Historian to talk on separation of church, state in Va.

[SecularMotion]

I think it was Rush Limbaugh who used to say, “Everyone is entitled to my opinion.”

As history tells us, that often seems to be the attitude taken by many religious people toward the concept of religious freedom.

Most of the American colonies, for example, were settled by groups seeking to worship their God as they saw fit, free from the suffocation of state-sponsored religion in Europe. Once they settled into the New World, however, it wasn’t long before they began persecuting other religious groups in their own backyard.

“One of the surprising things I discovered in my research,” said John Ragosta, an attorney, historian, professor and writer who has made a career of studying the often uneven boundary between church and state in America, “is that prior to the Declaration of Independence, more than half the Baptist clergymen in Virginia had spent time in jail for preaching. Virginia was very much an Anglican state.”

http://www.newsadvance.com/news/local/darrell_laurant/article_58736c98-d14c-11e2-92a9-0019bb30f31a.html

[Adsos Letter]

1. “I’ve changed my opinions back and forth quite a bit since then,” he said.

Man, I can relate to that. I'll think I've got it figured out, then something like the S.C. valedictorian's speech occurs, and I find myself struggling with the balance between free speech (which I certainly support) and the rights of minorities (which I support as well). Competing interests, and which is higher? I don't think the answer is as simple as I, or others, on any side sometimes present it to be.

Good stuff for such a short article. Wish I could attend this guy's talk.

[ragosta]

2. Difficult Issues

Adsos:

Thank you for your comments. You might find the book (Religious Freedom: Jefferson's Legacy, America's Creed) interesting.

In terms of the valedictorian speech issue, see my recent blog on the topic at: johnragosta.com

[hrmjustin]

3. Welcome to DU and welcome to the religion room.

[dimbear]

4. Most of the American colonies, for example, were settled by groups seeking to worship their God as

they saw fit............??

In a sense the standard conception of history, but just how true is it? Does it take into account the very large number of settlers who came to fish, and being illiterate left no records? Does it take into account Georgia, whose unfortunate first settlers were transported convicts? Or Florida, settled by disappointed treasure hunters? No, I think it mostly concentrates on the lettered few who left behind diaries and sermons and grist for Nathaniel Hawthorne.