What stereotypes would be associated with Christians if they were a minority in Europe?

Jfoul

The idea is to more or less transpose the demographic situation of the members of the Jewish diaspora, living as religious minorities across Europe, to christians. In other words : if the Christians were a religious minority in Europe, how would they be perceived by the rest of the population?

What stereotypes, either cultural, or socio-economic (likely vocations, attributes of social class, etc...) would others associate with christian populations?

Out of the necessity for a context, we could say that the rest of the European population is either following a polytheistic or monotheistic religion that is unrelated to christianity.
 
oshron

oshron

the excessively negative one, used for demonization of them as a minority group, would definitely be the (deliberate?) misinterpretation of communion as ritual cannibalism
 

Jürgen

Jfoul said:
The idea is to more or less transpose the demographic situation of the members of the Jewish diaspora, living as religious minorities across Europe, to christians. In other words : if the Christians were a religious minority in Europe, how would they be perceived by the rest of the population?

What stereotypes, either cultural, or socio-economic (likely vocations, attributes of social class, etc...) would others associate with christian populations?

Out of the necessity for a context, we could say that the rest of the European population is either following a polytheistic or monotheistic religion that is unrelated to christianity.
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Depending on the alternative dominating culture and its norms, also depend on the social class of the Christians. If Christians are just a bunch of farmers and fishermen in marginal places, they would be seen as similar to the Mormons, if they was a merchant minority, they would be seen as the Jews are seen.
 

FillyofDelphi

Banned
Depends on how they adapt exactly. I wager if the alternative is a more traditional rough and tumble SKY FATHER (say Zeus or Wodin) versus Jesus Meek and Mild who died without even trying to resist they'd been seen as passive weaklings scurrying in the shadows. A bit like pack rats
 
Chapman

Chapman

Probably not that different from how Jews were seen in Europe. In fact they'd most likely just be seen as a different sect of Jewish people, as far as the rest were concerned.
 

Hvalrossen

Jfoul said:
The idea is to more or less transpose the demographic situation of the members of the Jewish diaspora, living as religious minorities across Europe, to christians. In other words : if the Christians were a religious minority in Europe, how would they be perceived by the rest of the population?

What stereotypes, either cultural, or socio-economic (likely vocations, attributes of social class, etc...) would others associate with christian populations?

Out of the necessity for a context, we could say that the rest of the European population is either following a polytheistic or monotheistic religion that is unrelated to christianity.
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urban
 

Arkenfolm

Christians would be a mostly urban minority, and distinguished from the Jews by the fact they believe in ritual cannibalism/blood drinking. Ironically, if TTL has an equivalent of blood libel, it will be directed at Christians instead of Jews.

Socially Christians will be similar to the Jews, but also similar to occupations Christians had in India or Muslim Egypt.

Chapman said:
Probably not that different from how Jews were seen in Europe. In fact they'd most likely just be seen as a different sect of Jewish people, as far as the rest were concerned.
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Most people would, but more learned scholars would distinguish between the two, just like how Jews and Christians were distinguished in China (and IIRC India too),
 

Thanksforallthefish

IIRC, in the 1001 Arabian Nights, Christian characters were stereotyped as drunkards, since Islam frowns on drinking but Christianity has no strong taboos about it.

Of course, that was in the Islamic world. I doubt a Pagan Europe would care too much about that. They might find the insistence in Monotheism too 'close-minded' and the trinity/christological debates incomprehensible, as the Chinese did when faced with Jesuit missionaries. Also war-like religions would not respect Jesus very much, and if Christianity remains a religion of the urban poor and downtrodden instead of glorious warriors and leaders, it might be associated with cowardice.

But it all depends on what kind of religion becomes dominant instead.
 

Lalli

It depends about POD and what is dominant culture and religion of Europe. And it too depends what kind of religion Christianity is and what Christians are doing. Minority Christianity would be bit different from OTL Christianity when it wouldn't be dominant religion.
 

Mort the Reaper

Thanksforallthefish said:
Of course, that was in the Islamic world. I doubt a Pagan Europe would care too much about that.
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You're more right than you think. Believe it or not, Ancient Rome actually viewed teetotalers as suspicious, since they were perceived as having something they wanted to hide.

Getting back on topic, however, I think they might be (ironically) stereotyped similarly to how Satanists are today. Christians were accused of incest and cannibalism back when they were still a minority in the Roman Empire, so them meeting in secret to conduct horrifying, disgusting rituals seems like it might be a common perception of them.
 

skarosianlifeform

If Christianity remains a religion of the poor and downtrodden, and retains its pacifistic and universalist roots, I can see Christians being stereotyped as both a "Fifth Column" and "anti-patriotic" (because they refuse to partake in national pagan religions, to worship god-kings and god-emperors, and to partake in wars) as well as "subversive" (because they try to turn the poor against their rulers and to unite the poor of all countries)... Basically Christianity would be (ITTL) the alternate "Jewish-Bolshevik Cabal"...
 

Lalli

Pangur said:
I am pretty sure that it would depend a lot on who the dominant relgious group were
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Very true. But probably it is Greco-Roman Polythheism in Mediterranean and Western Europe, Germanic tribes would follow their own gods and Balto-Slavic nations would follow their own route. So basically there would be Polytheist and quiet nation-related religions.
 

JennyB

Lalli said:
Very true. But probably it is Greco-Roman Polythheism in Mediterranean and Western Europe, Germanic tribes would follow their own gods and Balto-Slavic nations would follow their own route. So basically there would be Polytheist and quiet nation-related religions.
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And the Christians, as in pre-Constantine Rome, would be regarded as atheists. The problem was not that they worshipped foreign gods, but that they did not worship the local ones.
 

Lalli

JennyB said:
And the Christians, as in pre-Constantine Rome, would be regarded as atheists. The problem was not that they worshipped foreign gods, but that they did not worship the local ones.
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And probably even bigger problem for Romans was that Christians refused worship emperor, tried convert people to their faith and refused particvipated to military service. And rich nobility couldn't accept that they supported better life to poor people. And Christians were too abolotionists. Just too radical for them.
 

funnyhat

I don't think they would be regarded quite the same way as Jewish people. Because of the OTL Christian prohibition on usury in medieval times, Jewish merchants/bankers became important, leading to stereotypes about greed, avarice, etc. Without political and economic power, Christians ITTL might continue to turn their back on worldly matters and be shunned for not participating in society.

Interestingly, one theory about the cagots of France/Spain is that they were early Christian converts who were ostracized by their pagan neighbors (and then continued to be after the latter finally converted, out of old habit apparently).
 
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