Druids were very comfortable with what they had already learned, and were not willing to change. Druids had spent their entire lives learning the ways of the people, and were the last people who were willing to change. Although Patrick was not willing to abandon his vision of a Christian Ireland, he was getting desperate. He knew that because the strength of the people rested with the Druids, he had to get rid of them in order to get the people to listen to him. Patrick was not alone in his efforts. He had brought many people with him from Britain to establish the new religion. Patrick began to destroy the influence of the Druids by destroying the sacred sites of the people and building churches and monasteries where the Druids used to live and teach. Gradually, the might of the Druidic class was broken by a bitter campaign of attrition. Instead of hearing the teachings and advice of the Druids, the people began to hear the teachings of Rome. Because the Druids were the only ones who were taught to remember the history, with the Druids dead and their influence broken, the history was forgotten. Patrick won. By killing off the teachers and the wise ones, his own religion could be taught. For this mass conversion of a culture to Christianity, and for the killing of thousands of innocent people, Patrick was made a Saint by his church. Today the story is told that Patrick is the patron Saint of Ireland because he “drove the snakes out”. We now know that the “snakes” were the Druids.
And then, at the bottom of the page, he says:
March 17, 1993, by Flame RavenHawk… being an *extremely* abbreviated version of the story of Patrick of Ireland, used as an instructional tale told to my 11 year old sister.
Well, Flame, thanks for reminding us what “religious conversion” really means. Glory!
For anyone interested, here’s a (short) list of Victims of the Xian Faith. virgin analnude madonnabdsm storiesanal fuckgirls ftvplug buttsex oldmature babes Map
17 March 2006, on 11:56 am
I never bothered to learn about the history of St. Pat’s Day. This was educational and I’m so never going to wear green again, never mind the green beer!
17 March 2006, on 2:05 pm
I was very superficially acquainted with the history of St. Pat’s Day, but this article certainly reminded me that there are always more sides to the same story. Catholics say that Patrick was a slave in Ireland as a youth, maybe hinting at the underlying reason for his zeal to convert the Irish; does anyone know if this is true, or what source I could go to for further research? I’m going to Google, of course…
17 March 2006, on 4:14 pm
Yes, my ex-girlfriend was a neo-pagan and they have some issues with St. Patrick, since they identify with ancient pagans like the Druids.
As for the story of Patrick being a slave in Ireland. In Thomas Cahill’s “How the Irish Saved Civilization”, Patrick is described as a Romanized Briton who was kidnapped at a young age and taken to Ireland to be an enslaved sheep herder. When he was older, he escaped and went back to England, where he became Catholic. Then he returned with his crusaders and a knowledge of the Irish culture and language to aid him in his quest.
Thomas Cahill is pop history, and I am not sure about his sources or how much of a Catholic apologist he is. He actually does seem to have much sympathy for the Irish character pre-Xianity. The book was a huge beststeller and a fun read (it’s about the early Irish monasteries;how kind of rebellious they were against Rome — female abbots! — and the illuminating of manuscripts. That’s the “saved civilization” part… Saving the world’s literature from the Dark Ages. However, he leaves out the fact that the Irish monks weren’t the only ones preserving literature. As this web site summarizes:
The city of Constantinople, capital of the Eastern Roman Empire for over a millennium, possessed massive libraries until its fall to the Ottoman Turks in 1453. The Arabs received surviving manuscripts from the burned Library of Alexandria, primarily science and philosophy, which found their way back to Europe during the 12th century. And while the Irish Christians were busy saving civilization, many Roman Christians were busy burning books and even entire libraries (including the aforementioned Library of Alexandria).
17 March 2006, on 4:49 pm
Sean, thanks for the brief on Cahill; I think he also wrote, “How the Scots Saved Civilization,” which I read some time ago (hence my faulty memory as to its author).
As for the Arabs helping save civilization by rescuing, studying, and passing on manuscripts, it’s too bad so many of their extremists and fundamentalists tend to forget that particular Islamic tradition (the Taliban trying to destroy all traces of Afghanistan’s pre-Islamic culture comes to mind).
Not that I’m picking exclusively on Islam, mind; Roman Christendom’s burning of the Library of Alexandria ranks in *my* mind as one of the greatest crimes in human history. When I think of what went up in flames on that occasion–
On a lighter note, it sure is funny to see all those good Irish Catholics getting absolutely smashed during Lent, no less – and all in honor of a good Irish saint (who wasn’t even Irish and helped destroy their native culture)! Catholicism is the height of religious convenience: sin, confess, do penance – and go forth to sin again.
17 March 2006, on 5:00 pm
Indeed. The irony is so thick you can cut it with a rosary.
Also, Cahill refers to Patrick by what he says was his Latin name, Patricius.
17 March 2006, on 5:29 pm
*lol* It’s not even an *Irish* name!
17 March 2006, on 5:33 pm
Nope. I think I will be calling him Canonized Patricius the Romanized Briton all day today.
“Canonized Patricius the Romanized Briton.” Sounds like a show biz tune, eh?
