Much of what is commonly believed about the men who shaped the American Revolution, the Declaration of Independence, and the Constitution is simply wrong.
I suggest that the Founders meant to keep government out of religion but did not intend to keep religion out of government; specifically the Christian religion. Had they dreamed in their worst nightmares that Islam would be welcomed into the US by future Democrats, they would have specifically excluded it from the country in the Constitution, recognizing it as fundamentally incompatible with liberty.
Yes, their universe of "religion" -- not that they didn't know about others but that they had exceedingly limited regular contact with them -- was a lot of Protestants, a few Catholics, and a handful of Jews.
The purpose of the establishment clause was to prevent the federal government from picking one of those and making it mandatory as was the case across Europe. But there's a twist: they did this in part because most of the states already had established religions! Federalism was understood far more broadly than moderns imagine, and it was a foundational principle that the states had the right to do so. So those various states certainly wouldn't have put up with a national established church.
Jefferson's letter to the Danbury Baptists, so often cited against your position, actually affirms it. His whole point to them is that government is prohibited from meddling in their faith, but that they may do anything civically whatsoever, including propound their beliefs and propose them as law, short of establishment. And isn't that literally the point of a free society, that you debate until someone wins, and then the winning argument becomes law? What does it matter the source of the argument, whether secular or religious? The pretense that all arguments must be based upon and motivated by secular reasoning is itself a religious opinion, and assumes its own conclusion. It is propaganda, and frequently deceit.
And none of this was controversial until the 20th Century.
I remind my boys often that the pilgrims, original settlers, colonists, and eventually the founders based “freedom of religion” on the Christian faith. The freedom to worship Christ, the one true God, as one is so led. This was not a free-for-all thought whatsoever. That’s pluralism, and the founders were obviously against that.
Something I recall reading many many years ago, The war Had to happen. Reason being the powers ie The Crown in Britain needed to get control of the Colonies. Otherwise in a few years The Tail (The Colonies) would be Wagging The Dog (GB).
I suggest that the Founders meant to keep government out of religion but did not intend to keep religion out of government; specifically the Christian religion. Had they dreamed in their worst nightmares that Islam would be welcomed into the US by future Democrats, they would have specifically excluded it from the country in the Constitution, recognizing it as fundamentally incompatible with liberty.
Yes, their universe of "religion" -- not that they didn't know about others but that they had exceedingly limited regular contact with them -- was a lot of Protestants, a few Catholics, and a handful of Jews.
The purpose of the establishment clause was to prevent the federal government from picking one of those and making it mandatory as was the case across Europe. But there's a twist: they did this in part because most of the states already had established religions! Federalism was understood far more broadly than moderns imagine, and it was a foundational principle that the states had the right to do so. So those various states certainly wouldn't have put up with a national established church.
Jefferson's letter to the Danbury Baptists, so often cited against your position, actually affirms it. His whole point to them is that government is prohibited from meddling in their faith, but that they may do anything civically whatsoever, including propound their beliefs and propose them as law, short of establishment. And isn't that literally the point of a free society, that you debate until someone wins, and then the winning argument becomes law? What does it matter the source of the argument, whether secular or religious? The pretense that all arguments must be based upon and motivated by secular reasoning is itself a religious opinion, and assumes its own conclusion. It is propaganda, and frequently deceit.
And none of this was controversial until the 20th Century.
I remind my boys often that the pilgrims, original settlers, colonists, and eventually the founders based “freedom of religion” on the Christian faith. The freedom to worship Christ, the one true God, as one is so led. This was not a free-for-all thought whatsoever. That’s pluralism, and the founders were obviously against that.
Religious Freedom can be seen as an outcome of The 30 Years War.
Something I recall reading many many years ago, The war Had to happen. Reason being the powers ie The Crown in Britain needed to get control of the Colonies. Otherwise in a few years The Tail (The Colonies) would be Wagging The Dog (GB).
3. The founders were isolationists.
We have Always been a Trading Nation. How can a nation trade with other nations and Be Isolationist?