After the game I just played, I have come to a conclusion:
France is still imba. That UA is the most innocuous sounding thing ever, but it is ridiculously strong, even with the liberty nerf. I went into the game saying "okay, I'm not going to go for fast religion this game" and ended up founding the second pantheon, the second religion and being the first to enhance, because France just plain develops that fast.
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assert(!hotterThan(foo, "Hot Nymphomaniacal Lesbian Mind-Controlling Dominatrix Fairy Doctors with glasses"))