religious conflict between the 30 Years’ War and the Vendeern(when tlie revolutionaiy government in France waged a war ofrnextermination against the Catholics). The English quit persecutingrnonly when the ruling class, in the course of the 18th centur)’,rnlost its faith.rnIf Puritans, Anglicans, and Baptists learned, almost by accident,rnto endure each other’s presence in the New World, imperialrnRome was a precursor of modern states that are tolerantrnby deliberate policy. Roman citizens were free to believe anythingrnthey liked and permitted to practice virtually any religion.rnThe most notable exceptions to imperial muldculturalism werernDruids, who performed human sacrifices, and the Christiansrnwhose enmity to the human race supposedly drove them torncommit even viler abominations. The Empire was tolerantrnprecisely because Rome was no longer the religious nation describedrnby Polybius, who attributed her success to the ingrainedrnpiety of the Roman people. During their rise to greatness, Romansrnwere severe against those who taught newfangled philosophiesrnor took part in exotic cults, expelling the former and executingrn(on at least one famous occasion involving bacchanals)rnthe latter.rnTrue believers can never be entirely tolerant, and it was arnsign of flagging enthusiasm rather than charit)’ when AmericanrnProtestants began thinking kindly of Catholics. The leftist answerrnto this sort of argument is an ironic shrug of the shoulders.rnEor people like Christopher Hitchens, religious freedom isrnmerely an excuse for dismantling Christian institutions—alongrnwith the other artifacts of the old order, such as good manners,rnrespect for women, a sense of honor. Hitchens displayed hisrncontempt for all these “feudal” remnants when he provided therncolor commentar}’ for the funeral of Mother Teresa.rnFor many professed civil libertarians, freedom of religion isrnonly a tactic. Their real object is the old Jacobin desire tornfound a new religion of anti-Christianity. The followers ofrnRobespierre staged a bacchanalian festival of reason to inauguraterntheir worship of the Supreme Being (a god made in the imagernof the “incorruptible” leader himself). Here in JacobinrnAmerica, we have established a counter-Christian calendar.rnWe celebrate the earth goddess during National Women’srnMonth, pay homage to the proletariat on Labor Day, revere thernstate on le 4 juillet, and pay perpetual adoration to the ghost ofrnthe deified King.rnMore moderate civil libertarians —Cirondists, Kerenskys,rnand country’ club Republicans —see religious freedom as anrnend in itself rather than as one phase in the revolution (whichrnis what it is). Pete DuPont, appearing on C-SPAN, comparedrnthe Russian law to protectionism in the United States. I hopernGovernor DuPont never has to campaign in a Creek orrnRussian neighborhood; Orthodox voters might not appreciaternthe comparison of their religion to an aging rustbelt industry.rnMost Americans are firmly convinced that everyone in thernworld is just like them, except for minor differences of hair-coloringrnand table manners. I have several times nm into otherwisernintelligent businessmen who thought tiiat learning Russianrnwould be a snap, because the only real obstacle was thernCyrillic alphabet. Governor DuPont naturally assumed thatrnRussian clerics were as weak-kneed and defensive as an AmericanrnMethodist and was shocked to discover that Russian Orthodoxrnpriests actually liked the idea of a church establishment.rnNo one, fundamentally, likes competition. We would allrnlike to bet on a sure thing—a rigged wheel, a fixed race, insiderninformation —and there is hardly a Christian church or sectrnthat has not toyed with the idea of establishment: Anglicans andrnPuritans in Britain and America, Calvinists in Switzerland andrnScotland, Lutherans in Germany (to say nothing of Orthodoxrnand Catholic establishments). Smaller sects, even when theyrndo not achieve polifical dominance, are sometimes more sociallyrnpredominant than established churches: the Mormons inrnUtah are the most obvious example, but the Amish and Mennonitesrnare subject to a strict, even oppressive, theocracy.rnT “irue believers can never be entirelyrntolerant, and it was a signrnof flagging enthusiasm rather than charityrnwhen American Protestants beganrnthinking kindly of Catholics.rnAccording to Alain de Benoist and his followers, Christianityrnis inherently intolerant, always tending toward theocracy andrnpersecution. So far as the clergy is concerned, Benoist is quiterncorrect. Their church is their profession, and if they have anyrnintegrity, they are naturally inclined to eliminate not just heresies,rnbut an)- challenge to the church’s authority. The only honestrnmotive for ecumenism is imperialism, the desire to gainrnsome measure of control over the other fellow’s church. Thernusual blather emanating from the World Council of Churchesrn—about mutual trust, the common values and traditions ofrnall Christians, etc. —is only a confession of impotence and infidelity.rnSome Orthodox leaders have tried to persuade theirrnchurches to secede from the WCG, and it will be a happy dayrnfor Christendom when they succeed.rnBut the church is not the only human institution with a divinernmission. Political authority, as Paul and Luther were fondrnof reminding us, also derives from God, and the tension betweenrnPope and Emperor, Patriarch and Czar, John Knox andrnthe troublesome Scottish lords, is fundamental to a Christianrnorder. Of course, every church likes to think it has the modelrnsystem. Catholics condemn the Orthodox establishments asrn”Caesaropapism,” while Protestants despise the Catholics asrnpriest-ridden. (By the way, I don’t know of any groups so priestriddenrnas the servile followers of charismatic evangelical leaders.)rnBut perfection is not to be sought here on earth, even inrnthe fiu-flung provinces of the Kingdom of God that claim tornrepresent the Church Universal.rnThe most that a cautious man might say is that we have thernchurches we deserve. Russian Orthodoxy is too brilliant andrngaudy for our severe, Genevan taste—”caviar to the general”—rnbut the Russian soul will never be nourished on law and gospelrnsermons and four-square hymns on a five-note scale. When thernUnited States produces a Dostoyevsky or even a Rachmaninoff,rnit will be time for our clergy to go off on a raid to steal thernRussian sheep.rnDECEMBER 1997/11rnrnrn