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I wouldn't normally read a story like this, but for some reason I clicked. Apparently anti-Catholic books were popular in the 1830's thru the Civil War. One ve

I wouldn't normally read a story like this, but for some reason I clicked. Apparently anti-Catholic books were popular in the 1830's thru the Civil War. One very popular one "had been ghostwritten by a group of anti-Catholic men". A lot of this sentiment was because "Protestant America was being transformed by Catholic immigrants, and the Catholic Church was becoming the largest single religious institution in the country". Just something to think about in light of the current islamophobia about Muslim immigration to the USA.

empath75 9y ago
Yep. I tried to explain the history of know-nothingism to my Irish catholic parents and they seem completely unable to make the connection. "Well of course when they said Irish Catholics were lazy, violent pope worshippers, that was just bigotry."
simonw 9y ago
It really is fascinating to learn about the anti-Catholic hysteria of a hundred years ago. http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-catholic-scare-20151209-story.html http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-catholic-scare-20151209-... describes an extremely successful anti-Catholic newspaper. I found a copy of it in the Library of Congress here: http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn89066178/ http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn89066178/
banned1 9y ago
The hate of Muslims today is due to a segment of people in Muslim countries who chop people's heads off or blow them off with explosives and see everybody who doesn't join their beliefs as disposable. A smaller proportion of Muslims in the US (86%) find terrorism or violence against civilians as rarely justified, compared to 91% in Iraq or 92% in Indonesia. https://www.google.com/amp/www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/05/26/muslims-and-islam-key-findings-in-the-u-s-and-around-the-world/%3Famp%3D1 https://www.google.com/amp/www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/201... So this reaction is out of fear of something that could kill you. Catholics were not feared during the 1800s, they were seen as less civilized, and therefore the reaction against them was due to not wanting to be "watered down". http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/09/when-america-hated-catholics-213177 http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/09/when-america-... I don't think they are the same thing.
walshemj 9y ago
The KKK when starting out had a very strong anti catholic bent and that a lot of the original KKK members where from protestant parts of Scotland.
- tryitnow 9y ago
  Really? I thought it was the 2nd incarnation of the Klan that was known for anti-Catholicism. I thought the first incarnation was basically pro-Confederacy terrorists who probably cared little about Catholicism.
pkinsky 9y ago
It's probably important to remember that despite the anti-Catholic hysteria the Church did have a few issues. For example: http://www.latimes.com/world/la-fg-mass-grave-ireland-20170303-story.html http://www.latimes.com/world/la-fg-mass-grave-ireland-201703...
- emmelaich 9y ago
  What issue does that story raise? I mean, any besides the obvious that it is not ideal to bury the dead without having a record?
blacksmith_tb 9y ago
Though also worth noting that Muslims make up about 1% of the US population[1] so they are a very long way from being the largest religious institution in this country. 1: http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/01/06/a-new-estimate-of-the-u-s-muslim-population/ http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/01/06/a-new-estima...

empath75 9y ago

Yep. I tried to explain the history of know-nothingism to my Irish catholic parents and they seem completely unable to make the connection. "Well of course when they said Irish Catholics were lazy, violent pope worshippers, that was just bigotry."

simonw 9y ago

It really is fascinating to learn about the anti-Catholic hysteria of a hundred years ago. http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-catholic-scare-20151209-story.html http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-catholic-scare-20151209-... describes an extremely successful anti-Catholic newspaper. I found a copy of it in the Library of Congress here: http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn89066178/ http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn89066178/

banned1 9y ago

The hate of Muslims today is due to a segment of people in Muslim countries who chop people's heads off or blow them off with explosives and see everybody who doesn't join their beliefs as disposable. A smaller proportion of Muslims in the US (86%) find terrorism or violence against civilians as rarely justified, compared to 91% in Iraq or 92% in Indonesia. https://www.google.com/amp/www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/05/26/muslims-and-islam-key-findings-in-the-u-s-and-around-the-world/%3Famp%3D1 https://www.google.com/amp/www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/201... So this reaction is out of fear of something that could kill you. Catholics were not feared during the 1800s, they were seen as less civilized, and therefore the reaction against them was due to not wanting to be "watered down". http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/09/when-america-hated-catholics-213177 http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/09/when-america-... I don't think they are the same thing.

walshemj 9y ago

The KKK when starting out had a very strong anti catholic bent and that a lot of the original KKK members where from protestant parts of Scotland.

tryitnow 9y ago
Really? I thought it was the 2nd incarnation of the Klan that was known for anti-Catholicism. I thought the first incarnation was basically pro-Confederacy terrorists who probably cared little about Catholicism.

pkinsky 9y ago

It's probably important to remember that despite the anti-Catholic hysteria the Church did have a few issues. For example: http://www.latimes.com/world/la-fg-mass-grave-ireland-20170303-story.html http://www.latimes.com/world/la-fg-mass-grave-ireland-201703...

emmelaich 9y ago
What issue does that story raise? I mean, any besides the obvious that it is not ideal to bury the dead without having a record?

blacksmith_tb 9y ago

Though also worth noting that Muslims make up about 1% of the US population[1] so they are a very long way from being the largest religious institution in this country. 1: http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/01/06/a-new-estimate-of-the-u-s-muslim-population/ http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/01/06/a-new-estima...