Comments on: Secularism And Europe http://larison.org/2007/12/08/secularism-and-europe/ n. the principle of good order "Observe the strange inversion of all order and sense! Dignity debased; how vilely is the function of a consul prostituted!" ~The Craftsman Thu, 18 Mar 2010 17:38:09 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.4 by: scriblerus http://larison.org/2007/12/08/secularism-and-europe/#comment-8293 Sun, 09 Dec 2007 04:45:52 +0000 http://larison.org/2007/12/08/secularism-and-europe/#comment-8293 It's misleading to highlight state churches as a cause of secularization. The problem is more with the closely knit religious communities that flourished in Europe in the 150 years or so after the French Revolution. The German Catholic community (centered around a political party dedicated to protecting its rights) is a classic example of this. German Catholics encountered the same problems with declining attendance as German Protestants and other European state churches. Once various causes (consumerism, generation gaps following WWII, youth culture, etc.) defused the oppositions that drove these communities, some sort of loss of vigor was inevitable. State churches and non-state sponsored religious groups all face the same problems. In addition, when anybody makes the statement that "faith flourishes in the free market," it's always important to ask "what kind of faith?" Tocqueville talks about the unique aspects of religion in the U. S. and Mark Noll explores at length how problematic the "Christian republicanism" of the first half of the nineteenth century was. Basically, the religion that flourished in the free religious market of the U. S. was so theologically thin that it couldn't really cope with the issue of slavery. It’s misleading to highlight state churches as a cause of secularization. The problem is more with the closely knit religious communities that flourished in Europe in the 150 years or so after the French Revolution. The German Catholic community (centered around a political party dedicated to protecting its rights) is a classic example of this. German Catholics encountered the same problems with declining attendance as German Protestants and other European state churches. Once various causes (consumerism, generation gaps following WWII, youth culture, etc.) defused the oppositions that drove these communities, some sort of loss of vigor was inevitable. State churches and non-state sponsored religious groups all face the same problems.

In addition, when anybody makes the statement that “faith flourishes in the free market,” it’s always important to ask “what kind of faith?” Tocqueville talks about the unique aspects of religion in the U. S. and Mark Noll explores at length how problematic the “Christian republicanism” of the first half of the nineteenth century was. Basically, the religion that flourished in the free religious market of the U. S. was so theologically thin that it couldn’t really cope with the issue of slavery.

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