Dechristianization of France during the French Revolution itself. There has been much scholarly debate over whether the movement was popularly motivated. The French Revolution initially began with attacks on church corruption and the wealth of the higher clergy, an action with which even many Christians could identify, since the Roman Catholic church held a dominant role in pre-revolutionary France. During a two-year period known as the Reign of Terror, the episodes of anti-clericalism grew more violent than any in modern European history. The new revolutionary authorities suppressed the church; abolished the Catholic monarchy; nationalized church property; exiled 30,000 priests and killed hundreds more. In October 1793 the
The Lesser Evil: Political Ethics in an Age of Terror The Lesser Evil: Political Ethics in an Age of Terror The Lesser Evil: Political Ethics in an Age of Terror is a lecture and book written by Michael Ignatieff as part of the Gifford Lectures. In it, Ignatieff considers the question of how, in a liberal democracy, it is possible to balance the legitimate rights of innocent citizens against the state's need to combat terrorism. This book was written in 2003 to address questions of human rights and humanitarian policy which arose as a result of the issues surrounding the War on Terror, particularly with regard to the US Foreign