Judeo-Christian world. Which one is closer to you?

[GreentheViper]

Protestantism

[Loki]

Count the Dutch and Flemish with the Germans as well and we can say that Luther pretty much failed in the German lands. Luxembourg ? Same story.

Nonsense. For starters, Luther wasn't the only reformer. And, you need to realise that a large percentage of Protestant Germans have migrated elsewhere -- if you take into consideration German and Dutch descendants in America and South Africa, for example, I think you'll find that the vast majority of them are Protestant, and that would tip the scales in favor of a Protestant majority.

[Loki]

Catholic cynicism towards all things Protestant always pisses me off... this is not necessary. We know what you think of us, keep it to yourselves. We are very happy not to be Catholic, and we will never be Catholic, we don't want to, so get used to it!

[The Lawspeaker]

Nonsense. For starters, Luther wasn't the only reformer. And, you need to realise that a large percentage of Protestant Germans have migrated elsewhere -- if you take into consideration German and Dutch descendants in America and South Africa, for example, I think you'll find that the vast majority of them are Protestant, and that would tip the scales in favor of a Protestant majority.

Actually: I think Germanin and I know the situation in our respective lands much better than you do. Protestantism never became the dominant majority in either one of the two countries. What you had was a (relatively thin) layer of protestant clergy, yeoman and regents lording over a group of people that either didn't join a particular church or were Catholic. Catholicism remained the dominant religion in the Netherlands until well in the 19th century and then reinforced its position in the South after 1853 (when they had received equal status under the law - much to the chagrin of the hardline protestants at the time btw. and with the express disapproval of King William III, who, thankfully, didn't enjoy any constitutional powers. The difference between the Catholics and the Protestants was, that the majority (the Catholics) didn't enjoy any institutional power and had to pay so-called recognitiegelden (call it, for all intents and purposes, a jizya tax or a protection racket) until after the French invasion of 1795 otherwise the rakkers, the "police" avant-la-lettre would have known where to find them. Until well into the 18th century, the countryside of Holland, Utrecht, Overijssel (mainly Twenthe) and Guelders were majority Catholic. Brabant and Limburg (as well as a lot of people in Amsterdam, Volendam, various villages in Utrecht) always remained Catholic, it's just that they had even lost their churches and had to cough up enormous sums in order to be left alone.

It was the corruption around the recognitiegelden which pretty much (and thankfully) stopped the regents from fulfilling the most hardline orders of the States-General: to stamp out anyone not belonging to the established Dutch Reformed Church .

[FinalFlash]

Orthodoxy.

Happy Easter to all of you btw!

[Nazarene]

Raised Protestant but I'm keen to convert to Orthodoxy

[Loki]

Actually: I think Germanin and I know the situation in our respective lands much better than you do. Protestantism never became the dominant majority in either one of the two countries. What you had was a (relatively thin) layer of protestant clergy, yeoman and regents lording over a group of people that either didn't join a particular church or were Catholic. .

That is simply not true. You must be fully aware that, due to communism, the formerly strongly Protestant Prussian areas turned atheist, and are still mostly atheist today. And that is the primary reason why it appears that there are more Catholics in modern Germany. But if you count those atheists with the Prostestants (they are culturally Protestant and Protestant in background for sure), then you see a different picture emerging -- a more realistic, representative one.

Even in the south, Catholics are not always the majority. There is a strong Protestant streak running down from Baden-Wurttemberg into German-speaking Switzerland, which is mostly Protestant in background too.

And if you widen your scope and look at all Germanic lands as a whole -- including the British Isles, Scandinavia and New World Germanic colonies, then you will realise that Catholicism is the anomaly among Germanic peoples, who are strongly Protestant in background, culture and outlook. This is just an indisputable fact.

[Pacific Highlander]

"Judeo-Christianity" is a relatively new term cooked up by judaizing protestants.

[Pacific Highlander]

more accurate map of the world religions.

[The Lawspeaker]

That is simply not true. You must be fully aware that, due to communism, the formerly strongly Protestant Prussian areas turned atheist, and are still mostly atheist today. And that is the primary reason why it appears that there are more Catholics in modern Germany. But if you count those atheists with the Prostestants (they are culturally Protestant and Protestant in background for sure), then you see a different picture emerging -- a more realistic, representative one.

Even in the south, Catholics are not always the majority. There is a strong Protestant streak running down from Baden-Wurttemberg into German-speaking Switzerland, which is mostly Protestant in background too.

And if you widen your scope and look at all Germanic lands as a whole -- including the British Isles, Scandinavia and New World Germanic colonies, then you will realise that Catholicism is the anomaly among Germanic peoples, who are strongly Protestant in background, culture and outlook. This is just an indisputable fact.

Actually: wrong. The Prussian lands had turned protestant because of the 19th century Kulturkampf. The Rhineland, Baden-Wurttemberg, Hessia, Lower Saxony, Franconia and Bavaria are traditionally Catholic and so was much of the countryside in Prussia itself (as for West-Prussia, in what is currently Poland, Upper Silezia and Posen which were also Catholic). The problem of started with the religious wars of the 16th century and the principle of cuius regio, eius religio where Lutheran or Catholic rulers simply forced their religion on the surrounding countryside (as they didn't control the cities).

As for Britain: the majority of English were hidden Catholics until the 17th century (and so were the Scots) and in Denmark and Sweden, it was literally genocided by rulers with their Lutheran state churches. Protestantism, is the interloper in Germanic lands. Not the other way around.

Today: this is the image:



Switzerland also has no Protestant majority:



Austria is almost entirely Catholic:



Belgium and Luxembourg are also Catholic.