At the time of Constantine the Great - 306–337 -, barely 10% of the Roman Empire's population were Christians, with most of them being urban population and generally found in the eastern part of the Roman Empire. The majority of people still honoured the old gods in the public Roman way of "religio". As Christianity became a complete philosophical system, whose theory and apologetics were heavily indebted to the Classic word, this changed. In addition, Constantine, as Pontifex Maximus, was responsible for the correct "cultus" or "veneratio" of the deity which was in accordance with former Roman practice. The move from the old religion to the new entailed some elements of continuity as well as break with the past, though the artistic heritage of paganism was literally broken by Christian zeal.

Christians at the time of Constantine's conversion made up only 10% of the population. This would rise to 50% by the end of the fourth century and 90% by the end of the fifth century. Emperor Justinian I - 527–565 - then brutally mopped up the rest of the pagans, highly literate academics on one end of the scale and illiterate peasants on the other. A conversion so rapid seems to have been rather the result of expediency than of conviction.

The persecution of pagans in the late Roman Empire began during the reign of Constantine the Great in the military colony of Aelia Capitolina - Jerusalem -, when he destroyed a temple for the purpose of constructing a church. Christian historians alleged that Hadrian - 2nd century - had constructed a temple of Aphrodite on the site of the crucifixion on Golgotha hill in order to suppress Jewish-Christian veneration there. Constantine used that to justify the temple's destruction, saying he was simply reclaiming the property. Constantine and those who followed him instituted many anti-pagan laws. For example, in 341, Constantine's son Constantius II enacted legislation forbidding pagan sacrifices in Roman Italy. In 356, he issued two more laws forbidding sacrifice and the worship of images, making them capital crimes, as well as ordering the closing of all temples. In 357, Constantius visited Rome, and in preparation for his visit, so he would not be faced with being expected to offer a sacrifice on the Altar by his pagan senators, Constantius ordered the Altar of Victory to be removed from the Senate.

In 388 Valentinian II assumed the office of Emperor in the Western Roman Empire. He refused to grant the request from pagans to restore the Altar of Victory to the Senate House. He also refused to overturn the policies of his predecessor by restoring the income of the temple priests and Vestal Virgins. In the year 391, Valentinian II issued a law that prohibited sacrifices and that forbade anyone from visiting the temples. A later law of Valentinian declared that pagan temples were to be closed; this was viewed as practically outlawing paganism. Urban ritual procession and ceremony, a vital aspect of urban communality and unity, was gradually stripped of support and funding during the 4th century.

The Eastern Roman Emperor Theodosius I - 347 - 395 - signed a decree, on February 27, 380 in Thessaloniki, with the Western Roman Emperor Valentinian II - 371 - 392 - present, making Christianity the official religion of the Roman empire and punishing the practice of pagan rituals. According to Brown, Theodosius was a devout Christian anxious to close the temples in the East, and his commissioner, the prefect Maternus Cynegius - 384-88 -, was assisted by monks who proceeded to fall on temples all over Syria, the Euphrates frontier, and Phoenicia. Brown says Libanius wrote:

"This black robed tribe - the Christians - were acting outside the law, but Theodosius passively legitimized their violence by listening to them instead of correcting them."

Between 389-391 Theodosius I had collected and promulgated the "Theodosian decrees", which were effectively, a total ban on paganism. He forbade all forms of sacrifice. No governor was to even approach a temple for the purpose of worship. The eternal fire in the Temple of Vesta in the Roman Forum was extinguished and the Vestal Virgins disbanded. All practices of divination, auspices and witchcrafting were to be punished. This marks, for many historians, the beginning of the Christan Roman Empire.

But now, let's analyse the USA:

Islam is one of the fastest growing religions in the United States. Partly through conversion but mainly through immigration, the number of Muslims has now risen to three or four million. At current rates of increase, there will be more Muslims than Presbyterians within the decade. Early in the next century their numbers may well grow past six million, at which point there will be more American Muslims than Jews. Although there may be as many as 1,500,000 native-born Americans who have converted to Islam they are, almost without exception, black. Heretofore, black Muslims and immigrant Muslims have had little to do with each other, but they are beginning to build alliances. Militant blacks and Middle-Eastern fundamentalists are discovering common ground, bound together in a religion that, in its extreme forms, strives to dominate all aspects of society.

For America’s first 153 years, there was not a single mosque on United States territory. The first was built in Ross, North Dakota, of all places, in 1929, to serve Lebanese and Syrian peddlers who had settled there. There are now more than 1,100 mosques in the United States - with at least one in nearly every state - and 80 percent were founded in the last 12 years. The greatest concentrations of Muslims are in New York, Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. In the Los Angeles area alone, there are 250,000 to 300,000 Muslims and about 50 Islamic centers. Within just the last few years, Muslims have established lobbying groups, magazines, student organizations, schools, social clubs, bookstores, and even marriage services. All that is lacking is an Islamic theological seminary, but one is likely to be built soon. Muslims are now a substantial and growing minority.

The newcomers are beginning to flex their muscles. There are now Islamic chaplains in prisons and in the armed services, and in some locations special meals are prepared for Muslims. Although there are 165 full-time, private Muslim schools in America, the majority of Muslim children attend public schools. In Dearborn, Michigan, they account for 36 percent of the students and the lunch rooms serve no pork. Muslims have joined every other group in the country in scouring school books for “insensitivity” and “negative stereotypes”. Although Islam means “submission”, Muslims have quickly learned how to make the majority submit. Two years ago, Fairfax County, Virginia gave an Islamic group permission to build a temple if it would also build a 90-car parking lot to accommodate worshipers. However, instead of the 100 or so that the lot could handle, weekly services attract as many as a thousand.

I conclude with the root question of my discussion:

How much longer, until a "Constantine" takes possession of the American civilization? And after him, how long before a "Theodosius" forbids pagans - today's Christians - from worshiping their God?