Jehan Calvin - 16th Century Hitler/McCarthy
John (or Jehan) Calvin (1509-1564) had influence that persists to this day. His interpretation of Biblical scripture was especially strict, cruel, and unforgiving. Calvin could be called "The First Fundamentalist."
Calvin said in his "Institutes of the Christian Religion" [1536], that even though it is "awful," "Some men are born devoted from the womb to certain death [to eternal suffering and damnation, not to mere oblivion], that God's name be glorified in their destruction." He also says: "If there were no one to punish, then God would be incapable of demonstrating that he was a mysteriously vindictive God."
Calvin was the son of a miner, and managed to become the Professor of Theology at Geneva, Switzerland, maintaining a firm grip on the town for 30 years.
His was the first European experiment in the systematic subjugation of an entire populace according to a specific doctrine. Calvinist Geneva, the "Protestant Rome," was a police state.
Calvin was a strict literalist, and believed that Biblical scripture was the absolute authority.
The Lutheran revolution against Catholicism sought to democratize the Gospels; to put them into everyone's hands. Calvin went further, saying that his and only his interpretation of scripture was to be absolute law, with stern retribution for transgressors.
He replaced Catholic dogma with Calvinistic dogma. He demonstrated the danger of combining weak ideology and government.
When Calvin came to power in Geneva, he first established a set of "Ordinances," and a committee called the "Consistory" to oversee adherence to the rules. These "spiritual police" would knock on doors and ask questions, go through people's books and letters, and were not to be resisted. Once a month, everyone in town, old or young, rich or poor, was required to submit to questioning, as to whether they knew their prayers, or why they had missed one of Master Calvin's sermons.
Prohibition extended to theater, festivals, dancing, singing, cards, fancy clothing, jewelry, lace, extra buttons or bows, iceskating, and sports in general. Girls were forbidden to wear silk before the age of 15, after that age they were not allowed to wear velvet. Wheeled carriages were prohibited, family feasts of over 20 people were forbidden. At weddings, betrothals, and baptisms, no more than a specified number of courses was to be served, and no fruit or candy. Game, four-footed or winged, and pastry, were all prohibited.
Married people were not allowed to exchange gifts until they had been married six months. Any sculpture or public art was forbidden. A special permit was required to print anything for publication. It was forbidden to write letters abroad, and local mail was all read by the committee, coming and going.
The naming of children was under strict church control. Only Biblical names were allowed. Feasting was prohibited for Christmas and Easter.
Everyone was encouraged to spy on everyone else, children on their parents, workers against each other, servants against their masters.
Thousands of people were imprisoned, tortured, and burned to death during Calvin's reign, but he never attended the final Autos de Fe.
Here is a quote from Stephan Zweig's "The Right To Heresy:"
"Most savagely of all were punished any offenders whose behavior challenged Calvin's political and spiritual infalliblity. A man who had publicly protested against the reformer's doctrine of predestination was mercilessly flogged at all the crossways of the city and then expelled. A book printer who, in his cups, had railed at Calvin was sentenced to have his tongue perforated with a red-hot iron before being expelled from the city. Jacques Gruet was racked and then executed merely for having called Calvin a hypocrite."
Calvinism has spread far and wide, coloring many strands of Christianity, including American Bible-Belt Fundamentalism. Geneva, unlike other comparable European cities, produced no great musicians or artists during the renaissance, because of Calvin, until Jean Jaques Rousseau, in 1712.
To this day, Geneva has a severe aspect, and is not seen as "party town." Geneva is famed for it's clockmakers, and is also the home of the Red Cross, the League of Nations, and CERN, where the Internet was born.
