Reformation Day + Bitcoin White Paper

Indeed, never thought about this coincidence.

This is one of those myths that confuses me. Europeans were not free to choose their religion during Middle Ages, including during the Reformation. Having a state religion was a critical aspect of European states, especially in German principalities where the Reformation began.

During the Protestant Reformation, a lot of Europeans were forcibly converted to one or another Protestant denomination by the kings/princes/etc that ruled them. Those who wanted to remain Catholic were not allowed to do so. And the reverse is also the case: those who wanted to become Protestants were prohibited by Catholic kings/princes/etc.

Europeans would not see freedom of religion until the modern period, more than 150 years after the Protestant Reformation spread across Europe. Many connect the two, but fail to mention that there was no religious freedom during the Protestant Reformation.

The reason the German princes eagerly participated in the Reformation was to separate from the Catholic Church, which had long acted as a partial check on the power of the German princes. Other states joined the Reformation (e.g. King Henry VIII) in order to increase their own power for the same reason.

The Reformation, in terms of state policy, was far from being an embrace of religious freedom. As a result, Christianity in Europe ceased to be any sort of independent institution. Instead, Christianity became a wedge that European states used to drive Christians apart to the advantage of the State. The Reformation was the nationalization of Christianity in Europe.

Bitcoin is an independent institution, for now. Comparing Bitcoin to state control of religion is to ironically predict that Bitcoin will somehow be captured by the State.