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
... figures in defining religious freedom during the Revolutionary period then served as president of the United States . We ... figure out some of the Constitution's original intent , and they were the ones who had done the intending ! This ...
... figures played crucial roles in the fight : George Whitefield , the evangelical preacher who revolutionized faith in America and shook the foundation of established religion ; Mary Dyer , the Quaker martyr whose courage in the face of ...
... He lived until 1729 , and was therefore a dominant figure in Boston during the childhood and early adulthood of Benjamin Franklin . REPUGNANT JEWS AND DEMONIC CATHOLICS Though Virginia and Massachusetts were CHRISTIAN AMERICA 13.
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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 |