ANS -- Ten of the original 13 colonies had their own religion written in the law

This is a short article about our original 13 colonies and why we decided to include separation of church and state in our Bill of Rights.  

[Eric-- I added this to the sermon notes.]

--Kim

Ten of the original 13 colonies had their own religion written in the law. This wasn’t about finding a church with the best music or a pastor with the best jeans.

Back then religion meant power and if you didn’t follow the law there were consequences.

-Virginia was Anglican.

Miss church and you could be fined or jailed and the vestry might send someone to your house to check on you and it wasn’t a nice welfare check.

-Massachusetts was Puritan and they banned dissenters, whipped baptists and executed Quakers.

-Ann Hutchinson was banned for holding bible studies class at home.

A river in New York is named after her.

-Maryland was Catholic founded and they passed a law that if you denied the trinity you could be put to death (the trinity is not even in the Bible).

-Pennsylvania was Quaker, know for tolerance but even they banned gambling, theater and oath taking and their pacifism made them politically controversial.

-New York and New Jersey had strong Dutch Reform roots but under British rule Anglican gained power. Lutheran pastors weren’t even allowed to preach publicly.

-Rhode Island was the exception.

Founded by Roger Williams after he was banned from Massachusetts he believed forced religion was “soul rape.”

-North Carolina had Quakers who were fined and barred from holding office for refusing to take loyalty oaths or military service.

-All of this was not religious freedom.

It was religious enforcement.

The colonies didn’t share one faith and if you stepped out of line you would be punished.

-That’s exactly why the constitution separates church from state.

They knew what happens when religion became law because they had seen and experienced it first hand..

- Lindsay Winslow Brown