It has always been with us for as long as man has pondered the unknown, & likely always will be. Religious Freedom and tolerance is a rare thing, in the history of mankind.
The roots of religious freedom go further back than the reformation, but i'll pick it up from there. The central tenets of the reformation were these:
- Sola Scriptura. This is the elevation of the written word, or the Law, over the decrees & whims of man. The scriptures have the final authority, in matters of faith, not the edicts of the ruling elite.
- 'We must obey God, rather than man.' AKA, 'freedom of conscience'.
- Human equality, & the Priesthood of believers. This is in sharp contrast to the doctrine of divine authority of the ruling elite. The Divine right of Kings, Popes, & priests. They believed (or at least taught), that they have a special dispensation of wisdom & knowledge in their decisions, & the common man should submit to the state's authority as to God.
There were a few more things, but these were the central, foundational principles, that went on into the Enlightenment, & eventually culminated in the American Experiment. Point #2 became the basis for 'freedom of Religion', in the American Constitution.
In the American experiment of collective governance, the principles of Freedom were central to everything else. There were no elite Kings.. no Priests... no Popes. There were no mandated rules for conformity, that everyone was forced to comply with. Govt was forbidden to 'establish' any religious views, & Freedom was the Rule.. freedom to believe however you wish, & live by your conscience.
But Controllers are always there.. trying to impose THEIR belief systems on everyone else. It has been a constant struggle, to keep the air of liberty fresh, unfouled by the stench of mandated beliefs & philosophical dogmatism. It is my observation that we are going backwards in this area, & are returning to a Dark Ages style of mandated conformity. The official State Religion has become dominant, & they are censoring any alternatives to their belief system.
It has been my observation, that the religio/philosophical ideology of Progressivism (with an emphasis on atheistic naturalism) has taken over as the Official State Belief. That belief system has become the dominant & exclusive belief in the State's education systems, the media, entertainment, National Parks, children's shows, the courts, & every institution of man. They have banned any competition from alternate religious views, & have mandated conformity of belief in their naturalistic opinions. These are not empirical 'scientific facts!', but are merely religious opinions, about the nature of man & the universe.
The consequence of this trend is increasing religious bigotry, toward any minority opinions. They have used the power of the State to mandate conformity of belief, and the resultant indoctrinees of this 'religion' show increasing hostility & prejudice toward more traditional views, or other religious opinions. Christianity is especially targeted by this intolerance.
Religious Freedom is perhaps the single most important freedom listed in the bill of rights. It is in the 1st amendment, & is central to all the others. If this freedom is not jealously guarded, defended, & elevated as a pinnacle of all other freedoms, then none of the others matter. What use is 'freedom of speech', if your religious beliefs are censored or banned by the State, or the majority opinion of the enabling elite? What good is 'freedom of assembly', if you cannot express alternate opinions about the supernatural in a public setting?
In a healthy American public narrative, any attempts to marginalize, ridicule, or belittle other people's religious beliefs would be nipped in the bud.. taken out & exposed as the religious bigotry it is.
So, is religious bigotry something only Christians can do? ..kind of like only white people can be racist? Are atheists exempt from religious bigotry, because they define their beliefs as 'non-religious!?'
