What it says on the tin. What if the English forced the Irish to give up their Catholic faith? Would Ireland still be part of Britain?
It can be somewhat, I am terrible at both.Real life is not a game of EUIV
It can be somewhat, I am terrible at both.
Though on a more serious note, it really cannot be done absolutely. Take Christianisation throughout Europe for example, despite being imposed from above and in an incredibly violent manner (often far more brutally then Cromwell attempted), it still failed to take root and what we largely have today is a highly syncretic form of Judaism that is virtually entirely European in character.
As someone who was in Seminary for a significant amount of time and who has done extensive research on early Christianity, this is objectively false.Take Christianisation throughout Europe for example, despite being imposed from above and in an incredibly violent manner (often far more brutally then Cromwell attempted), it still failed to take root and what we largely have today is a highly syncretic form of Judaism that is virtually entirely European in character.
Or you could take the Spanish Inquisition route.I also wish to ad that for the irish opposing the British the conqueres came in form of religion. The British were Protestant and the oppressors and a way to distinguish yourself as Irish was to remain catholic. What you would of needed for change in religion in Ireland would of been a home grown “Anglican” movement not one imposed from England. That did not and would not work.
I would find that hard for the British to impose. The Spanish inquision was to stamp out a small minority religion or false Christians not to force a whole country to convert. Inquisition would not of worked. The British would of needed to have a huge army stationed in Ireland to try such a thing and be suffering large attrition due to partisan attacks. No British wanted a docile population providing it with $$$ and costing as little as possible to control.Or you could take the Spanish Inquisition route.
I would find that hard for the British to impose. The Spanish inquision was to stamp out a small minority religion or false Christians not to force a whole country to convert. Inquisition would not of worked. The British would of needed to have a huge army stationed in Ireland to try such a thing and be suffering large attrition due to partisan attacks. No British wanted a docile population providing it with $$$ and costing as little as possible to control.
That was not the British wAy and would of required a huge expense and manpower to accomplish. Also in continental Europe people could walk away to another friendlier country or region. But what you do in Ireland when Britain controlled the ports and people not have $ to move? They would of been hArd pressed to contain revolts.The experience elsewhere in Europe suggests otherwise. In Flanders and Bohemia and a number of places in Germany you had regions that had overwhelmingly adopted one religion forcibly converted. In both cases the conversion process was helped by a bloody war that removed many of the most diehard opponents and large numbers of refugees but those regions were converted by the sword. Now you can argue that England is unlikely to have the will or the resources to do something on that scale, they certainly didn't in OTL, but if you're willing to kill 20% of the population and drive another 20% out you can get the remaining 60% to do pretty much anything you want. As I said I think you would need to seriously change English history to deliver such a result but it's far from impossible.
As someone who was in Seminary for a significant amount of time and who has done extensive research on early Christianity, this is objectively false.
You could write a book on this. Like. This is most definitely not something I can just write in an AH.com post. But really, a lot of the accusations of "syncretism" that have come about really only occurred in the Enlightenment era, thousands of years after the fact. Christinaization in Europe was actually quite peaceful a solid 80% of the time, with areas slowly converting to Christianity as missionaries did their thing (like in Ireland, where the work of people like St. Patrick and contemporaries ended up converting most of the population peacefully, even though the Celtic Pagan authorities had a... knack for sacrificing errant subjects to the gods). And... honestly, there are some statements that are so wrong it baffles the mind to explain all the ways, and Christianity being a "highly syncretic form of Judaism that is virtually entirely European in character" is one of them. No offense of course, but honestly, that's like Chart level wrong. Christianity is monotheistic, it does not demand human sacrifice by principle, it has a strong literary tradition, et cetera, which are all absent from European religious traditions. By the time Christianity had almost 800 years of theology and progress and research and etc, the Germanic Pagans juuusssstttt started writing down their traditions. I could go on, but really, this is something that a multi-thousand page book could be written on.I agree with you on the basis of what little I know. But could you elaborate why? Thanks.
What it says on the tin. What if the English forced the Irish to give up their Catholic faith? Would Ireland still be part of Britain?
Similarly in communist poland where the Russians and communists attempted to suppress the church and religion and instead in an act of defiance the polish people held on their millennium faith.Catholicism is the faith of the Irish nation, at least in tradition (I am not bringing the 21st century in this; this is purely on historical grounds.) The more the British oppressed the Irish, the more they held on to their already very strong faith. Irish catholic tradition goes back millennium; it was strong even before British oppression. The economic oppression, such as with the absentee landlords, was incredibly immense. The Irish resisted this largely through clinging on to their culture; the only remnant left after the British takeover of the whole island. To convert to the Protestant faith to them would be to lose their Irish sensibilities and turn back on their family; their community; their people. The local pressure was immense. The Ulster Protestants would also not convert to Catholicism even if under Irish Catholic rule. The whole tragedy is full of sensitivities and many on both sides are bitter to this day.