“No wild beast is as dangerous to man as one Christian is to another.” – Julian the Apostate
Towards the end of the Roman Empire, one of the nephews of Constantine the Great, Julian, took the throne as the Augustus Emperor. He inherited an empire with some serious problems, namely the Parthian Empire (modern Iraq/Iran) was causing trouble, and Christianity was giving him fits.
Julian was a devout pagan who rejected the Christian faith and believed, like many others in Rome, that the decline of Imperial power was linked to the rise in Christianity. Julian took the throne and quickly went about restoring pagan Roman religion. And naturally, many Christians resisted and began causing problems for Julian – problems that he did not need. Soon the Parthians invaded
So how did Julian handle his Christian enemies? He gave them total freedom. Seriously. Earlier Emperors had played favorites with particular Christian sects and gave them special rights while outlawing and condemning other Christian sects. Julian gave all Christians, no matter what they believed or how they practiced their faith, total freedom and protection. He predicted that once the Christians could do as they pleased, they’d instantly turn on each other instead of being united against him.
It worked. Julian’s policy of total Christian toleration was the most liberal and generous religious policy in the late Empire. And after about a year of the policy, Julian had no further issues, uprisings, or problems with Christianity. He was able to concentrate on fighting off the Parthians and securing the borders of the eastern Empire.
Julian understood something that many leaders forget: often times our opponents will defeat themselves… if we let them. Julian gave Christians just enough rope to hang themselves with internal squabbling. It allowed him to concentrate on what he HAD to do instead of being pulled into minor distractions. The concept of a united opposition is all too often a myth.