Supposedly, on Oct.31, 1517, Martin Luther nailed his 95 propositions on the church door in Wittenberg, Germany. So, Oct. 31 of this year was a good time to hear our retired pastor friend discuss Luther and his ideas, actions and the consequences. Years ago, we read "Here I Stand", the story of Luther and his arguments, complaints and ideas. Our friend loaned us a DVD of the 2003 movie "Luther". It is about 2 hours long and we watched two separate evenings.
The first evening seemed to be a review of what I knew about indulgences and ways for people to pay for speedy escalation of their deceased loved ones into heaven. But the second evening showed all sorts of death and destruction that followed the beginning of the Protestant Reformation and the Church's Counter Reformation. I was shocked at how trying to adhere to better religious practice could be so destructive. I realize that politics, hatreds, ambitions, ideas of honor and of safety can intermingle in any human activity or communication. I don't know much about European religious wars but I have heard of the Thirty Years War and the Hundred Years War.
We are watching the 3rd season of "Victoria", the story of the British queen who had a big influence on life and customs in her reign and since. I had heard some about the French revolution, coming on the heels of the American revolution. I had heard that there were many revolutions in Europe in the year 1848. I had not paid attention to which countries were involved but watching the show and looking on the internet made it clear that France, Germany, Italy and Spain had important upsets in the period but I had not noticed before that England didn't. I knew that the period spawned Marx and Engels and that led to Lenin and the downfall of the Czar later.
I hope that I don't live in any revolutions although the word is employed today in connection with scientific and technological changes. Neither such changes nor thinking, critically and otherwise, is certain not to upset people, customs and traditions but it would be nice if we don't have to kill each other.
