We have Christians today who argue and wish us to believe that Christianity was welcomed here in Europe. They tell us that most of our forebears embraced this new "true" religion with open arms! "Halleluja!" According to some Christians several (Christian) sources even speak of "mass conversions" of European "Pagans", who were only happy to get rid of their old beliefs ("superstitions") and world view in favour of Christianity.
However, all the non-Christian sources, and many of the Christians sources too, speak of a violent, unwilling and horrible conversion of the European peoples.
So what are we supposed to believe in? Who is telling the truth here?
Think about this for a minute; if the Ancient Europeans were so willing to get rid of their old religion in favour of Christianity, then why are 100% of the holidays we today think of as Christian of European polytheistic origin? That doesn't add up. If you embrace a new religion and cast aside your own, then why would you keep practicing your own religion - and with time force the new religion to incorporate your festivals into itself?
The Christians tried desperately to remove the old religion, but the Europeans refused to stop practicing it, even after they officially had become "Christianized". Even under threat of torture, execution and imprisonment, they refused to get rid of the old religion! In the end the Christians had to steal the European high festivals (like Pope Julius I did in 350 with the Yule festival), get involved in the European festivals and eventually give them more or less new contents - but even there they failed; the "Christian" festivals still have the European contents, and this can be seen as bright and clear as the sun in most of them; everything from eating the "body" of the deity of the crops and drinking the "blood" of the deity of grapes and wine (Freyr/Dionysos), to sacred trees during the Yule celebration, everything from a forefather cult on Halloween to burning fires on Mid-Summer Night. It is all European! Come on; do you think any of this is Christian? And if these purely European festivals and traditions were kept by the Europeans for up to 2000 years, then why would you believe that they converted
en masse to Christianity? Why would you believe the claim that they were only "happy" to get rid of their old "superstitions" in favour of Christianity? If Christianity was welcomed, then why do we still practice only European high festivals (even though they have been given a Christian content)?
Then there is another point; the Dark Ages, the centuries when most of Europe was Christianized is a "black hole" in history. We know almost nothing about what happened. Then when it was over, most of Europe had been officially Christianized... (but was still practicing their own high festivals).
What happened during the Dark Ages, when the technologically superior (compared to the rest of the world) and culturally rich Europe was Christianized, and emerged as a technologically inferior (compared to the Asian world) and culturally retarded continent? What did the Early Christians really do in order to gain the power here in our part of the world?
Why was it the return to the "Pagan" philosophy, mythology and science, in the Renaissance, that brought superiority and light back to Europe? If Europe had not re-found to the European light, we would have been completely crushed. The darkness of Christianity would have destroyed us.
Varg Vikernes