Repost from a little earlier because I spent too much time on my answer and I’m salty that OP deleted the thread.
It was due to a direct order from a pope (George/Gregory #??) to not destroy “high places” but to use them to gain more traction from the locals. There’s actually a still intact letter written by him, sent to the guy in charge of converting the pagans in scandinavia. There is no known better representation of this than Norways(?) oldest stave church. It is a christian church, built/ordered to be built by christians yet the inside is full of pagan themes. There is even a tiny one-eyed Odin a top one of the pillars. *The stave church, IIRC, is Borgund. Really famous one. If you go, bring a flashlight and maybe binoculars and look at all the tiny carvings not usually seen by people up high in the ceiling and pillars.
It was a strategy of conversion from “respect”. As if to say both religions are the same; Odin is just a ‘mask’ for god. Our religion is closer to the truth. It worked very well.
Sauce: I did a whole course on this because a bunch of historians asked the same question.
*Found the letter! It was by Pope Gregory I, directing abbot Mellitus c. 597 CE:
Tell Augustine that he should be no means destroy the temples of the gods but rather the idols within those temples. Let him, after he has purified them with holy water, place altars and relics of the saints in them. For, if those temples are well built, they should be converted from the worship of demons to the service of the true God. Thus, seeing that their places of worship are not destroyed, the people will banish error from their hearts and come to places familiar and dear to them in acknowledgement and worship of the true God.
Same reason Pine trees are used to celebrate a birth in the desert… Or bunnies laid eggs to celebrate his resurrection…
When Europe was converted, the only thing that matters is when asked “are you Christian?” Europeans replied “yes”.
So whatever Pagans were doing, was co-opted into Christianity.
And that included not just their rituals and objects of worship, but their holy sites as well.
Past gods became saints, and often the main change to worship sites was a cross was erected in the middle.
After decades and generations went by, church officials moved in and slowly started indoctrination on the youth, and as each generation grew up, the pagans ties were slowly eroded.
After centuries, no one questions it.
It was a long game.
Also why they celebrate the birth of Jesus around the winter solstice. Surprise, those pagan rites were all about the church this whole time!
My (shorter) answer: the same reason the Romans called both Isis and Aphrodite Venus (and they tried to roll Jesus into Dionysus / Bacchus interestingly enough).
Control.
Reminds me of this bit by Eddie Izzard except replace flags with churches.
Dis mine now.
Pretty self explanatory don’t you think? People can’t use their old religious sites if you literally demolish them and build your own there.
Christianity have never liked competition.
Churches are still built (from time to time) and I don’t think anyone still cares to search for a Pagan ritual site for each new construction.
The church oppression of pagans was so strong that when I tried to learn about the Slavic pagan myths, the book just said that most of it is guessing and approximation, because not enough sources survived the “burning love and compassion” of the Christian church.
Because the Church ethnically cleansed, stealing riches and land.
Well, they went and started saying antisemitic shit and got upset with push back.
Edit: Lol at the downvotes. No seriously the original poster of this question went antisemitic and downvoters are upset that I gave context. Or are you all sock puppets?
I think most misunderstood. I had no idea what your were talking about until your edit lol.
speedstriker858@lemmy.zip is sock puppet and most likely the rest are too.
@asudox@lemmy.world @Demigodrick@lemmy.zip
