Once there was a nation conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
The people struggled to uphold these values for centuries, and many young men and women gave their lives in defense of that nation. Then a change slowly emerged. The people no longer seem to care. An uprising of extreme religious beliefs began. The nation that was once a haven of religious freedom was pushed toward domination by one religion. All other beliefs were not accepted, and those who believed in them were demonized.
The extremists felt they were justified, for they had a holy book they said gave them the right to force their views on others. They had been given the power by God. Government gave them the right as well, in the last election the nation had held. They were confident that the majority supported them and that gave them the right.
The nation had been one that was based on the separation of church and state. It was set up that way by its founders. Prior to that the church had control over the people. They set what church one could attend and forced them to worship there.
The new nation wanted to give its citizens the freedom to worship as they pleased. Each state had its particular religion, expect for a few like Delaware, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and guess what? Georgia. The churches required the citizens of each state to pay taxes to the church.
If you were not part of the state's religion you could not hold office or vote in an election.
Massachusetts - Official Religion: Congregational Church Original Charter Date: Mar. 4, 1629
Like many who arrived on these shores in the 17th century, the Puritans of Massachusetts Bay came to America seeking religious freedom. The freedom they sought, however, was for themselves and not for others. The Puritans felt called by God to establish 'new Israel,' a holy commonwealth based on a covenant between God and themselves as the people of God.
Though there were separate areas of authority for church and state in Puritan Massachusetts, all laws of the community were to be grounded in God's law and all citizens were expected to uphold the divine covenant.
Very early in the Massachusetts experiment, dissenters arose to challenge the Puritan vision of a holy society. The first dissenter, Roger Williams (c.1603-1683), was himself a Puritan minister, but with a very different vision of God's plan for human society.
Williams argued that God had not given divine sanction to the Puritan colony. In his view, the civil authorities of Massachusetts had no authority to involve themselves in matters of faith. The true church, according to Williams, was a voluntary association of God's elect.
Any state involvement in the worship or God, therefore, was contrary to the divine will and inevitably led to the defilement of the church.
Banished from Massachusetts in 1635, Roger Williams founded Rhode Island, the first colony with no established church and the first society in America to grant liberty of conscience to everyone.
Some states realized that religion had no place in government.
North Carolina - Official Religion: Anglican/Church of England
"Article XIX. That all men have a natural and unalienable right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their own consciences.
Article XXXI. That no clergyman, or preacher of the gospel, of any denomination, shall be capable of being a member of either the Senate, House of Commons, or Council of State, while he continues in the exercise of pastoral function."
You can see more about the religion of each colony here: http://undergod.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=69
Today there is a call that people must recognize that this nation was founded on the Christian religion, even though by 1877 none of the original colonies had an official religion and it remains like that today.
Many citizens are asking why the nation, one that was hailed as a melting pot and based on freedom and liberty, has to become one ruled by only one religion ..... much like those that are so hated by some that profess the gospel … and exist even now in the Middle East. Would they become what they so fear and hate and despise?
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