An American writer made a splash back along with a book titled “How the Scots Invented the Modern World.” Then, on March 8, the Irish people voted not to step into that modern world.

Arthur L. Herman’s book about the Scots overstated the breadth of the Scottish Enlightenment, though perhaps not its influence. He celebrated Adam Smith, the philosopher who deciphered economics, and Alexander Graham Bell, who gave us the telephone. And scores of others.

Irish voters defeated amendments to constitutional provisions. One says the family is founded on marriage, the other that a woman supports the Irish state through “her life within the home.”

The intention of Prime Minister Leo Varadkar’s proposals was to include non-traditional families in the constitution and move past the idea that “a woman’s place is in the home,” both carryovers from Ireland’s not-so-long-ago domination by the Roman Catholic Church.

The issues are more complex than just moving into the modern world, but the result is that constitutionally Ireland still sees families as headed by heterosexual couples with Mom at home.

We’re in an era of the “great replacement theory.” An Associated Press poll showed a third of Americans believe a “great replacement” is replacing white people with Black and brown people.

Turning that to gender roles, you might conclude that the Irish voted not to allow women to “replace” men at the levers of power and money, especially with the “Mom in the home” clause.

Replacement theory has no more visible a champion than Tucker Carlson, late of Fox “News.”

The AP quotes Carlson: The left becomes “hysterical … if you suggest the Democratic Party is trying to replace the current electorate … with new people, more obedient voters from the Third World.” He finished, “Let’s just say it. That’s true.” As usual, he offered no proof.

Carlson is correct that rights and roles are broadening as ever more diverse hands share the load at work. He misses the point that the fear of being replaced may not be just a fear of Black and brown people replacing us white folks, but of women gaining rights and roles many of us white males were raised to believe are ours alone. Often so raised by our mothers.

What we’re dealing with mostly may well be white men afraid they will be replaced by women. Look at these developments in the last year or two.

Last June, the Southern Baptist Convention, the largest and maybe most conservative Protestant faith, voted to ban women from all pastorates. That was far broader than the original proposal that only men can be head pastors. Some churches had had women as sub-pastors. No longer.

The follow-through looks complete. For its annual meeting in June in Indianapolis, the SBC is highlighting 11 speakers. All male, nine of them white and all from formerly enslaving states.

Recently, in a conversation with a fundamentalist pastor, he referred to a woman we both know: “She’s a good wife, a good woman.” Her status as wife wasn’t the topic, but it was his yardstick.

On Sunday, the Academy Awards were handed out. Of the nominees, fewer than a third (32%) were female. And in a year in which Greta Gerwig’s movie, “Barbie,” was the big money earner.

“Barbie” portrayed a distraught Ken, whose sole purpose had been to accompany Barbie, wanting to live in a land where men, rather than idealized “Barbie dolls,” dominated. It was a wry exposure of the fallacy of patriarchy through a wry portrayal of a matriarchy run rampant. “Barbie,” which dared to tweak the patriarchy, got skunked at the Oscars, except for Best Song.

Not to pound on Tucker Carlson — oh, all right, let’s pound on Carlson — but here are some things he has said about women.

“To be a feminist, you could cut your hair really short. You have to be really angry about something.” And, “Most of the time, you (any man) can beat a woman in an argument.” Finally, “Who laughs less than feminists?” So, whom is he afraid will replace privileged white men?

Here’s someone, most likely Carlson’s political opposite, quoted on Monday in The Washington Post. Jennifer Delahunty Britz wrote in 2006 in The New York Times, when she was the dean of admissions at Kenyon College: “Once you become decidedly female in enrollment, fewer males and, as it turns out, fewer females find your campus attractive.” Replacement fear again.

Let’s give the final words to Samuel Johnson, England’s sage of 18th century enlightenment.

“Men know that women are an overmatch for them, and therefore they choose the weakest or the most ignorant (as partners). If they did not think so, they never could be afraid of women knowing as much as themselves.”

Dr. Johnson was a devout Anglican, perhaps the most orthodox of Protestant faiths, and a fervent conservative in politics. If he were writing today, I wonder if that quotation would be followed by /s, the symbol for sarcasm.

Either way, he helps make the point.

Bob Neal’s mother, who boasted of Scotch-English genes and put down the Irish, probably spun in her grave when a genealogist showed that her family is, in fact, more than a little Irish. Neal can be reached at bobneal@myfairpoint.net.

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