[Buddha-l] Religious, But Not Spiritual

[curt]

Joy Vriens wrote:
>
> I am starting to doubt presentations in which a king forces a view onto his citizens or has them convert to a religion. That would be to attribute too much power to them. 

Joy - the text below might help to clear up your doubts - it is the 
opening section of the "Justinian Code" - most of which was already "on 
the books" prior to Justinian. It is worth comparing, and contrasting, 
to the sections on religion found in the Rock Edicts of Asoka 
(http://www.cs.colostate.edu/~malaiya/ashoka.html).

THE CODE OF OUR LORD
THE MOST SACRED EMPEROR JUSTINIAN.
SECOND EDITION.

BOOK 1.

TITLE 1.
CONCERNING THE MOST EXALTED TRINITY AND THE
CATHOLIC FAITH AND PROVIDING THAT NO ONE
SHALL DARE TO PUBLICLY OPPOSE THEM.

   1. The Emperors Gratian, Valentinian, and Theodosius to the people of 
the City of Constantinople.
   We desire that all peoples subject to Our benign Empire shall live 
under the same religion that the Divine Peter, the Apostle, gave to the 
Romans, and which the said religion declares was introduced by himself, 
and which it is well known that the Pontiff Damascus, and Peter, Bishop 
of Alexandria, a man of apostolic sanctity, embraced; that is to say, in 
accordance with the rules of apostolic discipline and the evangelical 
doctrine, we should believe that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit 
constitute a single Deity, endowed with equal majesty, and united in the 
Holy Trinity.

   (1) We order all those who follow this law to assume the name of 
Catholic Christians, and considering others as demented and insane, We 
order that they shall bear the infamy of heresy; and when the Divine 
vengeance which they merit has been appeased, they shall afterwards be 
punished in accordance with Our resentment, which we have acquired from 
the judgment of Heaven.

    Dated at Thessalonica, on the third of the Kalends of March, during 
the Consulate of Gratian, Consul for the fifth time, and Theodosius.

   2. The Same Emperors to Eutropius, Praetorian Prefect.

   Let no place be afforded to heretics for the conduct of their 
ceremonies, and let no occasion be offered for them to display the 
insanity of their obstinate minds. Let all persons know that if any 
privilege has been fraudulently obtained by means of any rescript 
whatsoever, by persons of this kind, it will not be valid. Let all 
bodies of heretics be prevented from holding unlawful assemblies, and 
let the name of the only and the greatest God be celebrated everywhere, 
and let the observance of the Nicene Creed, recently transmitted to Our 
ancestors, and firmly established by the testimony and practice of 
Divine Religion, always remain secure.

   (1) Moreover, he who is an adherent of the Nicene Faith, and a true 
believer in the Catholic religion, should be understood to be one who 
believes that Almighty God and Christ, the son of God, are one person, 
God of God, Light of Light; and let no one, by rejection, dishonor the 
Holy Spirit, whom we expect, and have received from the Supreme Parent 
of all things, in whom the sentiment of a pure and undefiled faith 
flourishes, as well as the belief in the undivided substance of a Holy 
Trinity, which true believers indicate by the Greek word  These things, 
indeed do not require further proof, and should be respected.

   (2) Let those who do not accept those doctrines cease to apply the 
name of true religion to their fraudulent belief; and let them be 
branded with their open crimes, and, having been removed from the 
threshhold of all churches, be utterly excluded from them, as We forbid 
all heretics to hold unlawful assemblies within cities. If, however, any 
seditious outbreak should be attempted, We order them to be driven 
outside the the walls of the City, with relentless violence, and We 
direct that all Catholic Churches, throughout the entire world, shall be 
placed under the control of the orthodox bishops who have embraced the 
Nicene Creed.

Curt Steinmetz