Freedom of and from Religion

Townhall.com ^ | April 15, 2015 | John Stossel

[cdcdawg]

“Are leftists so in love with big government that they think government not funding something is akin to banning it?”

YES! That’s what makes them leftists. That’s the whole game.

[WayneS]

"In the Northeast, it was Puritanism or Calvinism. In New York and Virginia, Anglicanism, the Church of England. Elsewhere, it was Catholicism."

Only when colonists tried to form a nation, and met with others who practiced different religions (or none, like Thomas Jefferson), did they put freedom of religion in the Bill of Rights.

Mr. Stossell has made an error and/or a lie of omission in his commentary. The first paragraph above is precisely the reason that the First Amendment uses the wording "CONGRESS shall make no law respecting establishment..." - the power to establish (or not) a state-sponsored religion (within the borders of an individual state) was left to the individual states.

[celmak]

ping

[WayneS]

PS - Expansion of the scope of the 14th Amendment has made the 1st amendment issue of individual states establishing a state religion a moot point.

[Vaquero]

Birth control not your bosses business? Then don’t ask him to fund it

[savagesusie]

There is no Freedom of Religion in America since they banned Jesus from the public schools and public square. There is no ability to transmit our culture and Traditions to the majority of children since the suppression and demeaning and demonizing of our heritage and beliefs and culture.

They (government) demean and denigrate the Christian Faith and Traditions for the majority of the day, for the majority of students (on purpose), while Satanism and Atheism and paganism is promoted and endorsed by the State 24/7.

Everyone has a Faith.....everyone has an ideology—every curricula promotes a “belief” system-—and the only religions which are allowed in the public square and to be promoted 24/7 is that of Atheists, cults, Satanists (sodomites) and Mother Earth worship.

3000 years of Ethics are being flipped-—that ideology based on Natural Law like our Constitution (which is in line with Judeo-Christian beliefs only). All other “faiths” are irrational to the extreme and discard science and Reason and Rule of Law (Higher Law based on Justice/God’s Laws, the Queen of Virtue). Laws that promote Vice (theft/welfare/etc.) are Stalin’s ethics and are unconstitutional always..

[Ethan Clive Osgoode]

Freedom of religion means freedom from Islam.

[aquila48]

Can I say “amen” to that?

[CitizenUSA]

If memory serves, Stossel is a bit anti-Christian on some issues, but he appears true to his libertarian ideals. Even if he disagrees with what some of us believe, he still supports our right to believe and practice it. I can definitely live with that (as I support his right to not believe in Jesus should he desire that).

[ansel12]

In Ireland, Catholics couldn't vote or own a gun.

why would he use an example that had nothing to do with our founding?

Catholics barely existed in America at it's founding, less than one half, of one percent, and they didn't start arriving until generations after the founding, so this leaves a false impression.

[Albion Wilde]

Good for John Stossel, who is Jewish, yet objectively understands the value of religion for the society as a whole that is majority Christian..

[Albion Wilde]

Everyone has a Faith.....everyone has an ideology—every curricula promotes a “belief” system-—and the only religions which are allowed in the public square and to be promoted 24/7 is that of Atheists, cults, Satanists (sodomites) and Mother Earth worship.

Dylan: Gotta Serve Somebody

[Campion]

why would he use an example that had nothing to do with our founding? Why would you pick on his example? Are you okay with laws that single out Catholics for persecution based on their faith?

less than one half, of one percent

1.2% at the time of the Revolution, sorry. And the colony of Maryland was originally founded by and for Catholics seeking to escape the persecution under the English Penal Laws.

[Albion Wilde]

It wasn't an error or a lie. He was referring to the founding of the colonies in the 1600s, and since most were founded by a small group, they were free to establish their own sect in their locality, and many of the colonial governors did so, and enforced attendance; or at the very least, the beliefs of that denomination set the tone for social behavior. The Bill of Rights was written over a century later, which Stossell explained: "Only when colonists tried to form a nation, and met with others who practiced different religions (or none, like Thomas Jefferson), did they put freedom of religion in the Bill of Rights."

You are correct that the First Amendment refers to Congress, and not to the states. Until relatively recently, many state constitutions still reserved the right to establish a given church within their borders.

[meadsjn]

Catholics barely existed in America at it's founding

Maryland was a Catholic colony.

[Albion Wilde]

Catholics barely existed in America at it's founding...

However, the founding governors of Maryland (1629) were Irish Catholics, and there was a large Catholic population in this key colony, which contained the huge bay port of Annapolis as its capital. Before the lines were drawn for the District of Columbia in 1780, Maryland was also the location of the Jesuit college (1789) that would become Georgetown University.

[ansel12]

You say 1.4% and reputable estimates put it at .4%.

Thanks for the validation.

[ansel12]

Yeah, being able to name some individuals really changes the facts of the numbers and percentages of a nation’s population.

[ansel12]

Yeah, where do you think that most of those handful of Catholics lived?