America has this folk history of being founded by religious dissenters who wanted to find freedom. And there's a certain measure of truth to that, if you ignore that "freedom" was more "freedom to establish our own oppressive religious laws, rather than having to obey the oppressive religious laws of others."
And note, of course, that they call out the true canon of the Bible, so that there's no question about blaspheming against those Apocrypha that the Catholics (and Anglicans) were so hep on.
It is remarkable that, in just three centuries, things have changed so much — at least in the US. Though even here there seem to be some who wouldn't mind seeing the "old time religion" rules reinstated in some form or another.
Originally shared by +E Walker:
In American History November 4, 1646
the Massachusetts Bay Colony passed a law compelling the people to attend church on Sunday, and invoked the death penalty for those who denied the inspiration of the Bible. They eased up a little in 1697. Like many laws in our young nation they have been severe. We are still an unfinished work on laws, justice and punishment. America has progressed from persecuting religious dissenters– to tolerating religious dissenters–to providing religious freedom to all because it is a natural right. Yet often returns to such intolerance.
Some? There's depressingly and worryingly way too many. Some of whom just got elected to office.