In the 1600s there were religious groups leaving England to come to America in hopes of escaping religious persecution. These people were strong believers in Christianity and once they arrived in the English colonies had their religious freedom. No one wants to be persecuted for their beliefs.
Why did the founding fathers state in the First Amendment, "Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
Our founding fathers were more than three to five generations away from their ancestors who escaped England to seek religious freedom. How did our ancestors know what the future would be like, if religion was allowed to influence this country's laws, churches and schools.
Thomas Jefferson was one of the leading voices and a strong influence for the freedom of religion. Did this one man have the foresight to see the damage that could be done if this country was ruled by a single religion. Our schools would be dominated by Christian thinking and this would eventually lead the future of this country towards limited possibilities. Freedom allows us the opportunity to expand on our beliefs and change them at will, right or wrong.
Strong religious doctrine must be followed strictly and wouldn't provide us any room to think outside of Christianity. A good example of a close minded system of government would be communism. The Russians couldn't make the changes necessary and lost their status as a world power because they were living within the boundaries of limited thinking. This could provide us with an example of what our government could have led us into if we didn't have the First Amendment or freedom of religion.
Most people take it for granted, that we can voice our opinions, join any religious group we choose and educate ourselves with books from local libraries, free schooling, government grants to promote higher levels of education and to live in a country that accepts change, if it benefits society as a whole.
Freedom of religion allows me to write this article and not be thrown in jail. I'm glad to be a part of the country that our founding fathers had foresight to create laws that would benefit us in the future. Freedom of free speech and religion is a necessity to create a healthy community or government.
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Greg Vanden Berge is a published author, internet marketing expert, motivational inspiration to millions of people all over the world and is sharing some of his wisdom with experts in the fields of writing,marketing, and personal development.
Greg is currently working on a self help library filled with great subjects on a wide array of topics, like religion, self help and spiritual changes in the world. His views on religious freedom are slowly changing the way people think about institutional religion.
Fighting In Gods Name
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