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. |
From inside the book
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... Practicing What They Preached 159 . The first presidencies bring inspiring rhetoric , dirty politics , and sharp disagreement among the Founders 16. Friends in Heaven 182 The Founders end their spiritual journeys and prepare to continue ...
... practice those inspiring - but - vague concepts . And what did they conclude ? That they disagreed with one another . In that sense , it's misleading even to speak about " the Founding Fathers " as if they were a unitary bloc . They ...
... practice of soldiers burning effigies of the pope and an- other declaring that God was helping them win the war , Washington set what became a classically American tone , liberality mixed with a chauvinistic con- viction that God ...
... practices of each Founder , my focus has been specifically on how their personal spiritual journeys might have influenced their approach to religious freedom . Since each evolved throughout his lifetime - and differed from his com ...
... practice their religion precisely- " not of some ordi- nances of God , but of all , and in all purity . " " It was with tongue not in cheek that Richard Mather explained his motives for immigrating : the opportunity " to censure those ...
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 |