Would the failure of one of the posters on CAF to establish a direct cause and effect relationship between Franco and the loss of prestige of the Church, leading to a decline of religious observance, mean that there is no such cause and effect relationship or none that would satisfy you?
I think you realize this is a false choice. It’s likely, for instance, that it has affected some number of peoples’ religious observance,just as the “pedophile” scandal has undoubtedly affected the religious observance of some in the U.S., and just as the cultural acceptance of abortion in the U.S. has affected the adherence of some Catholics here to the Church’s teaching authority generally. But when one asserts that “X” is responsible for “Y”, then he ought to feel some obligation to reasonably demonstrate it, and not simply expect that saying it, even vehemently, does so.
If one looks at the original posted article, it proves absolutely nothing, and doesn’t actually attempt to. It simply speculates, in a one-liner, that somehow Franco’s reign is responsible for the seemingly aggressive secularization of Spain. Virtually all of the rest of the article cites (mostly anecdotal) evidences of the decline of religion in Spain, which aspects are pervasive in the West, and particularly in Western Europe, and may equally (or more) be attributable to leftist influences.
I realize that for some on the left, asserting that the decline of religious observance in Spain is due to the Franco’s association with the Church is a “twofer”. Franco is near the top of the list of persons they love to hate, because he squelched a highly romanticized leftist regime, whose own murderousness, particuarly toward Catholic clergy, they excuse, suggesting that the murdered churchmen “had it coming”. They now assert that, in the decline of religious observance, the Church “has that coming” too, because of Franco. It thus provides a way of casting the Church, which many on the left also often love to hate, in a bad light.
What, it seems you are asking, would actually demonstrate to me that the decline in religious observance in Spain is due to Franco? Well, without meaning to be flippant, I would want to see something that actually demonstrates it. Anecdotal stories don’t do that. For one thing you could probably find people here and there in Spain who would attribute their religiousity to Franco. Such things prove nothing. Yes, I would look at anything purporting to prove it carefully, and would want to compare it to competing assertions. Because the decline in religious observance affects nearly every country in Western Europe and most of Eastern Europe, it is difficult for me to think Franco had much to do with the parallel decline in Spain. On the other hand, secular humanism, which pervades western society, and which has an anti-religious cast to it, is, to me, a more likely suspect. But that’s not the topic of the thread. Consequently, however, since both ascendant secular humanism and some degree of religious decline actually predated Franco in Europe, I would, indeed, require fairly rigorous proof, as anyone should.
