Reply #172: oh yes, clearly that was what the person meant--your definition is from the xians, by the way.

[niyad]

(have taken note of one interesting thing in your post as completely unsurprising)

the original meaning stands, so quit trying to twist it.

hea·then
   /ˈhiðən/ Show Spelled Show IPA noun, plural -thens, -then, adjective
–noun
1.
an unconverted individual of a people that do not acknowledge the god of the Bible; a person who is neither a Jew, Christian, nor Muslim; pagan.
2.
an irreligious, uncultured, or uncivilized person.
–adjective
3.
of or pertaining to heathens; pagan.
4.
irreligious, uncultured, or uncivilized.
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Origin:
before 900; Middle English hethen, Old English hǣthen, akin to German Heide, heidnisch (adj.), Old Norse heithingi (noun), heithinn (adj.), Gothic haithno (noun); perhaps akin to heath

—Related forms
hea·then·dom, noun
hea·then·hood, noun
hea·then·ness, noun
hea·then·ship, noun
half-hea·then, adjective, noun
non·hea·then, noun, plural -thens, -then, adjective
un·hea·then, adjective

—Synonyms
3. heathenish, barbarous. Heathen, pagan are both applied to peoples who are not Christian, Jewish, or Muslim. Heathen is often distinctively applied to unenlightened or barbaric idolaters, especially to primitive or ancient tribes: heathen rites, idols. Pagan, though applied to any of the peoples not worshiping according to the three religions mentioned above, is most frequently used in speaking of the ancient Greeks and Romans: a pagan poem; a pagan civilization. 4. philistine; savage.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/heathen




In the Christian perspective the term has been used historically to encompass all non–Abrahamic religions.<2><3> The term pagan is a Christian adaptation of the "gentile" of Judaism, and as such has an inherent Abrahamic bias, and pejorative connotations among monotheists,<4> comparable to heathen and infidel also known as kafir (كافر) and mushrik in Islam. Peter Brown observes:

The adoption of paganus by Latin Christians as an all-embracing, pejorative term for polytheists represents an unforeseen and singularly long-lasting victory, within a religious group, of a word of Latin slang originally devoid of religious meaning. The evolution occurred only in the Latin west, and in connection with the Latin church. Elsewhere, "Hellene" or "gentile" (ethnikos) remained the word for "pagan"; and paganos continued as a purely secular term, with overtones of the inferior and the commonplace.<5>
. . .

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heathen#Heathen