Despite all the imperfections of the Catholic Church, it has often served as a very healthy counterbalance. The distinction between "authority" (moral or spiritual authority) and "power" (temporal or political power) is a concept that has deeply influenced the development of Western political thought. Bartolomé de las Casas is a prime example of how authority can act as a critical counterweight to power. In his advocacy for the indigenous peoples of the Americas, de las Casas wielded his moral authority to challenge and resist the abuses of the temporal power held by the Spanish crown and its colonists. In contrast to de las Casas and the Spanish scholastic tradition, which maintained a degree of independence between spiritual authority and political power, in the territories colonized by Protestant powers like England, the union of church and state—the Anglican Church under the monarch’s authority, for instance—often resulted in a blending of authority and power. This merger significantly led to a diminished capacity for internal critique against colonial policies, including slavery and the treatment of indigenous populations.The outcomes are evident today. Latin America is mestizo, with numerous indigenous communities, while in North America the indigenous peoples were systematically exterminated.