Nah, it isn't junk. The so-called theology thing is, however. I don't believe that my underwear created the universe. That was just to prove a point. When someone asked me to prove that the universe was created by the Big Bang, which is, of course, very difficult, I rather came up with the point that he couldn't prove my underwear isn't God. Which he can't of course, since God (that is, my underwear) would simply remove all evidence of it being God. It is a silly thing, of course.
I am not a religious person. I am however, interested in theology, mythology, and religious affairs in general, and I respect people who choose to believe in some higher office. Hydarnes, however, annoyed me due to the fact that in another thread he said something like "David defeated 32 000 Chariots because he had God on his side" in response to something wholly unrelated to it. And someone basically stated the same in this thread - that God always supports the victor in the long term. Right. Any thinking person would realise that this is hogwash. But it was only brought up due to the fact that I was annoyed with Hydarnes, who also in other regards displays a general lack of knowledge (Scythe Chariots were widely used in ancient times. Right.). Anyway, I apologise for bringing it up.
And concerning the civ thing - Minoan is fast on water maps, and better than Phoe in the later phases of the game; all Minoan has to do, is survive to win in late Bronze or late Iron. On other maps, Phoe is still able to beat Minoan.
Persian is a semi-fast civ due to the hunting bonus. This bonus can, on some maps, enable Persian to rival even Shang for speed. With Persians, you could very easily do a Gazelle/Wood pit first start, for instance. This would enable them to dock very early, and so be faster than almost anyone. Under the right conditions, Persians are fast, similar to Minoan. They can both be ranked as semi-fast due to the fact that they are map dependant when it comes to speed. The reason I didn't originally include Minoan is complicated, but basically, the hunting bonus and the other bonuses of the other semi-fast civs makes them a tad faster than Minoan on most maps.
Persian isn't a slow civ in that sense - it's just that you must use them to Tool Rush in order to win. Their ellies are good, yes, but by that time, it's all over for the Persians.
The only civs that are truly slow are those that don't have any early economic bonuses or economic bonuses at all, that is Greeks, Carthaginians, Choson, etc. All civs that have such bonuses can be at least just a bit faster than the rest.
People that aren't morons would choose Egypt in a team game, where they can survive and grow strong. I very much enjoy playing Egypt myself. In a 1v1 with Phoenicia, however, Egypt is clearly disadvantaged.
I think this makes a lot of sense. Right?