What Could Have Been

     It's interesting to think that the United States possibly could have ended up as a Catholic monarchy. 
Long before the Pilgrims set sail on the Mayflower, Martin Luther King was debating the issue of free salvation at Worms with a Catholic establishment. At a time when the church ruled all, a sort of theocracy and dictatorship was in place. When Martin Luther began preaching that salvation was a gift, and that you only needed to accept it to gain eternal life, his message didn't sit well with a government that ruled through the regulations of Catholicism. The converts to Christianity were persecuted because they presented a threat to their power.
     Because of this persecution, the new Protestants fled elsewhere, eventually seeking refuge in the New World so that they could worship God as they pleased. In this way America was settled predominantly by Protestants. A simple, Christian nation. They'd come here to worship God freely, and they did. But what would have happened had Martin Luther not begun the European Reformation? It's quite possible that America would have been settled by Spain, France, England, (which the Protestants, were for the most part), but not for religious freedom. Monetary gain would have been a huge motivation for settlement, as would extra land for the mother countries.
     In that respect, it's even more fascinating to study the pattern of "coincidences" that led to the unique establishment of the United States as a free and Christian nation.

- The Liberty Belle