Religion, Empire, and Molech: Lessons from the Augsburg Interim

Virtue in the Wasteland Podcast

Giving shows their titles is a funny thing. I’ve probably done 250 or so of them, and I rarely think much about it. Also, when I myself look for podcasts, all I care about is the title of the episode. The very thing I wasn’t paying attention to! Preposition! To which, I had not paid my attention. My attention bill was late…. you get it. So this title is descriptive, very descriptive. The kids might even call it descriptive AF, which I will pretend to know nothing about if asked. So you are going to hear us talking very specifically in this show about this one thing that might not sound that exciting: an imperial peace treaty. Well, it was called the “interim” so it didn’t expect to hang around much longer. It was also pegged with the location of Augsburg, the free imperial city that Charles V (Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, King of Spain and the Netherlands, and Austria. He was also kind of inbred, so that makes all of his stories a little weirder. Get this: his mom’s name was Juanita The Mad. Bad omen, homie. Nonetheless, Martin Luther had just died and Charles, Chucky 5, decided to put the hurt on the reeling Protestants and impose his will. And his will wasn’t that bad! He wanted to end the religious wears and call the Reformation over. A tie. We’ve got a grand idea to mix Catholics and Lutherans in a way that is sure to disappoint everyone! Today’s show is about that story, that peace treaty and goal for religious peace, and some observations on what we might have learned from this monumental historical event. Are their links? Nah, but you can always go to or or or Also, last week I wrote something at 1517 with you ViWers in mind- check it: