Good comment, though "segregation" might be an additional option. I've read that early in the Reformation, there were a lot of households in which one spouse might love to read Luther's tracts, the other spouse was loyal to the Pope, while other family members might look to Calvin, or Erasmus. There was probably more religious diversity in the early stages of the Reformation than at any time in the West.
Then came the rise of confesionalism and the increased involvement of the state. More and more, people married within their faith, and lived in like-minded communities and states. There were probably a number of subtle and not so subtle influences (like war and mass migrations), but it does not seem to have been a recipe for peace.
Glen, in an otherwise tolerably excellent piece, you've dropped one word I ask you to reconsider: "inertia". Methinks "momentum" is a better fit. But perhaps you mean the word in the sense of "immobility" or "fastness"--in which case, well, um, OK, maybe. 
Your pal in rhetoric,
Nort
Nice article.
"General Chong" landed in my e-mail box today, I googled it to get at its original source. An exercise you may enjoy.
After reading "Chong" I was wondering if a modern Ottoman empire may be emerging. Google searching along those lines lead me to your blog. Go figure.
Nice writing. Cool reviews!
Dan
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