Ya, I know we could go on for days, and I hate have religion be a distraction. But in this case, I believe religion must play a very real part in the resistance to, and the defeat of the derp state.
This church ban is the perfect opportunity for them to play a part.
I'll say one more thing as an illustration.
In the book Shogun (which I think accurately depicts some aspects of history), the Catholic Church, Jesuits in particular, were in Japan when westerners first went there. They were political and power hungry, and were aiding Spain in their attempt to bring Japan into their sphere of influence.
There were also Fransiscan monks there, who were only in the business of converting the Japanese to Christianity. They did not have 'trappings' and tended their 'flocks' in threadbare robes and bare feet.
The Jesuits destroyed them, locking the monks up.
Anwyay, that was in Shogun. A great book, by the way and I highly recommend it.
Okay, religion off.
ex-communicated Priests got that way for bucking the systemExcommunication is for those who deny Revealed Truth, the Gospel, that is how they got there.
In the book Shogun (which I think accurately depicts some aspects of history), the Catholic Church, Jesuits in particular, were in Japan when westerners first went there. They were political and power hungry, and were aiding Spain in their attempt to bring Japan into their sphere of influence.
There were also Fransiscan (sic) monks there, who were only in the business of converting the Japanese to Christianity.
St Francis Xavier and a couple Jesuit companions arrived in Japan and had some success converting the locals, about 100,000 joined. The Pope made Japan a part of a Portuguese diocese. The Franciscans who came later were sponsored by Spain. While they were both supposed to put God above all, being human and beholden to their sponsoring States, rivalry ensued. It always does when humans are involved. The Franciscans are indeed a mendicant order but that does not make them above petty politics.