By signing the document as they did, the signers (John Hancock, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, etc.) became criminals. Which crime did they commit when they signed the Declaration of Independence?

The scientific and secular focus of global modernity directly challenged the core beliefs of supernatural religion. Religious traditions of class, family & gender that had long been sanctified by religious tradition were upset by capitalism, industrialization, and globalization. Global economy challenged nation-states associated with religions. Usually came from foreigners (Westerners) in the forms of military defeat, colonial rule, economic dependency, and cultural intrusion. Fundamentalism was the religious response as rejection to modernity; it fought with religious right.