George Cruikshank's illustration of Guy Fawkes, published in William Harrison Ainsworth's 1840 novel *Guy Fawkes*.

In 1626, at the ripe old age of 17, John Milton penned one of his earliest poems, Quintus Novembris , an immortalization of the infamous Gunpowder Plot led by Robert Catesby in 1605. Catesby and co-conspirators, including a man named Guy Fawkes (the legendary character that would lead to the inspiration for the pop-culture icon Anonymous) planned to fill the basement (or “undercroft”, coloquially) of the House of Commons with gunpowder and blow it up on the State Opening Day of Parliment, when King James and all of his protestant leadership would be in attendance. Catesby’s plot was uncovered and Guy Fawkes was caught guarding 36 barrels of gunpowder on November 4th, the eve of opening day. The plot, and subsequent literature springing forth, including the haunting “Remember, remember, the 5th of November…” refrain, would weave through history as a cautionary tale for would-be revolutionaries, while at the same time carrying with it the burden of conscience that requires all people to consider the righteousness of their system of power.

(NOTE: If you are unfamiliar with the era of history, you can find a dramatic rendering of the plot on HBO called Gunpowder, which stars an actual descendant of Catesby, Kit Harrington [ok, so you know something, Jon Snow].)

Milton’s examination of the events of 1605 are said to have influenced his later work, including Paradise Lost, and while Catesby’s ‘treasonous’ revolution might have failed to dethrone the protestant King James, it paints a grim picture of the religious persecution that church-led states are capable of. The heavy-handed church-state intolerance of any other religious practice in the 17th century that triggered the Gunpowder Plot is the same that led the Pilgrims to travel to American in 1620, casting off the Church of England’s mandated worship protocols and forming “separatist” churches based on democratic principles and voluntary association. The Puritans would follow the Pilgrims out of England a few years later, after holding out hope that the church could be reformed and did not need to be abandoned completely.

History has proven that the church as a state fixture cannot resist corruption. The very first amendment of our own Constitution is clear on the danger held in this practice.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances

Even Shakespeare casts aspersion on the vain attempt to co-opt religion for political purposes. The Gunpowder Plot plays an eerie parallel to the storyline in MacBeth and the danger of seeking power for its own sake and using religion as a ploy in that quest.

Faith, here's an equivocator,
that could swear in both the scales against either scale;
who committed treason enough for God's sake,
yet could not equivocate to heaven - MacBeth Act 2 Scene 3

Church-state overreach and religious persecution has fallen out of vogue in most developed nations, as intellectual evolution and globalized literacy have enabled humans to seek spiritual and philosophical truth on our own terms. But does this access to “knowledge” and the easily available information make us all involuntary members of a “church” that we aren’t even aware of? Are we all worshipping at the prescribed altars of science and politics with the knowledge that our gunpowder plots would be no more that a self-destructive drop in the bucket of socially-driven expectation and behavior? Are we still allowed to believe and worship as we choose or do we know too well that we, like Guy Fawkes, will burn for challenging the prevailing regime?

Remember, remember the Fifth of November,
The Gunpowder Treason and Plot,
I know of no reason
Why the Gunpowder Treason
Should ever be forgot.
Guy Fawkes, Guy Fawkes, t'was his intent
To blow up the King and Parli'ment.
Three-score barrels of powder below,
Poor old England to overthrow;
By God's providence he was catch'd
With a dark lantern and burning match.
Holla boys, Holla boys, let the bells ring.
Holloa boys, holloa boys, God save the King!
And what should we do with him? Burn him!