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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... wanted rule of one religious denomina- tion over others . The Founding Fathers were mostly rebelling against the religious tyranny . in Europe . Actually , they were rebelling as much against the religious tyranny they saw among their ...
... wanted . We tend to forget ( now that these men are demigods ) that they were also politicians . Madison's task was to assemble a coalition , and if we look at the other men who shaped the Constitution and the First Amendment , we find ...
... wanted the Puritans to be more liberal . Frustrated by the relentless protests of the Puritans about the church , King James declared , " I shall make them conform themselves , or I will harry them out of the land , or else do worse ...
... wanted her to witness her friends ' execution before letting her go . A year later , she defied the law again and was brought before the General Court , with Governor John Endicott presiding . " Do you consider yourself to be a ...
... wanted the holy commonwealth to exclude Anglicans or Catholics- rescinded the charter and decreed that Anglicans should be allowed to wor- ship in the Massachusetts colony . " Historians speculate that these conditions laid the ...
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 |