conflict brought about by sectarian precedents most also be sectarian.3
It should be clear that such teological (not to mention tautological) arguments do not make for sound logic or history. Although - it should be acknowledged - they are probably impossible to avoid entirely, the kind of Reconstruction historiography practiced until the middle of this century was excessively laden with them. The conscientious scholar must recognize and practice the difference between looking at the past through the filter of the present and looking at the past in such a selective fashion that the majority of the available evidence about a particular event is ignored.
...