Why?

To further discuss this issue of religion, let's start by asking why are you a Christian? By "you," of course, I am referring to the 78 percent of the people in the United States who claim to be Christians. Chances are that you are a Christian because your parents were and your parents told you that you were indeed a Christian too. You can probably trace this back generations upon generations, all the way back to the first Christians in the Roman Empire.

Christianity started with the prophet Jesus Christ in what is now Israel. Jesus showed up in the area and claimed to be sent there by God, the same God that guided the Jews of the time. Jesus surrounded himself with some close friends whom he taught his lessons and who later became known as the Apostles.

At the same time this was happening, the Roman Empire was expanding. Jesus' turf was at the far reaches of Roman control. One of the things the Romans did to maintain control was kill people who appeared like they might try to exert their own control. Jesus happened to be one of those people. It was obvious they saw him as a political threat because he had a following and spoke of a "power" higher than the Roman Emperor.

Jesus was not unique in this respect. At the time there other people wandering around claiming divine powers and being slaughtered by the Romans. In fact, after Jesus was assassinated and a couple of his apostles (most notably Peter and Paul) traveled to Rome to spread the Gospel, they were one among many religious cults and sects in Rome at the time. As the Empire expanded, Rome, much like New York City today, was a place where you could find representatives from every cult, sect, and group encompassed by the Empire.

While Peter and Paul were in Rome, other Christian missionaries traveled throughout the Empire to spread the Gospel and seek converts.

So how do we get from Christianity being one of many to the majority religion in the Western world?

Enter Constantine I and Theodosius I, two Roman Emperors. Constantine, ruler from 306 to 312, was the first to establish religious tolerance in the Empire. Prior to this, the Empire didn't look too kindly on Christians and other organized groups, again likely because they saw them as a political threat. The Edict of Milan, the document created by Constantine, gave Christians their first real reprieve (although it was not the first "religious tolerance" edict in Rome).

Then came Theodosius I, Roman Emperor from 379-395 and the last Emperor to rule over both the Eastern and Western parts of the Empire (so basically the Empire at it's largest). He made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire. Later he banned all other cults and ordered the destruction of their temples and monuments.

At the time Constantine promoted religious tolerance and Theodosius declared Christianity the state religion, Christianity was having some problems. There was considerable debate about the divinity of Jesus. Basically there were those who said he was cut from the same cloth as God and those who said he wasn't. In the end, both Constantine and Theodosius stepped in and settled the argument, established the Christian doctrine that later went on to be the basis for the Roman Catholic Church, and expelled any Christian leaders who did not agree with their interpretation. They also installed church leaders who saw things their way.

So you can see that the early days of Christianity were very political. But why? Why did Theodosius adopt Christianity as the state religion? Was he touched by God? Inspired by the good message of the Gospel?

When you consider that Theodosius, and the Roman rulers who followed him, put his own people in charge of the church and established its doctrine, it's not much of a jump to assume that Theodosius saw the church as a means of political control. It was a way for the Roman Empire to better control the masses.

Later Roman Emperors would claim that they had an edict from God to rule. Now how does the average Roman peasant argue with that?

Fast forward a couple thousand years and you see that every place where Christianity is the majority religion now, there has been some influence by Theodosius' Roman Empire and its descendants.

Look back through the history of the past 2,000 years and you will also see countless cases of Christianity being used by political leaders as a tool to wield power over the masses, right up to the modern-day United States.

So you are Christian not only because your parents told you are, but because your government wants you to be. It's easier to control you that way.