Conversation

@leahmcelrath.bsky.social
I was struck by this while reading a book about the Viking period of Europe. The tools that the Roman Catholic church offered burgeoning nation states weren't peace, love, and understanding. They were legitimized rule, clerics that could serve as bureaucrats and administrators, propagandists, tax collectors, and justifications for violence like crusades against the Pagan neighboring rivals. No wonder that leaders converted to such a convenient system to maintain power.