Faith in the Carolinian Republic
In pre-war America, the South, and thus the Carolinas, had been bastions of Evangelical Protestantism, a form of Christianity heavily steeped in the notion of salvation, conversion, and the sacred nature of the Gospel. Charlotte itself has birthed televangelist Billy Graham, who served as spiritual adviser to multiple presidents and government officials, and through his works, became the single most prolific preacher in the history of Christianity. Fractious and decentralized, Carolina itself was host to a great many churches, movements, and theological factions, from Wesleyans to Presbyterians.
Following the war, much of the faiths of the Carolinas would remain, religion a constant fixture in Carolinian social life due to its role in binding communities and providing answers to the great many rising in the wake of disaster. However, the catastrophic collapse of the old order served to influence the development of spirituality just as much as it shaped the political sphere. For many, the destruction of the United States was one of immense surprise, the death of the global hegemon something that seemed impossible. But they were wrong, and for the American people, in a flash, their worlds had turned upside down. The leaders in D.C were gone, the leaders in the state capitals had no say, and so the people turned inward, looking to the community. In this vacuum came the host of preachers and pastors, attempting to rectify the events of the world with the word of God.
Through this environment came a wave of religious revival, centered around emotion and assurance. Tent revivals preached the powers of the Holy Spirit, that the world and America had been damned for its sins, and that in his divine benevolence, God destroyed that which had sinned, leaving humanity alive to repent and rebuild. Concurrent with this was a strengthening of the Charismatic sects, churches that focused primarily on the supernatural elements of Christianity and advocated a highly spiritual, highly dogmatic, and highly involved set of practices. In pre-war America, these same people were those mocked as snake-handlers, however even when regarded as insane, this, along with Pentecostal and holiness movements had been in fact the fastest growing sects in America. The combination of emotive and inclusive practices, with high-octane singing, community prayers, and the strange perspective on divine gifts of glossolalia (speaking in tongues) made it attractive to the lonely, dispossessed, and confused, the very same environment that gripped the masses in the post-war era.
By the birth of the Carolinian Republic, the marks of the Charismatic movement had touched the majority of faiths to some degree. The Holy Spirit was a key theological center-piece used to explain the actions of good men and good events. The United States had become the modern Sodom and Gomorrah, an example of decadence and a warning to the faithful of what not to emulate. The supernatural was not something perhaps readily believed in, but a passive element of society that enforced newfound levels of superstition on the Carolinian people.
Of course, there remained many denominations that moreso resembled their pre-war counterparts. Both the Baptist and Methodist movements existed and were strong forces, and they retained a broad appeal with an ironically moderate position, despite the seeming zealous connotations they held prior to the war. The organization of both would survive, and still exist to this day, a sign of pride for its members due to the ancient origin of its roots.
In recent history, the Charismatic movements have stirred again, spurred by the wars of the Republic against its neighbors, and most especially the War of Shame, given Turnbull's connection to the movement. The Turnbull Presidency itself has seen a rise in religion within government, as many of the faithful decried the corrupt system has an emulation of the United States, thus leading to the incorporation of many spiritual leaders and faithful devotees into the Carolina Party, which was seen as a vehicle for the return of moral governance and proper values.
