Poll: If you could go back in time and kill one person who would it be?

[TheRightToArmBears]

No one. I'd probably screw up now with my luck.

 

[Seanchaidh]

1) Emperor Constantine.
2) Because it would be funny.
3) In battle, the battle of Milvian Bridge to be precise.

 

[Gerazzi]

I have no idea.
If I had to pick someone, I'd just go and kill someone just before the would normally die. Therefore with any luck, no paradox.

Ever read "A sound of thunder"?
Your reply sounds like that.

Also try to be more creative than "Hitler" people...

There have been worse people.

 

[Trivun]

Too much history would be changed. So I go back and kill Hitler. Fine. Then Russia suddenly becomes really powerful in the absence of Germany attempting to oppress them. Hence Russia is more powerful in the Cold War than they were in history and end up beating the USA. That causes a major turning point which leads to communism spread all over the world. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. If you change the past there will always be unforseen consequences. History is too volatile, it's as simple as that.

That is the plot of 'Command and Conquer: Red Alert'.

OT: I wouldn't kill anyone. Because of TIME PARADOXes.

Huh, really? I didn't know that, I've never played the C&C games so I had no idea. That's odd. But my point still stands, I guess.

 

[melig]

First thing that spring to mind with me: The guy who killed John Lennon, before he actually did that.

Seriously, I can't think of anyone not already named in this thread

 

[Jedamethis]

an alien on Mars....just to fuck it up

 

[Eagle Est1986]

I'd kill my mother, causing a huge time paradox in which the universe is reset.

 

[melig]

1.) Jesus.
2.) Christianity killed Greek philosophy, Greek scientific theory, Greco-Roman culture, and IMO aided the downfall of the Roman Empire. Enter about 900 years of superstitious faith-mongering and living in squalid conditions, with the occasional troupe of people heading east to commit some mass murder. Then, after all that ended, the persecution and religious wars began. Only since the nineteenth century has Christianity receded into the background as an instigator of violence and misery, and then only because it was replaced with ideals like nationalism, socialism and, later, national socialism. No Christianity = much, much less religious violence. (Please direct any discussion on this topic to PMs, let's not clutter up this thread, ok?)
3.) Quickly and without any witnesses, preferably before he got a messiah complex. Maybe drop a rock on his head or something.

Good one.
Religion is bad kids.

 

[xxcloud417xx]

1.) Jesus.
2.) Christianity killed Greek philosophy, Greek scientific theory, Greco-Roman culture, and IMO aided the downfall of the Roman Empire. Enter about 900 years of superstitious faith-mongering and living in squalid conditions, with the occasional troupe of people heading east to commit some mass murder. Then, after all that ended, the persecution and religious wars began. Only since the nineteenth century has Christianity receded into the background as an instigator of violence and misery, and then only because it was replaced with ideals like nationalism, socialism and, later, national socialism. No Christianity = much, much less religious violence. (Please direct any discussion on this topic to PMs, let's not clutter up this thread, ok?)
3.) Quickly and without any witnesses, preferably before he got a messiah complex. Maybe drop a rock on his head or something.

While this is going to get you flamed very quickly, I definitely agree with all of your #2 points. To be honest, Christianity was a bad influence on Russia as well, though the Orthodox tradition is nowhere near as bad as what went on in the West. The Classical civilizations were abruptly cut off by the alien influences of the Abrahamic ideals. In essence, this.

To be honest I doubt killing Jesus would solve anything. I agree with you that the Catholic Church was the instigator of much violence, however even if Jesus and the Church had not gained power, someone else would have. We're not dealing with spirituality and religious faith that is corrupt, we're dealing with the human perversion and corruption of it. If you read most religious texts, they will simply be stories and guidelines to living a virtuous (and safe) life. The 10 commandments are at the base of MANY cultures and society; "thou shalt not kill" is pretty much a basic rule around the entire planet. What the main issue is, is the people who turn faith against people and make them into sheep. The Church (and many other religious institutions) took it upon itself to lead the people of the same faith, but the power they gained from having so many followers allowed for corruption and evil. It's not the Bible that made them start the witch hunts and the inquisition, it's the people who interpret the Bible in the way that is convenient to them that went power mad and started a massive (and deadly) power-trip. So even if Christianity had never been there, there would still have been human lust for power that would have caused similar evil in another way.

