Tag: american history

Explore America's ongoing journey for freedom, from the Declaration of Independence to the 1964 Freedom Summer. Discover how the fight for equality and voting rights shapes our democracy today. Learn why truth and freedom remain fragile allies in 2024

Even though the myths of Columbus was used by Italian immigrants to show pride in their heritage, it is wrong to recognize a man for achievements that were never his and celebrate someone who committed one of the worst acts of genocide in world history.

Today, we have theocratic movements that assume a variety of nuances and labels, including Christian Theocracy, Christian Reconstructionism, Christian Dominionism, Dominion Theology, and Theonomy. All are convinced that the United States was founded as a Christian nation and (now) needs to return to her "Christian heritage." Advocating theocratic principles is a mistaken quest to return America to the original vision of the founding fathers.

The men who fought the Revolution may have thanked Providence and attended church regularly—or not. But they also fought a war against a country in which the head of state was the head of the church. Knowing well the history of religious warfare that led to America’s settlement, they clearly understood both the dangers of that system and of sectarian conflict.

In newly independent America, there was a crazy quilt of state laws regarding religion. In Massachusetts, only Christians were allowed to hold public office, and Catholics were allowed to do so only after renouncing papal authority. In 1777, New York State’s constitution banned Catholics from public office (and would do so until 1806). In Maryland, Catholics had full civil rights, but Jews did not. Delaware required an oath affirming belief in the Trinity. Several states, including Massachusetts and South Carolina, had official, state-supported churches.

The real story of religion in America’s past is an often awkward, frequently embarrassing and occasionally bloody tale that most civics books and high-school texts either paper over or shunt to the side. And much of the recent conversation about America’s ideal of religious freedom has paid lip service to this comforting tableau.

A separation of Church and State was a cornerstone of their vision for this country, ensuring the biases of the dominant ideology, whichever it might be, could not hinder the State’s ability to effectively govern a nation comprised of many different cultural and religious backgrounds. Our First Amendment rights, which include the freedom of religion, allows us to worship however we see fit. But it also ensures the freedom from religion — an individual’s right to refuse any unwanted religious ideology or denomination.