October 31 is Reformation Day

 

This Day in History: Today is Reformation Day, as it is the day that Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg in 1517. This is important as this is viewed as a great victory for freedom of speech and freedom of religion, but the Reformation also immersed Europe in warfare for over a century. The Thirty Years' War killed eight million, and the French Wars of Religion claimed yet another three million lives. Keep in mind that Europe's population was dramatically lower back then...the Protestant wars decimated society.

The Reformation may have broken an often cruel strangle-hold that the Catholic Church had on society, but it replaced it with violent Protestant fundamentalists.

"The strongest case for the Reformation is simply that there was no other path to our modern, tolerant world. European civilization had two choices: Either stay mired in the grip of medieval superstition and tyranny forever; or endure a century-long bloodbath. But this story is grossly overconfident. Despite the Protestant challenge, the Catholic Church utterly prevailed in countries like France, Spain, and Italy. In the 20th-century, though, it was defeated not by rival religions, but by French, Spanish, and Italian apathy. And you can't help but notice: this defeat by apathy was almost perfectly bloodless. If you object, 'None of that could have happened without the Reformation,' I say you underestimate the power of apathy." ~Bryan Caplan

See also: 200 Books on DVDrom on the Dark Side of Christianity
https://thebookshelf2015.blogspot.com/2015/10/200-books-on-dvdrom-on-dark-side-of.html