They will remember soon enough. When a state takes a religion it is typically pressured to get very specific, and then persecute (convert or imprison / execute) those that do not conform.
This was is the crux of the issue in the troubles, which is itching to start up again.
True that. On all counts. And it’s pretty clear that’s exactly where the right wing wants to take this pseudo-Christian religious domination: into a codified platform of national power. The First Amendment won’t be the only part of the Constitution to go, the whole thing will be toast except for whatever bits they like, but that’s possibly the worst as it opens the door to entire new waves of “thoughtcrime” surveillance and enforcement.
As an aside, I remember being thunderstruck pre-Brexit about people like Boris Johnson kicking that whole can up the road, not even talking about it, setting aside the Irish border entirely as though it would be easy to resolve in the future, even though it had already lasted hundreds of years prior and the Good Friday Agreement wasn’t even yet 20 years old. In the end, Ireland – both of them – were left out of the Brexit planning entirely. It is to their own credit on both sides IMO that they, not Westminster, have kept things calm.
EDITED TO ADD: When a religion goes national, it’s also usually the excuse for a massive transfer of assets and wealth to the state as well as to its most favored private supporters, such as when Henry VIII created the CoE and took all the abbeys and monasteries and churches, as well as their land and gold, for himself and his favorites. He did it in steps, but in the end he also did it quite completely. Given that this rising Christian Nationalism in the US is primarily evangelical in flavor, the Catholics may end up losing some property and cash yet again, this time 500-ish years later in the New World.
They will remember soon enough. When a state takes a religion it is typically pressured to get very specific, and then persecute (convert or imprison / execute) those that do not conform.
This
wasis the crux of the issue in the troubles, which is itching to start up again.True that. On all counts. And it’s pretty clear that’s exactly where the right wing wants to take this pseudo-Christian religious domination: into a codified platform of national power. The First Amendment won’t be the only part of the Constitution to go, the whole thing will be toast except for whatever bits they like, but that’s possibly the worst as it opens the door to entire new waves of “thoughtcrime” surveillance and enforcement.
As an aside, I remember being thunderstruck pre-Brexit about people like Boris Johnson kicking that whole can up the road, not even talking about it, setting aside the Irish border entirely as though it would be easy to resolve in the future, even though it had already lasted hundreds of years prior and the Good Friday Agreement wasn’t even yet 20 years old. In the end, Ireland – both of them – were left out of the Brexit planning entirely. It is to their own credit on both sides IMO that they, not Westminster, have kept things calm.
EDITED TO ADD: When a religion goes national, it’s also usually the excuse for a massive transfer of assets and wealth to the state as well as to its most favored private supporters, such as when Henry VIII created the CoE and took all the abbeys and monasteries and churches, as well as their land and gold, for himself and his favorites. He did it in steps, but in the end he also did it quite completely. Given that this rising Christian Nationalism in the US is primarily evangelical in flavor, the Catholics may end up losing some property and cash yet again, this time 500-ish years later in the New World.