Moses suposes his toeses are roses.
17 March 2006, on 5:34 pm
supposes even.
17 March 2006, on 5:51 pm
Poor St. Pat; it’s not that easy being green…
17 March 2006, on 6:27 pm
Many of my ancestors were Irish and St Paddy’s Day is big in Chicagoland…the dying green of the Chicago River, the big Irish heritage parade. It’s more “Irish Day” than the celebration of a saint. Nothing wrong with green beer and some good old Irish drinking songs! To hell with the saints!
17 March 2006, on 7:03 pm
When you disregard the religious aspect of it, it’s one heckuva party, I’ll give you Irish that wholeheartedly! Plus, I like corned beef, although the only way I’ve ever eaten it is in a Reuben sandwich.
17 March 2006, on 7:44 pm
Mmmm….
All Guinness for me…
And a plate of real corned beef, cabbage, and potatoes is a dinner I wish restaurants would serve year round.
/German
/Irish
/Polish
///Where’s the beer?
17 March 2006, on 8:08 pm
And a plate of real corned beef, cabbage, and potatoes is a dinner I wish restaurants would serve year round.
After I’ve finished moving, everyone’s invited over to my place. My wife makes the BEST shit you’ve ever had IN YOUR FUCKING LIFE.
I just sit around like a lazy shithead and eat it all.
17 March 2006, on 8:14 pm
Bob, are the Tribbledogs invited, too? That would be a helluva St. Patty’s day.
And stop calling your wife’s cooking shit.
17 March 2006, on 8:35 pm
Bob,
*slobber*
Sean,
Hell yeah, brotha- I’d bongo on Paul’s mongoloid bald noggin like a friggen calypso band.
17 March 2006, on 11:26 pm
Bob, are the Tribbledogs invited, too? That would be a helluva St. Patty’s day.
Can the dogs be the Druid-Pagan-snakes, and can we be the xians?
And stop calling your wife’s cooking shit.
Miss you, dude…
And we need to talk…
I have an embarrassing itch…
17 March 2006, on 11:28 pm
I’d bongo on Paul’s mongoloid bald noggin like a friggen calypso band.
Marcus, you are SUCH the shit…
Fuck the keyboard…
You owe me new nasal passages…
This time, it’s Jameson’s through my fucking nose…
It hurts, it hurts!…
18 March 2006, on 3:30 am
And we need to talk…
I have an embarrassing itch…
Just don’t scratch and it will go away within a week, trust me.
22 March 2006, on 12:59 pm
To hell with CB&C, I’ll take lamb shanks cooked in Guinness with parsnips, carrots, and onions.
22 March 2006, on 5:22 pm
I hate to admit my ignorance, but I had no idea the Irish had such good cooking! The lamb shanks sounds delish too… What’s for dessert?
26 March 2006, on 9:02 am
Patrick or Padraig was sold as a slave to an Irish chieftain by the pagan king of Strathclyde. (Presumably he got tired of hearing the fellow’s preaching). As Strathclyde was a kingdom of the Britons (or Welsh) in Scotland, this would make Patrick also of Welsh descent. Patrick can be related to the Latin Patricius, as it was common practise in the old days for christians to adopt or be given Roman names. You know the rest.
17 March 2008, on 11:09 am
[...] Death to Pagans! By Bob I referred to an excellent site a while back that kind of explains things about today, St. Patrick’s Day: Into this world of the Irish Celts entered a highly energetic and devoted Christian Priest named Patrick. Because he believed so strongly in the tenets of Christianity, he thought that anyone who was not Christian had to become one in order to be “saved”. He came to Ireland to convert the Irish people to Christianity. The Irish people at that time were happy and doing quite well without Patrick and his ideas, but he was persistent. He noticed that the Druids were really the important people of the society. He thought that if he could convert the Druids to Christianity, the rest of the people would follow. Patrick’s main problem was that the Druids were very comfortable with what they had already learned, and were not willing to change. Druids had spent their entire lives learning the ways of the people, and were the last people who were willing to change. Although Patrick was not willing to abandon his vision of a Christian Ireland, he was getting desperate. He knew that because the strength of the people rested with the Druids, he had to get rid of them in order to get the people to listen to him. Patrick was not alone in his efforts. He had brought many people with him from Britain to establish the new religion. Patrick began to destroy the influence of the Druids by destroying the sacred sites of the people and building churches and monasteries where the Druids used to live and teach. Gradually, the might of the Druidic class was broken by a bitter campaign of attrition. Instead of hearing the teachings and advice of the Druids, the people began to hear the teachings of Rome. Because the Druids were the only ones who were taught to remember the history, with the Druids dead and their influence broken, the history was forgotten. Patrick won. By killing off the teachers and the wise ones, his own religion could be taught. For this mass conversion of a culture to Christianity, and for the killing of thousands of innocent people, Patrick was made a Saint by his church. Today the story is told that Patrick is the patron Saint of Ireland because he “drove the snakes out”. We now know that the “snakes” were the Druids. [...]