I wouldn’t want to suggest that there’s a one-to-one correspondence; conflict between closely-connected communities (Serbs and Croats, Hutu and Tutsi) have their own special qualities, and Catholics and Protestants shared the same ethnicity and ancestry in England at that time. But the cries of those who are quick to identify Islam as a whole to blame for modern acts of terrorism & the cry that “there’s no such thing as a moderate Muslim” are highly reminiscent of the attitude taken towards Catholics at that time.

The callousness of the English towards Catholics was evidenced at the time of the “horrid” (but in fact non-existent) Popish Plot (1678-81), when individual Catholics and the Catholic community at large were made to suffer terribly for what turned out in the end to be simply a fabrication. The 1689 Bill of Rights was prompted, to a large degree, by the extremity of the punishment meted out to Titus Oates, who concocted the plot; no one seemed to give much of a damn for the Catholics who had been killed, imprisoned in dreadful conditions and displaced because of the “plot”.