Essay/Term paper: Mithraism

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Religion

Mithraism


It is the third day of December, only twenty-two days remain till the
celebration of Mithra begins (Cunningham, 197). Myself and a few of my army
comrades have big plans for this upcoming occasion, it is just a shame though
that some of our fellow country men, and our own wives even, are trying to spoil
our Mithristic festivities.
It seems the beliefs of Mithra are becoming quite unpopular in Rome.
Only a small portion of my fellow soldiers still belong to the brotherhood, and
the soldiers are the only ones who follow the ways of Mithra. Most of the Roman
people will not even admit of an existence of my religion, women do not like it
because they are not aloud to partake in it (197). That is for their own good
though, Mithraism is not meant for women or the weak, their are some things they
just can not understand.
No, the people of this land do not believe in Mithraism, but they do
have their own god to worship. In fact it is all my wife can speak of, this
Christianity. The faith the people of Rome are demonstrating for this man Jesus
and his teachings is very uncanny, and it is only hurting my creed.
The nerve these Christians have, putting their most holy of days on the
same day as ours (197). This must be some sort of conspiracy in trying to
finish off a dying religion. If that is not enough, they even tore down my place
of worship and built a church of their own in place of it (197). Now I must
travel two hours by horse just to fulfill my spiritual needs.
My wife, she cannot understand anything. We argue continuously over how
to raise our son. Before my church was torn down there was little to fuss over,
now all she does is complain. She says that it is to far of a trip for him to
journey with me every week, and that he should go with her to the Christian
church. She also protests that our ways are to barbaric, and he should not take
part in some of its activities.
She is in great dismay over what I have in store for our young lad this
coming twenty-fifth. In my religion only men can join, and the men must follow
certain rites of passage to be aloud to enter. One of the more important rites
is the sacrifice of a bull (197). She believes that she is going to take him to
her chuch in celebration of the Christian god Jesus. The sacrifice of a bull is
what I had in store for my son this twenty-fifth, and it is what he will do
regardless of what my wife says.
I think I know why this Christian religion is gaining so much popularity
in Rome, and the answer is jealousy. Anyone can be a Christian; a woman, a man,
a child, etc. But only a man who completes the rites of passage may become one
under the care of Mithra (197). After all, from what my wife tells me, our
religions are quite similar. Both religions have "a dying and reborn god; a
kind of baptism; a ceremonial meal; and so on" (197). It almost seems to me as
if the Christians have taken Mithraism, incorporated what it likes from it and
put it in there own religion to make it more convenient and accepted for
everyone. There can be no honor in such a religion.
My wife tells me to leave my religion, that in the eyes of the
Christians Mithraism is "a demonic parody"(197). I can only laugh at her and
her religion, I just can not get it through her head that I am a follower of
Mithra for life. It is my faith in Mithra that gives me the strength to be such
a great warrior for my home land of Rome. It is this same faith that my son
shall one day have when he too is a great warrior for the Roman Empire.
If this Christianity prevails through the masses in the future, and the
followers of Mithraism become extinct, bad things will happen. I foresee a very
weak army defending a weak and corrupted Empire. Hopefully neither my son nor
myself will ever see such a day, but I cringe when I think my grandchildren will
be worshipping a Christian God .

Works Cited

Cunningham, Lawrence S. and Reich, John J. Culture and Values: A Survey of
Western Humanities. Hardcourt Brace College Publishers. Fort Worth, 1982.