There is a simplistic view that the Europeans who first came to America’s shores yearned for a society with religious freedom. In fact, many brought their bitter prejudices with them from the Old World. Like a child groping in the dark, the young colonies felt their way through their earliest years amid strident religious disagreements as they sought to define what kind of societies they would be, and what place religion would play in them.
The United States that would one day enshrine religious liberty in its Constitution was also the America that faced Puritan intolerance of Quakers and the Salem witch trials.
It was the America where the Dutch Governor of New Amsterdam could say of Jews in 1654 that they not be allowed to “infect and trouble this new colony.” And it was the America that would heap intolerance and persecution on Catholics and Mormons into even the 20th century.
All the more remarkable, then, that the United States has endured its trials to emerge as a truly pluralistic society quite unlike any place in the world. Its majority is Christian, and around the world it is unquestionably seen as a Christian nation. But it is also a Jewish, a Muslim, a Buddhist and a Native American nation - a land that welcomes people of all faiths with offers of safety and security.
Christians and non-Christians alike are protected by law from persecution or abuse. As the unnecessary public spats we’ve seen this Christmas season over religious symbolism remind us, it’s also our charter as citizens to foster freedom of conscience and civility, whether during the Christmas season or at any other time.
To be sure, America hasn’t quite worked everything out yet in terms of its religious liberties. Problems still show through occasionally and dynamic tensions may always exist. But I have a feeling that Franklin and Madison and Jefferson – while not without concerns - would still have positive things to say about how far we’ve come.
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