religious segregation

Disintegration was the theme of my last post. In fact I began
with religious disintegration as my first thought then dwelt on
social disintegration through multiculturalism. However, if
multiculturalism is not a good idea for a society- a culture?!-
why is it such a wonderful thing in Christianity? Jacques Barzun
writes in "From Dawn To Decadence",(p.25) of "Evangelicals...
whom William James called 'the unsocial Protestants' for their
insistence on having each what one might call today his 'hot line'
to God." Barzun is writing particularly of their emphasis on
individualism. When Rome distorted the Biblical doctrine of the
"church" Protestantism reacted against the distortion. It then
created its own idea of "church" which in many ways was just as
bad. If Rome made the "church" a monarchic, domineering institution,
the Protestants turned it into a voluntary association of independent,
self-sufficient, egocentric, individuals. As much as I appreciate
the "Declaration"'s political concept of the "pursuit of happiness",
I'm afraid it has become the logical conclusion of the "Protestant
Principle"- Sola Scriptura- "the Bible alone". That, is the extreme
expression of self-centered individualism. It destroys the true
church. It destroys community and ultimately undercuts love itself.
No one has to tell me that was not the intent. I know that. However,
I have been around long enough to see that Protestantism got tricked
and side-tracked into the principle of self-centeredness, which is
the very opposite of "church". The fact that this is not recognized
only shows that one does not know what "church" means. Consider this,
if Rome went so far wrong, how do we know Protestantism couldn't have?
One must be careful how he applies the Scripture, "By their fruits
shall ye know them." Granted. However, I have seen what's called "church"-
the very concept of loving oneness in the truth- become, in Protestantism,
the manifestation of religious anarchy and chaos. It's perfectly obvious
that its defining principle is the very seed of its own disintegration.