#it would have been sufficient to simply end the privileges of the clergy

[tanadrin]

National Convention: are there local political and material conditions that might make the civil oath for the clergy and the uniform rule of the country from Paris a poor fit for some outlying départements?

National Convention: no, it’s the Vendéeans who are wrong

National Convention: *starts a civil war that kills 200,000 people and permanently destabilizes the republic*

#like #i understand why the secularism of european countries #has most often manifested itself in explicitly subordinating the church to the state #rather than merely disestablishing it #but this is an area where i think the american model is definitely superior #it would have been sufficient to simply end the privileges of the clergy #to tax church property as all other property #and not to exempt the church from any national land reform #but no #we have to provoke an unnecessary war #that will hemhorrage lives and resources #while attempting to stave off repeated invasions