Religion & Law

Readers of this blog will recall the analogy made by Notre Dame law student Paul Krog between pre-civil war Spain and the contemporary U.S.:

Eduardo responded with an overstatement, I think, saying "as I read the history, the destruction of churches and slaying of priests in Republican Spain did not begin until after the beginning of the nationalist uprising, not 'immediately prior' ..." 

Hugh Thomas, THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR,would seem to support Mr. Krog: Church burnings began not with the 1936 Nationalist uprising, nor even "immediately prior" thereto, but virtually at the beginning of the Republic, with little hindrance from the authorities. In May of 1931, anarchists set fire to about a hundred churches, some burning to the ground, and to the offices of the conservative newspaper ABC as well. Republican leader Azana hesitated to act, saying that all the convents of Madrid were not worth one republican life. In the end the government blamed the conservatives for provoking the violence, although Thomas says they had only had an outdoor meeting at which two had shouted "Long live the monarchy!" [pp.55-58]

In 1934, after conservatives had won the next round of elections, anarcho-socialists rose in revolution against the Republic. They were eventually put down, although only after quite some success in Asturias. [pp. 129ff] Upon returning to power in 1936, the moderate left declared a general amnesty, releasing revolutionaries  with a taste of victory and a desire for vengeance. A "trail of murder and arson spread across the face of the country", abetted (after some hesitation) by fascists who had decided (correctly) that greater disorder would trigger a military rebellion against the Republic, since the Republic was proving itself unable and/or unwilling to stop the violence. [p.153ff]