The Great Blockchain of Being

500 years ago the world was forever changed by a bad review. On October 31st, 1517, a plump, anxious friar and theology professor named Martin Luther nailed a list of complaints — his 95 theses — to the door of a monastery in Wittenburg. Luther was vicious, thorough, and attacked just about every aspect of Roman Catholic doctrine. He hated the new taxes anytime a new bishop was elected, the absurd yearly mass for the dead, the endless pilgrimages. But he saved special venom for indulgences. The indulgences were medieval pay-to-play, a way for the naughty to offset their peccadillos with a payment to the church. Covet your neighbor’s wife? Eat too many eel pies on Easter Sunday? Give a bag of silver or gold to your local bishop and you too could still walk through those pearly gates. For Luther it was a step too far — a greedy, cynical ploy by the Church that implied humans could haggle with God. It was widely hated, and when someone finally had the gall — or stupidity — to complain about it, people listened. Including, of course, the authorities. <a href="https://marker.medium.com/the-great-blockchain-of-being-ea604c56de8">Learn More</a>