[StevePerkins]

> "I think you’re making the mistake of equating Christianity and Catholicism. They have the same roots but all of the things you’re assigning to Christianity is really the machinations of ‘The Church’ weilding Christians beliefs as a cudgel for the aspirations of ruling bodies."

I grew up in the rural South. I assure you churches serving as the cudgel of ruling classes is not limited to a single denomination. Catholics are barely represented here, the pattern is nevertheless the same.

[candiodari]

I think you'll find that historically, due to the interference from Rome, Catholicism was the denomination that resisted this the most, and that this was in fact a large part of the reason for Protestantism to come into existence in the first place.