Founding Faith: Providence, Politics, and the Birth of Religious Freedom in AmericaThe culture wars have distorted the dramatic story of how Americans came to worship freely. Many activists on the right maintain that the United States was founded as a “Christian nation.” Many on the left contend that the Founders were secular or Deist and that the First Amendment was designed to boldly separate church and state throughout the land. None of these claims are true, argues Beliefnet.com editor in chief Steven Waldman. With refreshing objectivity, Waldman narrates the real story of how our nation’s Founders forged a new approach to religious liberty, a revolutionary formula that promoted faith . . . by leaving it alone. |
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... allowed to erect churches at all . Up through the 1740s , it was clear in Virginia that there was one church , one spiritual style , one faith - not just by custom but by law . THE HOLY COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS While religion was a ...
... allowed . ( Since the Puritans tried to embody the compassion of Jesus , they did allow that any " Jesuits " who had ended up in their midst due to a shipwreck need not be killed . ) " In 1644 , the Massachusetts General Court banned ...
... allowed the noose to be placed around her neck , and was executed by the Holy Commonwealth of Massachusetts - the very gov- ernment that had been set up by Puritans who had fled England to avoid re- ligious persecution . " Suffice it to ...
... allowed to " infect " the colony . Stuyvesant also wamed that tolerating Jews , bad in itself , created worse prob- lems since , by " giving them liberty , we cannot refuse the Lutherans and Pa- pists , " " 56 But the company informed ...
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Contents
18 | |
John Adams | 33 |
George Washington | 56 |
The pious infidel | 72 |
Natures God Meets the Supreme Judge | 86 |
James Madison | 93 |
A Diabolical Persecution | 100 |
The Mighty Current of Freedom | 107 |
Forgetting the Powerful Friend | 127 |
The First Amendment Compromise | 141 |
They Were Right | 188 |
Index | 209 |
207 | 243 |
Other editions - View all
Founding Faith: How Our Founding Fathers Forged a Radical New Approach to ... Steven Waldman No preview available - 2009 |