One reason to love the new Old Europe: The strength of various Christian denominations continues to wane in Europe. Couldn’t happen to a nicer faith-based system, frankly.

The secularization of Europe, according to some political analysts, is one of the forces pushing it apart from the United States, where religion plays a potent role in politics and society, shaping many Americans’ views of the world.

Americans are widely regarded as more comfortable with notions of good and evil, right and wrong, than Europeans, who often see such views as reckless.

In France, which is predominantly Catholic but emphatically secular, about one in 20 people attends a religious service every week, compared with about one in three in the United States.

“What’s interesting isn’t that there are fewer people in church,” said the Rev. Jean Fran輟is Bordarier of Lille, in northern France, “but that there are any at all.”

I’ve heard history is speeding up, which would be great—I’d love it if America could turn the corner and become a little more secular. I’m just afraid there are a few steps in the process we’ll have to go through first.

I’ve just finished Out Of The Flames by Lawrence and Nancy Goldstone, a book that primarily takes place in the Europe of the Reformation and Counter-reformation. Michael Servetus was a genius and philosopher who had the great fortune to live in the new world of the printing press and the great misfortune to live in an age where nonconformist thought—charmingly also known as “heresy”—could get you killed. Servetus was a genius who turned away from Catholicism after witnessing first hand the decadence and depravity of the Church in Rome. He wrote and published a number of heretical books that kept getting him into trouble, but his conscience and deep religious beliefs compelled him to spread his ideas. And he ended up arguing theological doctrine with John Calvin, who in this book is very much the villain (be forewarned, Calvinists).

Out of the Flames covers Gutenberg, Luther, Calvin, the Council of Nicea, the Council of Trent, the Inquisition, the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre, the Glorious Revolution, and a whole host of other people and events from history in a fast, fun read. It’s thrilling to read about a world where ideas are taken seriously and people are desperate to read books; it’s also terrifying to think that doubting the existence of the Trinity was enough to get you burned at the stake. (A process explained in detail. Yikes.)

Of course, I also live in a society where competitors for the highest office in the land try to out-Jesus one another, so maybe I shouldn’t be quite so complacent, eh?

If you’re looking for a fun and thought provoking historical read, check this out.

Kevin Drum over at Calpundit has been on absolute fire of late, what with Intimigate and Arnold and what not. Today he takes a look at the Texas Republican Party’s platform.

The heart and soul of Republican grass roots activism can be found pretty easily: it’s in Texas. The New Model radical right took over the Texas Republican party a decade ago and elected George Bush governor. They have since taken over the entire state and propelled one of their own to the presidency and another to leadership of the House of Representatives. They bring a messianic fervor to their task, and after successfully taking over the second biggest state in the union their sights are now set on the entire country. This is not a fringe group. It is the biggest, most active, most energetic, and most determined segment of the Republican party today.

So it’s fair to ask, what do they really want? Not what their public face is, and not what’s politically feasible at the moment, but what are their goals? What kind of America do they want?

He proceeds to tell us by showing us the Texas Republican Party’s platform, which is seriously scary. It’s even scarier because so much of it isn’t about Texas. It’s about the nation.

These guys are in charge of the nation. This is what they want.

I’d say “God help us all” if I thought it would do any good.

And just in case you want to say, “Conspiracy theory, nobody cares about the platform, yadda yadda,” don’t forget this part of the platform:

Any person filing as a Republican candidate for a public or Party office shall be provided a current copy of the Party platform at the time of filing. The candidate shall be asked to read and initial each page of the platform and sign a statement affirming he/she has read the entire platform.

Can we name any national politicians who hail from Texas? They’ve signed off on this, people.

We’re doomed unless the vast majority of us who are not jiggy with this nonsense get angry and do something.