Do you think America was founded by people who wanted; freedom from religion, or freedom of religion?

Question

I realize the issue can get murky, because the empires the founders were rebelling against combined church and state. Was it the religion, or the state? If they could see the diference, can you?

Answer 1

I'm sure there will be some who will say that we have no right to freedom from relgion (which is not true). That makes me wonder if these people think it's okay to force religion onto those who aren't interested. Which leads me to wonder how anyone who actually values their religion can think there's any value in forcing their beliefs on others.

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In the words of the Founders of the U.S.:

http://www.stephenjaygould.org/ctrl/quotes_founders.html

"Thirteen governments [of the original states] thus founded on the natural authority of the people alone, without a pretence of miracle or mystery, and which are destined to spread over the northern part of that whole quarter of the globe, are a great point gained in favor of the rights of mankind."

( John Adams, in his "A Defence of the Constitutions of Government of the United States of America" [1787-1788]; from Adrienne Koch, ed., The American Enlightenment: The Shaping of the American Experiment and a Free Society, New York, 1965, p. 258. )

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"When a Religion is good, I conceive it will support itself; and, when it does not support itself, and God does not take care to support [it], so that its Professors are oblig'd to call for help of the Civil Power, it is a sign, I apprehend, of its being a bad one."

( Benjamin Franklin, letter to Richard Price, October 9, 1780; from Adrienne Koch, ed., The American Enlightenment: The Shaping of the American Experiment and a Free Society, New York: George Braziller, 1965, p. 93. )

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"It was the Universal opinion of the Century preceding the last, that Civil Govt. could not stand without the prop of a Religious establishment; & that the Xn. [Christian] religion itself, would perish if not supported by the legal provision for its Clergy. The experience of Virginia conspiciously corroboates the disproof of both opinions. The Civil Govt. tho' bereft of everything like an associatd hierarchy possesses the requisite stability and performs its functions with complete success; Whilst the number, the industry, and the morality of the Priesthood, & the devotion of the people have been manifestly increased by the total separation of the Church from the State."

( James Madison, letter to Robert Walsh, March 2, 1819; from Jack N. Rakove, ed., James Madison: Writings, New York: Library of America, 1999, pp. 726-727. )

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"I contemplate with soveriegn reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should ‘make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,’ thus building a wall of separation between church and State."

( Thomas Jefferson, letter to the Danbury Baptist Association, January 1, 1802; from Merrill D. Peterson, ed., Thomas Jefferson: Writings, New York: Library of America, 1984, p. 510. )

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"[E]veryone must act according to the dictates of his own reason, and mine tells me that civil powers alone have been given to the President of the United States, and no authority to direct the religious exercises of his constituents."

( Thomas Jefferson, letter to the Rev. Samuel Miller, January 23, 1808; from Merrill D. Peterson, ed., Thomas Jefferson: Writings, New York: Library of America, 1984, p. 1187. )

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"The priesthood have, in all ancient nations, nearly monopolized learning. And ever since the Reformation, when or where has existed a Protestant or dissenting sect who would tolerate a free inquiry? The blackest billingsgate, the most ungentlemanly insolence, the most yahooish brutality, is patiently endured, countenanced, propagated, and applauded. But touch a solemn truth in collision with a dogma of a sect, though capable of the clearest proof, and you will find you have disturbed a nest, and the hornets will swarm about your eyes and hand, and fly into your face and eyes."

( John Adams in a letter to John Taylor, The Life and Works of John Adams, 1851; from George Seldes, ed., The Great Thoughts, New York: Ballantine Books, 1996, p. 6. )

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"I almost shudder at the thought of alluding to the most fatal example of the abuses of grief which the history of mankind has preserved — the Cross. Consider what calamities that engine of grief has produced!"

( John Adams, "On the Abuses of Grief," letter to Thomas Jefferson, in Jefferson's Works, Vol. VII, p. 35; from George Seldes, ed., The Great Quotations, Secaucus, New Jersey: The Citadel Press, 1983, p. 45. )

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"The way to see by faith is to shut the eye of reason."

