Freedom and Power - Religion and the State

From Acton: Freedom and Power:

Catholic persecution, Acton argued, had had a practical motive; it had been based on the idea that dissent threatened the moral fabric of Christian society.

From that idea, Acton's view applies equally to both state and religion in terms of coercive social order. They are one in the same. The protestant movement sought to force religion and compliance to it upon the individual through the state and law.