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The "trajectory of the empire" is that it became the Roman Catholic Church. Rome still rules a sizable portion of the world's population. I wonder if the USA i

The "trajectory of the empire" is that it became the Roman Catholic Church. Rome still rules a sizable portion of the world's population. I wonder if the USA is going the same way. Democratic Church of America?

sally_glance 4mo ago
Homelander approves.
graemep 4mo ago
Rules? Membership of an organisation is nothing like being a subject of an empire. Its purely voluntary. It has less power over its members than employers do. It cannot tax, only ask for donations. Its not even Rome - its run by people from all over the world. It controls only a tiny bit of territory.
- bryanrasmussen 4mo ago
  question - do the representatives and elected members of a democracy rule? Rule, under the definition of control or dominion, is "The exercise of authority over a region or people, or the duration of a monarch's reign (e.g., colonial rule)", the word rule is often applied to mean what the leaders of a democracy do, but in most cases rule seems too strict if taking the normative definition, thus there is an informal usage that applies to democratic leadership. The President is often referred to as a ruler, corporate elites are often referred to as rulers; in these informal groups of rulers I think it is reasonable to place the Catholic Church. I am agreeable to say they do not rule, but then we must admit they exert a great influence, in many places and ways greater than the governments that officially hold power.
- marcus_holmes 4mo ago
  Every single human living in Europe for around a thousand years went to a priest once a week and told them their innermost darkest secrets. There has been no more totalitarian rule ever implemented, anywhere. The North Koreans aspire to what the Catholic Church had.
alchemism 4mo ago
Not to wade too far into weeds, but the spiritual and temporal authority of Rome (ie what is now called Church and State) were considered separate entities. When the temporal authority collapsed, the spiritual authority preserved its content and form and then simply waited for conditions to improve. Τhus the various attempts to re-manifest a Holy Roman Empire in Europe across the subsequent centuries.
red-iron-pine 4mo ago
American Jesus is a thing, and there are a lot of homegrown flavors that do a ton of work proselyting elsewhere, the largest being LDS
DANmode 4mo ago
The best part is that the show you’re referencing is on Jeff Bezos’ TV network.

sally_glance 4mo ago

Homelander approves.

graemep 4mo ago

Rules? Membership of an organisation is nothing like being a subject of an empire. Its purely voluntary. It has less power over its members than employers do. It cannot tax, only ask for donations. Its not even Rome - its run by people from all over the world. It controls only a tiny bit of territory.

bryanrasmussen 4mo ago
question - do the representatives and elected members of a democracy rule? Rule, under the definition of control or dominion, is "The exercise of authority over a region or people, or the duration of a monarch's reign (e.g., colonial rule)", the word rule is often applied to mean what the leaders of a democracy do, but in most cases rule seems too strict if taking the normative definition, thus there is an informal usage that applies to democratic leadership. The President is often referred to as a ruler, corporate elites are often referred to as rulers; in these informal groups of rulers I think it is reasonable to place the Catholic Church. I am agreeable to say they do not rule, but then we must admit they exert a great influence, in many places and ways greater than the governments that officially hold power.
marcus_holmes 4mo ago
Every single human living in Europe for around a thousand years went to a priest once a week and told them their innermost darkest secrets. There has been no more totalitarian rule ever implemented, anywhere. The North Koreans aspire to what the Catholic Church had.

alchemism 4mo ago

Not to wade too far into weeds, but the spiritual and temporal authority of Rome (ie what is now called Church and State) were considered separate entities. When the temporal authority collapsed, the spiritual authority preserved its content and form and then simply waited for conditions to improve. Τhus the various attempts to re-manifest a Holy Roman Empire in Europe across the subsequent centuries.

red-iron-pine 4mo ago

American Jesus is a thing, and there are a lot of homegrown flavors that do a ton of work proselyting elsewhere, the largest being LDS

DANmode 4mo ago

The best part is that the show you’re referencing is on Jeff Bezos’ TV network.