( Benjamin Franklin, "Poor Richard's Almanack," 1758; from George Seldes, ed., The Great Quotations, Secaucus, New Jersey: The Citadel Press, 1983, p. 259. )

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"During almost fifteen centuries has the legal establishment of Christianity been on trial. what have been its fruits? More or less in all places, pride and indolence in the Clergy, ignorance and servility in the laity, in both, superstition, bigotry and persecution."

( James Madison, "Memorial and Remonstrance Against Religious Assessments," June 20, 1785; from Jack N. Rakove, ed., James Madison: Writings, New York: Library of America, 1999, p. 32. )

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"Ecclesiastical establishments tend to great ignorance and all of which facilitates the execution of mischievous projects. Religious bondage shackles and debilitates the mind and unfits it for every noble enterprize [sic], every expanded project."

( James Madison, letter to William Bradford, April 1, 1774; from Edwin S. Gaustad, Faith of Our Fathers: Religion and the New Nation, San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1987, p. 37. )

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"Now, had the news of salvation by Jesus Christ been inscribed on the face of the sun and the moon, in characters that all nations would have understood, the whole earth had known it in twenty-four hours, and all nations would have believed it; whereas, though it is now almost two thousand years since, as they tell us, Christ came upon earth, not a twentieth part of the people of the earth know anything of it, and among those who do, the wiser part do not believe it."

( Thomas Paine, in his "Examination of the Prophecies," 1807; from Philip S. Foner, ed., The Complete Writings of Thomas Paine, Vol. II, New York: The Citadel Press, 1969, p. 890. )

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"All national institutions of churches, whether Jewish, Christian, or Turkish, appear to me no other than human inventions, set up to terrify and enslave mankind, and monopolize power and profit."

( Thomas Paine in The Age of Reason, 1794; from Thomas Paine: Collected Writings, New York: Library of America, 1995, p. 666. )

Answer 2

Freedom OF religion, which means freedom to decide what and how, which includes the freedom to choose NO religion.
Just because it isn't christian doesn't mean it isn't a religion, and religion is a closed word of then - we have reached the twenty first century, miraculously enough. Time to open the narrow minds and accept that beliefs, faiths and philosophy's are also included in that right of freedom.

Answer 3

Read the Bill of Rights. It's the First Amendment. Freedom OF Religion.

Answer 4

Both. Many of the founders came from countries where not only was there a state religion but if you were not of that religion you were in trouble. The founders wanted freedom FROM religion in that they did not want religion and government tied together and they wanted freedom OF religion in that they wanted to be able to choose whatever religion they wished to follow.

Answer 5

They wanted freedom of religion. Just look at the Puritans. They didn't want freedom of religion, but the freedom from a particular brand of religion, and the freedom to impose their religious views. The Pilgrims are more of a mixed lot, and perhaps were more into freedom for freedom's sake. They wanted freedom of religion, but weren't as dogmatic in thinking they had the only true one.

I agree with the lady who said that today, it is more about freedom from religion.

Answer 6

The founders were rebelling against a state-sponsored religion. This is when the state says which religion people will follow. However, this can also include atheism as is seen in Communist countries like China or North Korea.

Our founding fathers wanted people to be able to worship freely without fear of reprisal or imprisonment. This has been accomplished but we as a nation have swung too far in removing all religious expression from the public square. This too was not desired because forces the acceptance of atheism instead of all religions.

Answer 7

If they were trying to establish freedom of religion then why the heck did they go around calling the natives heathens and savages, then force them to give up their culture, dress in European clothing and go to church?
They disliked having religion and politics that they didnt agree with thrustupon them , but then they turned around and did the same thing.

Answer 8

Freedom of religion. Some of our founding fathers were very religious and even toyed with the idea of making Hebrew the national language. Then there were Deists like Jefferson. It was a mixture.

Answer 9

They didn't like the two being mixed.
They didn't dislike religion. They just disliked being forced into a religion they didn't believe in.
Freedom of religion. You know, like how they wrote it .
In the Bill of Rights.

Answer 10

They wanted freedom of religion. They were oppressed by a monarchy that forced a certain belief based on an interpretation of the Bible (a false one).