As it says in the title, what if there was no increase in secularism in Western thought and culture during this period?
(For the purposes of this thread, "secularism" refers primarily to the attitudes of people regarding this life vs. the next. So a country with no State religion but where 90% of people are devout Christians wouldn't count as "secular", whereas one with an Established Church with nobody believes in would.)
ETA: Just to be clear, by "increase in secularism" I mean in society as a whole. So it's OK for there to be a minority of secularists in the country, just as long as they don't have much influence over the overall culture of the Western world. Also, I'm not too worried about interior thoughts: so it's OK to have a situation like, e.g., pagan Rome, where the elite are mostly disbelievers but nevertheless publicly support the state cult.
(For the purposes of this thread, "secularism" refers primarily to the attitudes of people regarding this life vs. the next. So a country with no State religion but where 90% of people are devout Christians wouldn't count as "secular", whereas one with an Established Church with nobody believes in would.)
ETA: Just to be clear, by "increase in secularism" I mean in society as a whole. So it's OK for there to be a minority of secularists in the country, just as long as they don't have much influence over the overall culture of the Western world. Also, I'm not too worried about interior thoughts: so it's OK to have a situation like, e.g., pagan Rome, where the elite are mostly disbelievers but nevertheless publicly support the state cult.
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