Heads up: boring post about a stupid book.
As I mentioned before, I’m reading up on some general history of religion in Europe in order to prepare for the class I am teaching this summer. The great thing about preparing for this class is it’s forcing me to learn things that I should know but, up until this point, have survived not knowing and have been too busy to learn.
Like, for instance, did you know that England’s 1870 Education Act permitted parents to exempt their children from religious instructions on the grounds of conscience? This is super interesting to me because my work is also on parents’ right to determine their children’s religious lives based on their conscience.
Also, in the 1850s, the Anglican church was concerned about the burial of the deceased according to Nonconformist rites in Anglican graveyards. Wouldn’t you know, Lutheran clergy in Russia were also in a huff about the burial of Orthodox Christians in Lutheran cemeteries.
I’m looking forward to delving into more specific literature on these issues, and being able to situate my work in a broader context.
While this preparation is super useful in that way, it does also really frustrate me. It’s all “France, France, France, Catholicism, Catholicism, Britain, Germany, France.” Like—there are other places and other religions in Europe!!!!!
And when Russia is a discussed? It’s all about political radicalism and there’s nothing about how integral many religions were in governing the diverse empire.
