Calvinism
I am glad you were quick to disown Calvin the man. When given power in Geneva he ushered in a reign of Holy Terror the world had not see before or since. Under John Calvin, 16th-century Geneva became a strict theocracy and police state. The city under the rule of Calvin heavily monitored residents’ daily lives, outlawing dancing, gambling, and swearing. They entered houses at will to inspect and enforce compliance with Calvin's commandments. He determined what kind of dress was allowed. What kind of music, what kind of art, and what kind of marital relationships were allowed. His team went house by house collecting tithes. If there was insufficient money they ransacked the houses for anything of value they could sell. Blasphemy was defined as any questioning of Calvin's rules and his draconian demands of behaviors. All dissent was brutally punished, with the most famous example being the 1553 burning of the physician Michael Servetus for his anti-Calvinist views. Citizens were encouraged to report on one another. Calvin's city-state closely regulated taverns, strictly prohibited profanity, and even dictated the number of dishes allowed at private meals. Disagreement with Calvin's theology was treated as treason against the state. Those who questioned his teachings faced severe public whipping, torcher, banishment, or execution. Between 1542 and 1546 alone, courts at Calvin's demand handed down 58 death sentences. During massive plague-related witch trials, 29 people were executed for being witches. The town council of Geneva officially banished John Calvin and his fellow reformer William Farel. They were ordered to leave the city within three days after aggressively pushing for strict moral and church discipline that the local citizens and politicians were not ready to accept. Calvin went back to his home in France.
The strangest reality about Calvin is that he preached that only the predestined are saved and all the rest of humanity are just fuel for the fires of Hell....but that is not how he ruled. Instead of having any pity for those condemned to hell, Calvin did everything possible to make their life hell on earth.
We live in a world of "pure Calvinism," neo-Calvinism and Calvin flavored Christian denominations. For instance while Baptists are not historically part of the traditional Calvinist Reformed church bodies, millions of individual Baptists and fellowship networks subscribe to Calvinist soteriology. Meaning they accept the work of God in the world and salvation by faith but generally reject the predestination of all humanity. While accepting the Arminian perspective of the call for personal responsibility.
The two great religious revivals in American history were conducted by reformed Calvinists. However they taught free will. Every person gets to choose to follow God and be converted with assurance of heaven for those who put their trust in Christ and exhibit converted lives.
IMHO the most toxic reality of Calvinism is that it has become the basis for casual Christianity. In Europe where Calvinism is most widely practiced, attendance at any church service has fallen to only 3% - 5%. In America Calvinist church have lost more than 50% of their church goers. Not hard to understand. Nobody knows if they are one of the few lucky ones chosen from before the earth was made to be saved. It can result in a fatalistic approach to living a Christian life. If it doesn't matter what you do or don't do, live your best life as it is just a gamble. Nobody has any assurance so the sacrifice of Jesus means nothing to you as your fate was determined long before Jesus came to earth...He cannot save you because, according to Calvinism, Jesus did not come to save the world. Jesus went to the cross only for the "elect," and you have no way of knowing if that means you. It is also hard to understand from a Calvinist perspective what all this talk about "salvation" is all about. It certainly should not concern either those consigned to hell or those going to heaven not matter what. Nobody knows or will ever "know." Salvation is totally in God's hands and by his choices made before mankind was created. If your life tends to make you think you are not a chosen one, it does not matter. You have no say in it. How you live your life is of no interest to the church or to God. Perhaps it might be interesting if someone made a coin. On one side it says “Saved!” on the other “Condemned to hell.” You could flip it everyday and see if it trends more toward salvation or damnation.