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I'm watching History Channel "The Vikings"...and have some thoughts..
.
For those of who have seen it, you know how brutal it is. But it's also very interesting.
As I am watching these tough men, women and children go out in battle and kill each other with swords , axes and bow and arrow. They rape, and slaughter anything in their way. But then at the end of the day, if they survive, they go home to their own family and are great fathers, mothers, husbands, wives and leaders.
The soft and sensitive side comes out in them from time to time. They truly believed what they were doing was NOT wrong. And they showed real feelings of remorse for things that they might have done, that even they thought was wrong.
Some Vikings were worse than others of course. Some of them were too brutal and evil even in those days standards.
So, do you think people back in those days were more evil than they are nowadays. Did religion play a role in it? Vikings believed in several Gods such as Tor, Freja, Odin and more...When you died, your paradise was Valhalla, a place you went to to fight, feast and die only to wake up repeat it all over again. That was their paradise!
IDK...I know we humans change over time. But I try to figure out exactly what it is. Why were people in general so "evil"back then?
The 12th Doctor: (Speaking of a seemingly violent race) said that they could wipe out whole civilizations yet weep at the crushing of a flower.
Bill responded that it was like the Vikings.
The Doctor agreed.
Peoples do what they need to in order to survive and that helps shape their society. The person, when alone with himself, and given a space to breathe beyond survival, can tap into why he wants to not only survive, but live.
Last edited by RP2C; 02-11-2018 at 08:42 AM..
Reason: phrasing
So, do you think people back in those days were more evil than they are nowadays. Did religion play a role in it? Vikings believed in several Gods such as Tor, Freja, Odin and more...When you died, your paradise was Valhalla, a place you went to to fight, feast and die only to wake up repeat it all over again. That was their paradise!
IDK...I know we humans change over time. But I try to figure out exactly what it is. Why were people in general so "evil"back then.
Religion has always played a part in history no matter what religion one is talking about. Nor is there such thing as a peaceful religion. Careful with history in general if you read The Gallic Wars you come to understand that it was written by those who sought to destroy the Druids. Evil is also a relative term.
Esily to be known is,
by those who to Odin come,the mansion by its aspect.Its roof with spears is laid,its hall with shields is decked,with corslets are its benches strewed.10. Easily to be known is,by those who to Odin come,the mansion by its aspect.A wolf hangsbefore the western door,over it an eagle hovers.https://pantheon.org/articles/v/valhalla.html
Thanks . Yes. I kind of knew this already. It makes sense.One of the TV shows Im watching is Walking Dead. That world they live in brings out the worse in humans. We do what we can to survive and only the strongest will make it.
and try to remember that both shows--Walking Dead AND the one on History Channel--are not documentaries.
The Viking show is about what the writers and producers and director think you should believe about Vikings, not actual footage of what it was like. There is ALWAYS a bias.
I don't think much has changed within the minds of men. Hitler, by all accounts, loved his dog. MyI generation knows him as the Most Evil, but probably that's because we defeated him. He was a piker compared to Mao Zadong, who probably killed more humans than all others combined
Maybe a true student of world history can confirm or correct me.
It's a matter of "us" versus "them". If you were a "them" then you obviously didn't count and you needed to be dealt with in as permanent a manner as was most efficient. Being a "them" likely meant you were either viewed as inhuman or barely human, else you were an enemy to be protected against - neither deserved any mercy. If you were an "us" then of course behavior and sentiment was different - helping each other helped your own survival. When resources are limited they are only shared within the "us" group.
I'm watching History Channel "The Vikings"...and have some thoughts..
.
For those of who have seen it, you know how brutal it is. But it's also very interesting.
As I am watching these tough men, women and children go out in battle and kill each other with swords , axes and bow and arrow. They rape, and slaughter anything in their way. But then at the end of the day, if they survive, they go home to their own family and are great fathers, mothers, husbands, wives and leaders.
The soft and sensitive side comes out in them from time to time. They truly believed what they were doing was NOT wrong. And they showed real feelings of remorse for things that they might have done, that even they thought was wrong.
Some Vikings were worse than others of course. Some of them were too brutal and evil even in those days standards.
So, do you think people back in those days were more evil than they are nowadays. Did religion play a role in it? Vikings believed in several Gods such as Tor, Freja, Odin and more...When you died, your paradise was Valhalla, a place you went to to fight, feast and die only to wake up repeat it all over again. That was their paradise!
IDK...I know we humans change over time. But I try to figure out exactly what it is. Why were people in general so "evil"back then?
People still are just like this! Think of the tribalistic behavior of many parts of the world. They think nothing of killing their neighbors, to improve their own situation. Look at New Guinea, where every tribe in every valley was battling the tribes in the neighboring valleys. Look at the Nazis. Look at the American genocide of Native Americans.
Look at Jane Goodall's chimp research. Her chimps hunted down and exterminated a splinter band of chimps. This is simply primate nature.
Excatly Christians did what they thought was right in the eyes of their God as did many cultures.
Christianity was imposed where populations were not already believers by the sword. And it was maintained by brutal and bloody torture as a policy. If one was not a believer then their death by horrific pain was the price they paid. The Christan leaders considered the Vikings horrific, but in truth their brutality was just as terrible, and done in the name of religion but really all about absolute control. If you knew what happened to unbelievers, then you might consider well before allowing anyone know that you didn't. And if someone was in the way, to question their embrase of the chosen god and beliefs was a convient way to be rid of them.
The middle ages were a brutal time without religion, but far worse with its use as a political weapon.
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