Religion has always been important in America's fabric. You could even say it's the thread that stitched us together. Each British American colony was a haven for some religious group. In the realm of religions, the Church of England was quite young. Henry VIII had only formed it 250 years earlier. It was also not known for being exactly accepting of other faiths. Thus the Puritan, Quakers, Catholics and Jews of England headed to the New World.
"The Church'' was the center of their communities no matter the faith. When colonists arrived they built their houses & barns first, their churches with schools second, and lastly the "town", you know the business district. I always found this very interesting through the eye of capitalism. They were satisfied with going back to a barter economy until the necessities of life were quenched; their housing, food, a place to worship and educate their children. When those needs were satisfied, that is when Main Street came into being.
Each colony set up a colonial government for local matters. Were those laws Christian laws? Not anymore than any other system of laws. A system of laws can be said to reflect the prevailing religious beliefs of a society concerning truth, fairness, morality and respect for the local beliefs in God. Therefore America's laws are not Christian laws, they are laws aimed at justice for all written primarily by men of Christian faith.
In the run up to the Revolution religion was a stepping stone to overcome because for many colonists the King was also the head of their Church. For them, revolution against the King was a sin. It would be as if the Catholics in Maryland declared war on the Pope.
Prior to the Civil War preachers in the South justified their support for slavery [apartheid] from their pulpits. In 1776 we accepted our differences and joined forces. In 1861, we didn't, we went to war against each other. In 2023, some are still using religion as a justification for the fascist treatment of others.
The politics of the Christian Conservatives running the RNC are much more closely paralleled to the politics of the Confederate States of America. Writer Aaron Sorkin called them the Crazy Christians. The followers of the modern MAGA Movement are determined to replicate how the Antebellum South was living in an aristocracy that rivaled the Royal Families of Europe. Now MAGA seeks a ruling White minority in America, ending democratic rule.
Get off the couch, organize, demonstrate, march - Hell, warm up some molasses to about 98 degrees and grab a bag of feathers. Do something but do it together. Keep the faith in a democratic republic, one nation, out of many people, with justice for all people.
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