The journey of one's individual decatholicization is also the journey across thousands of years of world history. When Roman Emperor Constantine converted to the Church in 312 CE, ninety percent of the Roman Empire was pagan. As is detailed in the outstanding 2018 book by British journalist Catherine Nixey, The Darkening Age: The Christian Destruction of the Classical World, what followed the emperor's conversion was the largest scale destruction of art in human history. Christian converts went on a prolonged, crazed and zealous rampage, destroying the exquisite statues and other art found in hundreds of temples across three continents of the Mediterranean classical world
I recall this this morning as I look into the story behind the name Devil's Lake in Sauk County, Wisconsin. As the quote from the site's Wikipedia page details below, to the Ho-Chunk people who inhabited the area before the arrival of European Christians, the somewhat mysterious body of water was more properly known as Sacred Lake or Spirit Lake. Nothing diabolical about it!
"Devil's Lake was so named because it is situated in a deep chasm that was thought to have no visible inlet or outlet.[3] However, the Koshawago Spring, originating from the Koshawago Creek, provides an inlet to the lake on the southwest side.[4] The term Devil's Lake is a misinterpretation of the Ho-Chunk name Te Wakącąk or Te Wakącągara.[5] Day-wa-kahn-chunk-gera, which better translates to "Sacred Lake" or "Spirit Lake."[6][7] Spirit Lake is highly significant in Ho-Chunk oral history, and voices of spirits were often claimed to be heard during the celebrations."
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