By their very natures Oligarchy is superior to Democracy/(and or) Democracy is harmful to a civilized nation.
The Abrahamic faiths are dangerous and subversive, causing harm to society and destroying civilization.
Western civilization is superior to Eastern or Mid-Eastern.
Three topics off the top of my head that I think are all decently controversial and that I could be interested in writing about.
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Julian was born and raised a Christian – in the imperial family of the Roman Empire’s first Christian dynasty nonetheless – but rejected that faith in favor of the traditional Roman state religion. He converted to his ancestral faith as a young man after the massacre of his family by a Christian cousin (Murdoch). During his reign as Emperor Julian fought a losing battle in an attempt to turn the tide backwards and reverse the Christianization of his Empire (Bowersock). Ancient temples were restored to their former glory, cults banned by his predecessors were reestablished, and he even made an attempt to unify the pagan beliefs of his subjects into an organized religion. It was most likely the influence of the Christian Church in his early life which led him to attempt this consolidation – which ended in failure (Murdoch).
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Not only was Julian a devout worshipper of the old gods but he was also seen by some as a persecutor of Christians – whom he disdainfully referred to as “Galileans” (Bowersock). Many historians however agree that this was no true persecution of Christianity as seen in the days of Diocletian, merely it was the retraction of privileges granted to a specific faith by his predecessors (Gibbon). Despite this Julian undoubtedly despised the Christian faith and actively sought to force all Christian influence out of his government by not only taking away the priveleges of the clergy but also by encouraging factional disputes within the new faith (Murdoch). For these reasons and others such as his mocking of Christians, his strong advocacy of traditional faith, and his impassioned arguments on these subjects he has been labeled by some as a fanatic and a “puritanical” zealot (Bowersock).
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Julian was one in a handful of Emperors of Rome who did not desire nor actively seek the position. Instead he was proclaimed Emperor by his soldiers in the province of Gaul – which he commanded – and set off with these troops in hopes of reaching a compromise with the current Emperor Constantius (Murdoch). Constantius however rejected any terms and demanded that Julian relinquish his claim and all titles, unconditionally. Neither Julian’s soldiers nor the citizens of the Empire would agree to this and thus Julian prepared for battle. Before civil war erupted however the Emperor passed away and left Julian as his legitamte heir. (Hoeber)
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“Thou hast won, O Galilean!” These were Julian’s reputed last words when he was struck through the abdomen with a spear on the field of battle in Mesopotamia during the last year of his reign. Whether or not these were truly his last words is a mystery and will likely always remain one – giving rise to the legends and folk tales about his death. In the 6th century C.E. a legend arose stating that a Christian soldier in Julian’s own army had received a vision from Christ and was ordered to strike down his Emperor. Meanwhile in the Sassanid Empire – the enemy whom Julian had been campaigning against – a stone carved relief depicted a dead Julian with the Sassanid monarch Shapur II and the Zoroastrian god Ahura-Mazda, but what is strange is that it was not Shapur who conquered Julian but the god – signifying that the Sassanids claimed divine intervention ended Julian also (Murdoch).
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Works Cited
Bowersock, G. W. Julian the Apostate. Cambridge: Harvard UP, 1978. Print.
Gibbon, Edward. The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Abridged ed. New York: Modern Library, 2003. Print.
Hoeber, Karl. “Julian the Apostate.” The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 8. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 1 Apr. 2014
Murdoch, Adrian. The Last Pagan: Julian the Apostate and the Death of the Ancient World. Stroud: Sutton, 2003. Print.
Vidal, Gore. Julian: A Novel. Vintage International ed. New York: Vintage Books, 2003. Print.