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IlyaShpitser comments on [POLITICS] Jihadism and a new kind of existential threat - Less Wrong Discussion
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I am not really sure what you are trying to say.
Christianity was important in the 17th century, and remained so probably until WWI at least. You can always say that e.g. the 30 year war was really about France vs the HRE, or the HRE infighting, and the whole deal with Bloody Mary was really about dynastic politics in the Kingdom of England, or the IRA was really about reprisal for English territorial ambitions (all based on a counterfactual argument).
I just don't find that very convincing. Obviously things other than religion were going on. This does not change the fact that (a) religion was very important in Europe, (b) a lot of blood was spilled before Europe worked through the Reformation, certainly in England, but also in the HRE, and (c) there are echoes of those events today. You can argue that in the counterfactual world where catholics reformed earlier and there was never a Luther we would still get the same trauma, but I don't know how to evaluate that counterfactual (nor is it that interesting of a question to me -- I care about the world we are in).
My original worry is that the world is in for some pain when Islam's Luther finally nails the Theses to some door. Islam is important to people.
Also, I'm not sure what an Islamic Reformation would mean. Islam is already pretty decentralized.
I would mean the separation of religion and profane life into separate magisteria.
The problem with Islam is that it claims to be a total religion which guides all aspects of human life including politics, art, etc. Islam never had a "render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's" moment and routinely calls the Christian separation of sacred and profane life "schizophrenic".
The idea that religion shouldn't be all of life is a good idea, but I don't think that's what most people mean by a Reformation.
A footnote, really. I agree that the 30 Years War was about religion, with territorial ambitions piggybacking on that. But the Irish matter was the other way round.
Also agreed that an Islamic Reformation would be a dangerous thing for everyone. Islam has a schism already, since early in its history, and it's already dangerous for everyone.
That's interesting, thanks. I will query the locals!