American Minute from William J. Federer
JUNE 20, 1632, King Charles I of England granted a charter for the Colony of Maryland, named for his Catholic wife, Queen Henrietta Maria, stating: "Charles, by the Grace of God, of England, Scotland, France, and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith...Whereas our well beloved...subject Coecilius Calvert, Baron of Baltimore, in our Kingdom of Ireland...being animated with a laudable, and pious Zeal for extending the Christian Religion...hath humbly besought Leave of Us that he may transport, by his own...expense, a numerous Colony of the English Nation, to certain...parts of America...partly occupied by Savages, having no Knowledge of the Divine Being."
Maryland's Charter continued: "With the increasing Worship and Religion of Christ within said Region...shall...be built...Churches, Chapels, and Places of Worship."
Lord Baltimore sent two ships, the Ark and the Dove, to settle the colony. Buying land from the Indians, they founded the city of St. Mary's as a refuge for persecuted Catholics.
In 1649, they extended liberty to Protestants by issuing the Toleration Act, which stated: "That no person... within this province...professing to believe in Jesus Christ shall...from henceforth be any ways troubled or molested...in respect of his or her religion."
Friday, June 20, 2008
Founding Maryland
William J. Federer is a nationally recognized author, speaker, and president of Amerisearch, Inc, which is dedicated to researching our American heritage. The American Minute radio feature looks back at events in American history on the dates they occurred, is broadcast daily across the country and read by thousand on the internet.
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3 comments:
Of course, this is all back when Maryland was still a colony of Great Britain, the country whose monarchy and tyranny we overthrew.
Afterwards, the founding fathers in their wisdom promptly separated church and state and made it so that all religions, not just Christianity, were protected under the Constitution and the People would be free to practice what they wish without government interference.
Thus, just as monarchies are un-American, one can draw the conclusion that the government enforcing one religion's beliefs over others is un-American (and just plain unconstitutional).
But then we have those who believe that the public should not be exposed to any hint that Christian religion, in particular, exists or ever did. I wonder if this is called "over-board" and off the edge?
Did you happen to notice that "religious tolerance" bit in 1649, prior to the Revolution? Sounds like you missed it. It wasn't some concept that the founders suddenly "discovered" after the Revolution; most of the early colonists came here specifically to obtain religious freedom.
The founders didn't "separate church and state" in the sense it is commonly understood in the modern world. They intentionally avoided setting up a state church and an official religion, which was very wise.
It is disingenuous--and bordering on an outright falsehood--to claim that they intended to separate religious values from government, however. The founders made repeated statements that they considered religious values--specifically Christian values--indispensable to the support of our free government. This was not to impose a specific type of mandatory worship on all people in America, or to dictate the religious belief which all Americans must hold, but sprang from the fact that Christian values were behind the ideals of freedom that spawned this new country, and Christian principles of virtue, accountability, integrity and freedom were the bedrock of the newly formed government. Not to mention that almost everyone in the new country was Christian (even today, 82% of Americans align themselves with Christianity).
Consider these statements from the Founders:
"Religion is the only solid basis of good morals; therefore education should teach the precepts of religion, and the duties of man towards God." - Gouverneur Morris signer of the Declaration of Independence
"Without morals a republic cannot subsist any length of time; they therefore who are decrying the Christian religion, whose morality is so sublime and pure (and) which insures to the good eternal happiness, are undermining the solid foundation of morals, the best security for the duration of free governments." - Charles Carroll, signer of the Declaration of Independence
"Human law must rest its authority ultimately upon the authority of that law which is divine .... Far from being rivals or enemies, religion and law are twin sisters, friends, and mutual assistants. Indeed, these two sciences run into each other." - James Wilson, signer of the Declaration of Independence
"Let divines and philosophers, statesmen and patriots, united their endeavours to renovate the age, by impressing the minds of men with the importance of educating their little boys and girls, of inculcating in the minds of youth the fear and love of the Deity…in short of leading them in the study and practice of the exalted virtues of the Christian system." - Samuel Adams
"The great pillars of all government and of social life [are] virtue, morality, and religion. This is the armor, my friend, and this alone that renders us invincible." - Patrick Henry
"Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become more corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters." - Benjamin Franklin
"In contemplating the political institutions of the United States, I lament that we waste so much time and money in punishing crimes, and take so little pains to prevent them. We profess to be republicans and yet we neglect the only means of establishing and perpetuating our republican forms of government. That is, the universal education of our youth in the principles of Christianity by the means of the Bible." - Benjamin Rush
"...the only foundation for...a republic is to be laid in Religion. Without this there can be no virtue, and without virtue there can be no liberty, and liberty is the object and life of all republican governments." - Benjamin Rush
"Christianity is the only true and perfect religion; and that in proportion as mankind adopt its principles and obey its precepts they will be wise and happy." - Benjamin Rush
"In my view, the Christian Religion is the most import and and one of the first things in which all children, under a free government, ought to be instructed…no truth is more evident to my mind than that the Christian Religion must be the basis of any government intended to secure the rights and privileges of a free people." - Noah Webster
"The moral principles and precepts contained in the Scriptures ought to form the basis of all of our civil constitutions and laws.… All the miseries and evils which men suffer from vice, crime, ambition, injustice, oppression, slavery and war, proceed from their despising or neglecting the precepts contained in the Bible." - Noah Webster
"Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports…In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens." - President George Washington
"Statesmen, my dear Sir, may plan and speculate for liberty, but it is Religion and Morality alone, which can establish the Principles upon which Freedom can securely stand." - John Adams
"[W]e have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. . . . Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." - John Adams
And consider these observations made by Alexis de Tocqueville, a French historian who toured America in the early 19th Century to determine the source of greatness for this fledgling country:
"Upon my arrival in the United States, the religious aspect of the country was the first thing that struck my attention; and the longer I stayed there the more did I perceive the great political consequences resulting from this state of things, to which I was unaccustomed. In France I had almost always seen the spirit of religion and the spirit of freedom pursuing courses diametrically opposed to each other; but in America I found that they were intimately united, and that they reigned in common over the same country."
"The Americans combine the notions of Christianity and of liberty so intimately in their minds, that it is impossible to make them conceive the one without the other."
de Tocqueville even points out that laws don't need to be couched in "religious language" and terms (and don't need to quash the religious freedoms of anyone) in order to be influenced by the Christian values of society; that happens naturally in a nation with a government "of the people, by the people and for the people." Here's what he said: "In the United States religion exercises but little influence upon the laws and upon the details of public opinion, but it directs the manners of the community, and by regulating domestic life it regulates the State."
So you see, the founders never for a second considered that Christian values should be kept separate from government, that those religious values shouldn't guide and inform the manner of laws we create for ourselves, that government should be blind to the moral conscience of religion.
Quite the opposite, in fact. The founders saw that without the informed government conscience supplied by Christian values, an orderly government and society would be impossible...and so would freedom itself.
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