[Salon] RELIGIOUS FREEDOM: A UNIQUE AND OFTEN IGNORED AMERICAN CONTRIBUTION - Guest Post by Allan Brownfeld

RELIGIOUS FREEDOM: A UNIQUE AND OFTEN IGNORED AMERICAN CONTRIBUTION BY ALLAN C.BROWNFELD —————————————————————————————————————- There have been some in our political arena who—-turning their backs upon our unique political history—-deny that the authors of the Constitution uniquely enshrined religious freedom in the Constitution—-at a time when such an idea was hardly in existence any place in the Western world. At the same time, some of those on the left would remove religion and reference to God from our public life almost completely. The founding fathers had a more complex view. Recently, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said that the idea of separation of church and state is “a misnomer.” In his view, the nation’s founders believed that religion was central to the government. At the same time, a vocal group which calls itself “Christian Nationalists” proclaim that America was meant to be a “Christian country.” 0ur real history is far more complex and interesting. I reviewed an article I wrote in my last year of law school for the William and Mary Law Review, entitled “The Constitutional Intent Concerning Matters of Church and State.” When Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence he appealed to God as the source of our liberty,not to man, the state or any group of men. This is clear at the beginning of the document: “We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” Benjamin Franklin, considered one of the most skeptical of the Founders concerning religion, is reported by James Madison in his “Notes” to have made the following proposal on June 28, 1787 before the Continental Congress: “I have lived, Sir, a long time,and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of the truth—-that God governs in the affairs of men…I therefore beg leave to move that henceforth prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven, and its blessing on our deliberations,be held in this Assembly every morning before we proceed to business, and that one or more of the clergy of this city be requested to officiate in that service.” While there was a belief in the importance of morality and of divine inspiration, no particular religion was embraced, and all were provided with freedom and equal rights,something genuinely unprecedented. In 1796, George Washington said: “Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, Religion and Morality are indispensable supports.” And in 1793, he wrote to the New Church in Baltimore: “We have abundant reason to rejoice that in this Land the light of truth and reason has triumphed over the power of bigotry and superstition,and that every person May here worship God according to the dictates of his own heart. In this enlightened Age and in the Land of equal liberty it is our boast that a man’s religious tenets will not forfeit the protection of the Laws, or deprive him of the right of attaining the highest offices that are known in the United States.” James Madison was the author of the widely circulated and highly influential “Memorial and Remonstrance” of 1784, against the proposal of the House of Delegates of Virginia to provide, through assessments, for teachers of the Christian religion. In this he showed that religion is a matter of individual conscience and not within the official cognizance of civil government. We opposed this, he wrote, “Because we hold it for a fundamental and undeniable truth that religion, or the duty which we owe to our Creator, and the manner of discharging it,can be directed only by reason and conviction, not by force or violence. The religion of every man, then, must be left to the conviction and conscience of every man to exercise as these may dictate. This right is in the nature of an inalienable right.” In his letter to the Jewish congregation in Newport Rhode Island, George Washington declared that, “All possess alike liberty of conscience and immunities of citizenship.” Citizenship, he declared, was not mere “toleration …as if it was by the indulgence of one class of people, that another enjoyed the exercise of their inherent natural rights,” but rather something that belonged to all, so that “every one shall sit in safety under his own vine and fig tree, and there shall be none to make him afraid.” In his book “A Promised Land,” Prof. Andrew Portner of Auburn University, notes that, “Ministers attempted to get Washington, once president, to commit to an open,public declaration of Christian faith. He never made one. In 1789, the minister and former Harvard president Samuel Langdon directly requested Washington to declare himself a ‘disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ.’ Washington wrote a letter back referring to ‘the Great Author of the Universe.’ In 1796, a collection of ministers repeated Langdon’s request. Washington replied referencing only “the Divine Author of life and felicity.’” When he received thanks from more marginal religious groups, Washington repeatedly discussed rights. In 1793, he told Baltimore’s Swedenborgian church, “We have abundant reason to rejoice that in this land the light of truth and reason have triumphed over the power of bigotry and superstition.” In America, he declared, every person “may worship God according to the dictates of his own heart.” The Catholics, a small number of Americans in 1790, lauded Washington for “extending the influence of Laws on the manners of our fellow citizens and encouraging respect for religion.” But they insisted upon “equal rights of citizenship.” Washington concurred: “All those who conduct themselves as worthy members of the Community are equally entitled to the protection of civil Government.” Christian nationalists seem not to be aware of the unique history of our country. At a time when Protestants were persecuted in Catholic countries in Europe and Catholics were mistreated in Protestant countries—-and Jews were not equal citizens in either——America created a system of separation of church and state, religious freedom for all, and no religious test of any kind to hold public office. Perhaps we are teaching American history so poorly that Christian nationalists have never been exposed to the thinking of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and other Founding Fathers. And the advocates of Christian nationalism seem to have contempt for all who differ from them in any way. This is hardly the attitude of a Christian. Jesus, after all, told his followers to love their enemies. Christian nationalists seem unable to love those who disagree with them on one or another policy issue. It is time for us to re-examine how we are teaching American history. If we were teaching it properly, no one would get away with saying that separation of church and state is not a basic element of the American political philosophy.