An Open Door of Liberty , livre ebook

eBookIt.com - Nick McNaughton

Découvre YouScribe en t'inscrivant gratuitement

Je m'inscris

Obtenez un accès à la bibliothèque pour le consulter en ligne
En savoir plus

135 pages

English

Vous pourrez modifier la taille du texte de cet ouvrage

Obtenez un accès à la bibliothèque pour le consulter en ligne
En savoir plus

A propos
Informations
Extrait

Description

An Open Door of Liberty is about how religious freedom came to be an important part of the basic law of the United States. There has been much discussion and some controversy over the years as to what a religiously free society requires of its citizens and its government, but there is widespread agreement that Americans should have an absolute right to maintain their own religious (or unreligious) opinions, exceptionally broad rights to their religious practices (or the right not to practice) and that government should not establish any set of beliefs as an "official" religion.

It was not always so. At the dawn of the colonial era in the early 1600s the newly-formed colonies followed the then-common practice of Europe and particularly England by demanding adherence to the beliefs and practices of a state-sponsored church. Massachusetts, established by Puritan dissenters from the official Anglican church, enforced its own interpretation of Christian theology, exiling anyone from their society who would not conform. Virginia, a bastion of orthodox Anglicanism, admitted no one who would not acknowledge the king as the head of the only true church.

An Open Door of Liberty describes how generations of religious dissidents changed the culture and eventually the law. The story includes the founding of religiously free Rhode Island by Roger Williams, Anne Hutchinson and other Massachusetts exiles, the efforts of English Catholics led by the Calverts to create a tolerant haven in Maryland, the role of the Quakers throughout the colonies in challenging oppressive laws at considerable physical peril as well as the establishment of Pennsylvania by Quaker William Penn as one of the most tolerant societies of its day and the role of the early Baptists from John Clarke to later figures such as Isaac Backus and their advocacy of "soul liberty." Through their efforts and those of others, most Americans came to agree with Thomas Jefferson that "Almighty God hath created the mind free" and supported the religion clauses of the First Amendment as well as similar laws in the first constitutions of the newly independent states.

Also discussed in this book are some of the ramifications of attempting to create a religiously free society. For example, what is meant by "separation of church and state" and why does use of this phrase sometimes result in arguments? How did breaking apart the church-state power structure help make democracy possible? If religious freedom is part of our basic law why have some religious groups been subject to hostility and violations of their rights? These topics and other aspects of religious freedom have been the subject of their own detailed works, but the overview contained in An Open Door of Liberty helps give some context to the subject.

Sujets

Histoire

Colonial Period

United States

History

US

Informations

Publié par	eBookIt.com
Date de parution	21 février 2013
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781456610265
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0200€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

AN OPEN DOOR OF LIBERTY
THE GROWTH OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOM AND TOLERANCE IN EARLY AMERICA

By Nick McNaughton

Copyright 2012 Nick McNaughton,
All rights reserved.

