4.1 MET: Religious Reformers

When Pharaoh Amenhotep IV and his feminist Great Royal Wife Nefertiti systematically destroyed the centuries-old worship of Amun and other deities in ancient Egypt, they might have done so to consolidate power in the New Kingdom, or to legally rob the priesthood of its immense wealth, or simply to proclaim their preference for an obscure god called Aten. Whatever their motivations, they seemed to do so for their personal benefits. With resistance from almost everyone plus a devastating pandemic, their reformation and royal reign was short-lived.

Amenhotep IV, aka Akhenaten, might find his plaque in the Hall of Fame, but the Michael Jordon of religious reformers has to be Martin Luther. The lowly monk’s detest of papal sanctioned indulgences and renascent emphasis on a personal relationship with the divinity might have won some minds and hearts, but his IPO was far from spectacular. He was declared an outlaw of the state and excommunicated from the church. Protestant Inc. was de-listed. Yet, the ruling Germanic princes saw the real economical implication: less participation in the church meant more disposable and taxable income to the principalities. The financial gain was so great that the princes went to war for it, and for 30 years. Thus the ultimate rivalry of Coke and Pepsi was created.

Since almost all religion founders are, in a sense, reformers, and vice versa, the success of a religion or a religious reformation hinges on its alignment with the interest of the ruling class, not necessarily of the actual ruler. King Henry VIII promoted the English reformation so that he could marry the woman he shacked up with, yet his successor disagreed so strongly that we named a cocktail after her commemorating her brutality. Although Constantine adopted Christianity after a few rapid eye moments, JC’s peaceful and Buddhistic preaching, a drastic departure from the violent and vengeful Judaic fables, actually worked well in helping stabilize the vast and heterogeneous empire of Rome. It should come with no surprise that it went on and became the most successful enterprise in the history of mankind.