How Did Secularism Affect Europe

Cameron Wagstaff
History 112 11:10 period
Question 3 and answer (441 words)
Secularism
How did secularism affect the people within Europe? Before secularism began to become more popular, the catholic church had complete power over Europe. It was even said at times that the pope had more power than the king of England. The church and state were run by the same people and believed the same things. Many nobles and teachers at universities were clerics within the church. There were times when it went as far as to punish people who did not believe in the church. They would be tortured until they admitted to their crimes against the church, whether they committed them or not. In the end they were usually killed. But towards the 17th century, the church began
Before secularism started, people would believe science if it agreed with how the bible was interpreted. But as time went on, and more and more scientific discoveries were made, people began to interpret the bible based on science. As more truth was discovered through science, more people began to see how wrong they were in their beliefs from the bible. Towards the 19th century, millions of Europeans were removed from their rural homes and moved to dense urban setting for work. There was little to no organized religion in these areas. Any religious practices in these areas were done by individual families who were dedicated to their faith. And with the moving of homes came a multitude of work. There was less time in the day for religion. When you came home from work, you were in general too tired to do anything but rest. Another factor that led towards secularism was the widespread of illiteracy. This was very common and was no different from before secularism was becoming more common. But with no organized religion or bible readings from clergy in these areas, there was no opportunity to read the bible for the working class. Also, the idea of an established church caused