In Sweden, way back when, there used to be… pagans! That of course is the catch-all term for those persons whose religious rituals were not attached to the Abrahamic god.

And, as was the case since Constantine in the 4th century, various people with armies would, on numerous occasions, “Christianize” their dominions (this is not unique, of course, to Christianity…but Christianity’s spread, historically, is not primarily a result of individuals coming to the faith on their own accord). Not surprisingly, not everyone who was conquered and forced to become Christian liked that fact. Some even resented it so much that they (at least temporarily) threw off their conquerors and went back to the style of life and religion that they had engaged in prior to their occupation at the hand of Christianizers.

For a time during the 11th century, the pagan Swedes were ruled by “good king Ingon” (“good” meaning “Christian” in Butler’s parlance). Then Ingon was overthrown and slain by none other than, in Butler’s words, “the wicked Sweno, surnamed the Bloody”–though who surnamed Sweno “the Bloody” is not likely to have been those who supported him. So enter today’s saint, Eskill. Eskill himself was not a Swede–he was in fact born an Englishman. But he felt called to go into another country and help swing the balance of power there back to the Christianizers.

The time came when (with Sweno in charge in Sweden) a group of people–those that “revived their most impious and barbarous superstitions”–held one of their festivals at a site called Strengis, with Sweno in attendance. Eskill, hearing of this sacrilege, made haste to Strengis to intervene. The party already underway, Eskill had to raise his voice for anyone to hear him. Yet, the louder Eskill yelled, the less the people showed any interest in listening to him. This upset our saint (his “zeal was enkindled”), so he prayed to God to give a showing of power so violent that none of these pagans would have any choice but to say “Yes, I see now–your God, O Eskill, is the only and true God and we should become Christians immediately because there is no other possible way to worship or believe!” At that time, Butler reports that, miraculously, “a violent storm of hail, thunder, and rain fell upon the spot, and destroyed the altar and sacrifices.”

But what Eskill was hoping to happen did not materialize! Those darned pagans simply said to the triumphant Eskill that he (and not some all-powerful Being) ruined their event, and they were pissed! With the permission of Sweno the Bloody, they picked up stones (possibly pieces of their destroyed altar) and began throwing them at Eskill. And, yes, Eskill died that day–going (at least as affirmed in Christian circles) straight to heaven as a martyr and saint.

Now, to be clear: Eskill goes to another country with different religious practices. He crashes a religious gathering and begins shouting at them and praying for his god to bring an act that would stop these people. When it happens, and he claims it happened through his own prayers, they blame him for the devastation and begin throwing rocks at him. And, killed in this way, Eskill is elevated to heaven and is worthy of our emulation.

If anything, Jesus himself was roundly criticized for refusing to be a buzzkill (by the Pharisees, the scribes, Martha, and even Judas). So, while I’m not suggesting that those stoners should be saints, I certainly can’t celebrate, venerate, honor, or even respect Eskill’s choices or actions either.