An ugly thought, getting uglier


Christendom's divisions are argued for in pious words, but none the less they happen--as if by a mysterious geologic force--along fracture lines of power, prestige or wealth.

That's a line from something else I'm working on, but I thought I'd copy it from that MS and stick it here, to see if people think I am being too gloomy or whether I might be onto something. Take the theology out of it. Watch history's movie without the narration about the sacred principles and religious imperatives. What it then looks like is a bunch of strife over who will be in charge, who will get the credit or who will hold the money bag.

I'm in a bad mood today. Protestantism, whatever good qualities it might or might not have, got its big chance because certain rich and powerful rulers wanted a way to push back at an overreaching papacy. The East-West split of 1054 happened because the Greeks didn't want their churches run from Rome. In the very numerous splits of one Protestant group from another, you will find evidence of the same big three causes, but on a smaller and pettier scale.

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