 

[logiman]

Recently, i found out that Time Paradoxes don`t exist, acording to asian-white-long-hair-scientist-that is always on Discovery and National Geographic-dude (i can`t remember his name right now).
He said that if you went back in time and killed your grandfather before your father, you would still exist because you killed your grandfather in anouther dimension, not the one that you are originaly from.

With this in mind i would probably go back in time an kill myself when i was writing this, here.
Just for the fun of it.

 

[Baneat]

kill anyone and you are likely to cease existing

 

[walls of cetepedes]

Too much history would be changed. So I go back and kill Hitler. Fine. Then Russia suddenly becomes really powerful in the absence of Germany attempting to oppress them. Hence Russia is more powerful in the Cold War than they were in history and end up beating the USA. That causes a major turning point which leads to communism spread all over the world. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. If you change the past there will always be unforseen consequences. History is too volatile, it's as simple as that.

That is the plot of 'Command and Conquer: Red Alert'.

OT: I wouldn't kill anyone. Because of TIME PARADOXes.

Huh, really? I didn't know that, I've never played the C&C games so I had no idea. That's odd. But my point still stands, I guess.

If anything, your point is supported by this. The game is the 'what if' of killing Hitler. Which means you're not the only one with that thought.

 

[SpikeyGirl]

I have no idea.
If I had to pick someone, I'd just go and kill someone just before the would normally die. Therefore with any luck, no paradox.

Yes, but instead of it being passed off as an accident or natural cause, there would be an investigation into his death, which diverts police resources, which means other things may not be discovered... etc etc. It's horribly complicated.

It depends, If I kill someone who was going to be assassinated then theres no problem.
Besides, there are ways to make it look normal.

I have no idea.
If I had to pick someone, I'd just go and kill someone just before the would normally die. Therefore with any luck, no paradox.

Ever read "A sound of thunder"?
Your reply sounds like that.

Never read it, looks interesting though.

 

[RebelRising]

1.) Jesus.
2.) Christianity killed Greek philosophy, Greek scientific theory, Greco-Roman culture, and IMO aided the downfall of the Roman Empire. Enter about 900 years of superstitious faith-mongering and living in squalid conditions, with the occasional troupe of people heading east to commit some mass murder. Then, after all that ended, the persecution and religious wars began. Only since the nineteenth century has Christianity receded into the background as an instigator of violence and misery, and then only because it was replaced with ideals like nationalism, socialism and, later, national socialism. No Christianity = much, much less religious violence. (Please direct any discussion on this topic to PMs, let's not clutter up this thread, ok?)
3.) Quickly and without any witnesses, preferably before he got a messiah complex. Maybe drop a rock on his head or something.

While this is going to get you flamed very quickly, I definitely agree with all of your #2 points. To be honest, Christianity was a bad influence on Russia as well, though the Orthodox tradition is nowhere near as bad as what went on in the West. The Classical civilizations were abruptly cut off by the alien influences of the Abrahamic ideals. In essence, this.

*snip*

You too make some good points. I would still argue that the widespread appeal and influence of the abrahamic tradition made it easier for the religious establishments to gain leverage over the less educated masses. The Classsical ideology always supported a more or less democratic process, even when it was technically an Empire, such as in Rome's later years. For the variety of reasons that Rome fell, the end result was undeniably the decentralizing of the Empire and then eventual erosion of the Classical civilizations, it's only remnants remaining in its architectural ruins and the East. Europe was back to almost square one, and the tribalism that makes up the core of the Feudal system was helped by the power that Christianity, for all the good intentions this Jesus guy may have had for his ideas. As such, I fell that human nature, which is, as you say, essentially selfish and aggressive, was enhanced by the absence of Greco-Roman sensibilities as to culture, politics, and theology.