Published in eBook format by eBookIt.com
http://www.eBookIt.com

ISBN-13: 978-1-4566-1026-5

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
DANGEROUS OPINIONS
CHAPTER 1
A LEGACY OF PERSECUTION
CHAPTER 2
A LEGACY OF PERSECUTION CONTINUED – THE ENGLISH REFORMATION
CHAPTER 3
VIRGINIA – “PURITY AND UNITY OF DOCTRINE”
CHAPTER 4
MARYLAND & THE ACT OF TOLERATION
CHAPTER 5
THE NEW ENGLAND WAY
CHAPTER 6
RHODE ISLAND – A LIVELIE EXPERIMENT
CHAPTER 7
ENGLAND 1642-1689: REBELLION, RESTORATION AND TOLERATION
CHAPTER 8
WILLIAM PENN’S HOLY EXPERIMENT
CHAPTER 9
NEW YORK – “OF ALL SORTS OF OPINIONS THERE ARE SOME”
CHAPTER 10
ILL NEWES FROM NEW ENGLAND
CHAPTER 11
ENLIGHTENMENT, AWAKENING AND SEEDS OF A NEW ERA
CHAPTER 12
“ALMIGHTY GOD HATH CREATED THE MIND FREE”
CHAPTER 13
A NEW ORDER OF THE AGES
CHAPTER 14
A LEGACY OF LIBERTY
EPILOGUE
FROM DANGEROUS OPINIONS TO WISDOM OF AGES
CHRONOLOGY
INTRODUCTION
DANGEROUS OPINIONS
The October 1635 morning when Roger Williams appeared in Boston before the General Court of Massachusetts, the governing body of the young colony, may have been the kind of crisp autumn day for which New England is famous. However, Williams' hearing had nothing to do with the weather. It was about banishing him from the young colony because of his continued expression of opinions contrary to the official religious beliefs of Massachusetts. The Court's summons, and subsequent questioning, was the culmination of an ever-widening divergence between Williams’ views and the colony’s leadership, a years-long dispute during which Williams had endured grueling one-on-one sessions attempting to persuade him to repent the error of his ideas as well as coercion and threats against both him and his supporters. For several years, Williams, in addition to standing up for the property rights of Native Americans, had been antagonizing the authorities of the colony by objecting to legally-enforced church attendance and collection of taxes to support the state church, as well as denying that civil rulers could make people conform to a standard of worship.
The Massachusetts colony had grown in the 1630s as a haven for Puritans who had been driven out of England because they wanted to “purify” the official Church of England. The belief structure of the Puritan community made it inevitable that Williams would be a target. Religious freedom did not have the same meaning to the Puritans as it did to Williams and most modern Americans. They felt that they were free to do exactly what God commanded them to do. Divine will was very clearly stated in the Bible as interpreted by the ruling clergy. Any variation or open difference of opinion was not permitted.
The Puritan movement began in the 1500s and for most of their existence, Puritans had been second-class citizens in England, continually in trouble because their understanding of Christianity was not what the bishops of the Church and the king (by law head of the Church) believed. They were regarded as having a holier-than-thou attitude and also seen as a potential threat in a society that considered that any religious dissent undermined public order.
The Puritans experienced various difficulties under Queen Elizabeth in the late 1500s as well as with King James I, who came to the throne after her death in 1603. Hopes that things would improve as a result of James’ death in 1625 were dashed by the appointment of Archbishop William Laud by James’ son Charles I. Laud forbid any publication or discussion of Puritan doctrine and sent inquisitors throughout England to enforce that all religious services were being conducted by his rules. Violators were at times subject to arrest, mutilation (usually in the form of cutting off of ears) and long terms of imprisonment. As the pressure increased on the Puritans, they began to consider emigration to the New World as a means of creating some distance from the archbishop and allowing their faith to flourish.
Yet, they sought much more than freedom to worship. The Puritans believed that after more than a thousand years of error they alone had come to understand the true meaning of Christianity. The settlement on the American side of the Atlantic would be a true model Christian community that could serve as an example first for England and then for the rest of the world. In a sermon delivered at sea to the new settlers, Puritan colonial governor John Winthrop proclaimed, “we must consider that we shall be as a city upon a hill. The eyes of all people are upon us. So that if we shall deal falsely with our God in this work we have undertaken, and so cause Him to withdraw His present help from us, we shall be made a story and a by-word through the world . ” Puritans did not renounce their Church of England membership – they expected to some day make the rest of the Church follow their theology.
Vital to the Puritan mission was that their own version of Christianity would prevail in their ideal community without challenge or alteration. Like Archbishop Laud, they viewed freedom to practice religious error as “liberty for men to destroy themselves.” They differed from Laud only in their view of what was correct and what was wrong. A tolerant church in their view was a “Devils dancing-Schoole” rather than God’s temple.
Williams arrived in Massachusetts in 1631 with every prospect for success. An eloquent, well-connected, Cambridge-educated Puritan minister, he was immediately offered the position of pastor of one of the major churches in the area. Williams, however, would not accept that the local congregations still considered themselves part of the Church of England. His rejection of the offered position was the first sign of trouble.
Over the next several years, while also conducting missionary work among the Native Americans, Williams served as a minister and religious teacher in nearby Salem which was trying to assert some independence from the colonial center in Boston. He held similar positions in the independent settlement of Plymouth. During this period, he continued to publicly air his dissenting opinions and to object to the imposition of religious orthodoxy and conduct which created friction in Salem and Plymouth but most seriously in Boston.
Williams was increasingly becoming a worrisome nuisance to the General Court. In 1634, the Court required all citizens to pledge new oaths of allegiance which, among other things, acknowledged the Court’s right to punish unorthodox religious behavior. Williams very publicly refused to take the new oaths & he created such widespread opposition that they quickly became unenforceable. He continued to publicly advocate his position that it is wrong for a church-government combination to compel a man’s religious activities and that the state should give “free and absolute permission of conscience to all men in what is merely spiritual….” as he later wrote.
To the consternation of the General Court, Williams had many friends, particularly among his parishioners in Salem, who were receptive to his message that religion should be voluntary. At the same time the Court began an inquisition into his conduct, they denied permission to the town of Salem to acquire some nearby land which the local leadership considered essential to its growth. It was made clear that support of their lightning rod of a pastor was the cause. During the following months, the citizens were threatened with persecution if they stood by Williams and promised their desired land and other civil favors if they were to support the hierarchy. When they voted their allegiance to Boston, Williams withdrew from the church.
Thus, when Williams walked into his hearing, he found himself isolated. A day-long proceeding led to a finding that he had “broached and divulged diverse new and dangerous opinions….” concerning religious orthodoxy. After refusing leniency in exchange for admitting his errors, Williams’ sentence was passed – exile.
Williams had planned for the day of banishment from the New England colony, arranging with the chief of one of the local tribes to purchase land outside the boundaries of Massachusetts. His departure was originally set for spring, however people continued to visit with him and discuss his plans for a new colony where the civil state and religion would be separate. The Court also learned with alarm that his planned settlement was just out of their reach, but close enough to be a corrupting influence. Further, a number of his flock wanted to join him.
Only bold action could avert a major source of subversion being set up a stone’s throw away. A squad of 14 men was sent to Salem to arrest Williams and put him on a boat about to leave for England where he would be confronted with the iron discipline of Archbishop Laud. However the news of their plan traveled ahead and when the arresting party arrived, they found Williams had vanished into the wilderness several days earlier.
Williams’ journey alone through the wilderness in severe blizzard conditions would probably have made a great story in itself had he made any detailed record of it. He eventually reached what is now Rhode Island to create a settlement which from its beginnings permitted full freedom of religion without interference to all who abided there. In the ensuing years many oppressed religious minorities would find their way to the colony Williams founded, including other exiles of Massachusetts Bay. And, as the General Court fea