UC Berkeley

Far from being an age of "secularization" (as commonly understood), the 19th century was an age of religious revival and of heightened awareness of religious difference. The spread of literacy, newspapers, and Increasing political participation provided a megaphone that encouraged people to reflect on these differences, and (at times) consider who was coming out on top. But such awareness did not necessarily mean hostility. There was more intermarriage in Germany in 1900 than in the U.S. in the 1950s. And comparisons with the 17th centuries religious wars overlook the fact that in the Kulturkämpfe of the 19th century, there was no real war; the "fighting" was all verbal or legislative. If one is really for "multi-culturalism" one cannot wish all of these differences to be homogenized.