Amid the French Revolution in the 1790s, the church found itself in a compromising situation as dissatisfied and angry people revolted against the Gothic church. The church’s properties were stolen in an incident that marked the violent push to alienate France from having complete confidence with the Catholic church. The revolution was catalyzed by the fact that the church had sweeping influence and power in France since majority of the population then were of the catholic faith. Thus Catholicism was a state religion.
The catholic church influence in France was facilitated by the vast material wealth that emanated from the people’s offerings and consistent failure of worshipers to remit statutory tax deductions to the French government. This made the people agitate for liberation from the catholic church, which they thought was compromising the affairs of the people and their religious liberty.
The revolution resulted to the toppling of the monarch rule and a strong campaign for dechristianization. The previously church owned properties were confiscated and imported roles that were performed by the church like the keeping records of birth and deaths and other administrative roles were relinquished from the control of the church. Pressure mounted and the catholic church was forced to bear allegiance to the birthed state. During and after the revolution, people were killed and public religious gatherings of any nature were banned and the catholic priests were imprisoned.
Problem statement.
Religious revolutions have played an overwhelming role in the modern societies as it has reshaped the religious aspects that affects various lives of citizens. Some of the religious freedom that people are enjoying today were sealed by the blood of martyrs who gave up their lives so that their people could have the religious liberty that they felt were due to them. As a result of previous and current revolutions, success has been realized in areas like freedom of worship, day of worship and the manner of worship.
In this study we seek to answer the following questions concerning the religion and revolution
- What are the causes of revolutions?
- What are the effects of the revolutions on the people?
- Is there possibility of future revolutions as far Christianity is concerned?
Literature Review
Unlike the American revolution that entirely focused on human rights conservancy and sound political realignment, the French revolution focused on all aspects of human life including politics and religion. In France, people were being coerced to sacrifice their previous religious beliefs and embrace a new order with no regard to Christianity. In the process of the revolution, there were attempts to do away with conservative French traditional way of life and religious inclinations. Vicious campaigns against the catholic church rose and it was not to exercise any authority except under the express permission from the state. The secular leadership had the final say over social, religious and economic wellbeing of the populace. Working relationship between the French government and the papacy were severed. The financial and diplomatic relations were stopped. The church properties were confiscated.
In July 12, 1790, a decree known as the Civil Constitution of the clergy was passed and consequently, all bishops and priests were to serve subject to approval by the people. The bishops and priests were to be paid from government coffers. The pope had no say in any decision making and instead, the clerics had to swear allegiance to the government and constitution of France.
All religious congregations were stopped and wearing the clerical garments was a crime. Priests who were found to take instructions from the pope were to be committed to a ten years’ jail term. All Christian processions to mark church calendar days were stopped and religious artefacts were seized from the church for annihilation. The members of the clergy were allowed by the state to marry and divorce. The education sector which was managed by the government for decades was to be managed by the government.
To further the agenda of de-Christianization, the government introduced a new form of religion called patriotism. The calendar was changed from the Gregorian form and was replaced with names related to nature. Sunday worship was scrapped by altering months to have three weeks of ten weeks each. The government announced the 10th day of the week as the day of worship.
Every village was to build an altar for the worship of a false god who was the goddess of reason. In addition, the people were to observe the ‘federation in the month of July’ where patriotic rites were performed. A feast of nature was also to be conducted in the month of August.
Despite the work of revolutionary agents to stamp out the authority of the church, the blood of the priests, bishops and other Christians did not shed in vain. The French government later retracted their stand on de-Christianization and declared France a Christian country under the roman catholic.
Methodology
Given that a big junk of this study is based on history and past happenings in the religious world, the following data sampling criteria are key;
Reading historical journals. This publication helps to retrieve in-depth details of past history with regard to revolution and religion. These journals give a clear picture on the historical view of Christianity and its associated revolutions.
The other ideal method is visiting Christian archives at the roman catholic church headquarters, here all the historical information that explains the rise of religious revolution is found. This can give a clear insight on the steps that have been taken as far as Christianity is concerned.
Discussion
Christian revolutions are caused by government excesses, wastage and corruption, leadership wrangles and doctrinal deviation.
Most world governments tend to interfere with the affairs of church to satisfy their narrow political interests. For example, governments of developing countries and other developed bureaucracies corrupt the members of the clergy so that they can gain political favor through voting during elections. This normally happens through the belief that the population believes and are in total submission to the priests and bishops. Therefore, the members of the clergy can influence their faithful to take a particular political course. This can bring confrontations among the congregants which can potentially give birth to revolutions. The church too should not sink deep into mainstream political affairs of the country as was the case in the French revolution. In contrast, it should be a neutral arbiter in government to people crisis.
Revolutions comes when governments inflict tortures to independent members of the clergy who do not subscribe to bureaucratic tendencies of the government.
The second issue that can cause Christian revolutions is the corruption among church officials. When transparency and accountability fails to take center stage in the running of the affairs of the church, it becomes a recipe for chaos. Churches should endeavor to put their affairs to public scrutiny. Transparency inspires confidence.
The third cause is leadership wrangles. This comes when some leaders of the church want to cling to power because of own selfish interest. This can also happen when individuals want to have some specific members of the clergy to protect their interests.
The last cause of Christian revolution can be doctrinal deviation by the members of the clergy. This is possible when the leadership of the church tend to bend some Christian principals to justify their sinful acts. This can be extremely dangerous especially when the doctrinal deviation goes against the bible.
The effects of Christian revolutions to the people can be both positive and negative. One positive aspect of Christian revolutions is the freedom of worship and respect for human rights. These leads to religious tolerance and spiritual growth of a nation.
The negative aspects of Christian revolutions are torture, deaths, persecution and economic run down.
There is a possibility of future revolutions due to the dynamic nature of our environment and politics. However, the nature of the revolutions will vary owing to the technological advancement like online activism, emergence of career activism and strengthening of democracies and the judiciary.
Conclusion.
Given the experiences from the French revolution and American revolution, it is evident that Christian revolutions have enormously impacted the society. Revolutions makes people and states to realize change and move to the better. The revolution in France made the government to realize the importance of Christianity in a secular world and how it can influence the masses positively.