NOTE: I am not criticizing anyone's faith in this, as it is very apparent by now that I am absolutely impartial on the question of God's actual existence. These are just my thoughts of religion as it relates to the worldly plane.

 

[walls of cetepedes]

It depends, If I kill someone who was going to be assassinated then theres no problem.

Ahh, but then the real assassin would get away and be able to have a go at another target.

 

[KarumaK]

I'd reverse engineer whatever device let me travel through time so I could go to the future. I'd then gather lotto numbers for decades to come. And blueprints for perpetual energy. I'd then waste my careless days observing historical events and leaving perfect records in locations I knew would not be touched so I could 'find' them and let the truth be known.

You can travel through time and all you want to do is kill someone, really? How typically human.

 

[SpikeyGirl]

It depends, If I kill someone who was going to be assassinated then theres no problem.

Ahh, but then the real assassin would get away and be able to have a go at another target.

Unless of course I was the original assassin and accidentally caused a paradox anyway.

If the assassin wasn't caught they would probably still get another target. If they were caught I would just frame them.
I'd have to do quite a bit of research into the persons death.

 

[luclin92]

i would kill the group of romans who set together the bible just so that dam book will never been made.

 

[xxcloud417xx]

1.) Jesus.
2.) Christianity killed Greek philosophy, Greek scientific theory, Greco-Roman culture, and IMO aided the downfall of the Roman Empire. Enter about 900 years of superstitious faith-mongering and living in squalid conditions, with the occasional troupe of people heading east to commit some mass murder. Then, after all that ended, the persecution and religious wars began. Only since the nineteenth century has Christianity receded into the background as an instigator of violence and misery, and then only because it was replaced with ideals like nationalism, socialism and, later, national socialism. No Christianity = much, much less religious violence. (Please direct any discussion on this topic to PMs, let's not clutter up this thread, ok?)
3.) Quickly and without any witnesses, preferably before he got a messiah complex. Maybe drop a rock on his head or something.

While this is going to get you flamed very quickly, I definitely agree with all of your #2 points. To be honest, Christianity was a bad influence on Russia as well, though the Orthodox tradition is nowhere near as bad as what went on in the West. The Classical civilizations were abruptly cut off by the alien influences of the Abrahamic ideals. In essence, this.

*snip*

You too make some good points. I would still argue that the widespread appeal and influence of the abrahamic tradition made it easier for the religious establishments to gain leverage over the less educated masses. The Classsical ideology always supported a more or less democratic process, even when it was technically an Empire, such as in Rome's later years. For the variety of reasons that Rome fell, the end result was undeniably the decentralizing of the Empire and then eventual erosion of the Classical civilizations, it's only remnants remaining in its architectural ruins and the East. Europe was back to almost square one, and the tribalism that makes up the core of the Feudal system was helped by the power that Christianity, for all the good intentions this Jesus guy may have had for his ideas. As such, I fell that human nature, which is, as you say, essentially selfish and aggressive, was enhanced by the absence of Greco-Roman sensibilities as to culture, politics, and theology.

NOTE: I am not criticizing anyon'es faith in this, as it is very apparent by now that I am absolutely impartial on the question of God's actual existence. These are just my thoughts of religion as it relates to the worldly plane.

Yeah, the problem with the feudal system wasn't the ideas that Jesus had, it was the people interpreting them to suit their own personal gain. You need to consider that not many people could read, so the only way they could get their "dose" of the Bible was from a churchman. He could tell them whatever he wanted too and they would believe it since they put a lot of trust in the people of the Church. There lies the main problem. The Churchmen were often corrupt and would use their influence, power and false interpretations to manipulate people.