AND JUST WHY did the founding fathers not want the government to establish a mandatory religion?
Was it because they feared the religion would then be used to control the government?
Are there any examples you can think of where the government has established a mandatory religion? Like countries in the middle east?
In those cases, does the government control the religion, or the religion control the government?
England, France, various German states, Sweden and many others were known to the founders. Basically the wanted to be able to practice whatever religion they wanted, as well as not being forced to support another. Almost every largish country in Europe had, at least at one time, either mandatory religion or mandatory support of the state religion, save Switzerland. Either at the time of the founding, or not that long before. They were aware of the , Musselmen too of course. that little thing about the Barbary Corsairs was heating up about the time the Constitution was written. But the pirates had been doing their thing long before.
But the Musslemen were far away, in distance and in culture. The European Monarchies were not. l