Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-4656717-20130820115709/@comment-4656717-20130828122354

I agree that the role of women in the church could change over time. Perhaps nuns could be able to perform the duties of a deacon, or in special citcumsances, that of a priest. But having fully-fledged female priests (and with that, the chance for igher-ranked female clergy)? I still don't think so. The church has had a looong time to evolve otl, and there are still no female priests.

Now, 1984-slamming aside (Animal farm is a better book), I can see your point about the unsustainibility of a consant war. But a semi-constant series of low-level conflicts or cold wars is possible. Just look at the timeline of the US' involvement in wars/conflicts. They would necessitate invention whilst keeping the people at least partially distracted from any heavy-handedness on the Church/government's part.

Despite all the quite negative points I've brought up, I do think that there are some ways that a Catholic World could, potentially, be better. Colonialism for instance. By breaking down the concept of nationalism and patriotism, and replacing them with faith, some of the ideological reasons for colonisation (national pride, improving national commerce etc) would be removed. If missionaries were the first to go to a "discovered" country and convert its inhabitants to Christianity, then wouldn't those natives become, essentially, equal citizens of the Church state?

Really what I'm asking is whether colonialism (and also the slave trade) would/could have existed if Europe was dominated (or directly ruled by) the church? Or would a more benevolent "conquer through conversion" tactic have been used?