Puritan past shows danger of mixing religion, government
The Puritans who left England and settled in New England were Christians. The Quakers who left England and settled in Pennsylvania were Christians. They both protested some beliefs of the Church of England (also Christian) and sought a new life in the New World.
I grew up in Philadelphia, where the statue of William Penn in his correct Quaker outfit complete with hat on the top of City Hall was, by gentleman’s agreement at that time, the height limit for all construction in the city. I also grew up visiting the Liberty Bell with my Brownie troop and distinctly remember taking off my regulation white cotton gloves to touch the bell long before the bell was protected and enclosed in its handsome new display.
We grew up knowing about our Founding Fathers and the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution and nearby Valley Forge, where George Washington’s troops camped, starved and froze one very cold winter and still defeated the British.
We also drew pumpkins and pictures of the Pilgrims serving their beautifully roasted turkeys to create the first Thanksgiving. We thought we knew it all. Then, one day many years later, I found myself living in Boston with my husband, and while walking in (or near) one of Boston’s very pleasant, centrally located parks, I read a tasteful bronze sign. It marked the spot where Puritans hanged the Quaker Mary Dyer and three other Quakers in 1660. The Massachusetts Bay Colony was a theocracy with religion and government linked. Quite honestly, I thought there must be some mistake. The mistake, however, was that of the Puritans, and in 1661 the King of England revoked the Massachusetts Bay Colony’s right to execute anyone for professing Quakerism. I looked this up just recently. The point is that I finally understood why the Constitution of the United States did not declare an official religion.
So although people who practice a particular religion — any religion or no religion — with the best of all possible intentions may want to share the peace and joy that religion brings, they cannot do it in the name of the government of the United States of America.
I would point out that today there is no Puritan religion, although the religion was certainly allowed to exist by every law, and I am very certain that not all Puritans would have killed anyone trying to convert them to a different religion.
Linking religion and government, history tells us over and over, is just very dangerous.