Freedom of Belief

   The founders of America, including those who wrote the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, were targets themselves of the demand that a single belief system be held by everyone, specifically the religion followed by the earlier settlers. 

  The problem, of course, was which set of founders, and therefore which system of belief. For many years, Catholicism was a particular target of those wanting everyone to believe as they did, and part of this was based on politics as well as ethnicity. Loyalty to the nation, as they saw it, prohibited loyalty to anyone else, especially the Pope in Rome.

   But it was time for change, the founders said.That's why many came to America, even as some of them tried to impose their own system on others who also came to America for a similar reason, the need for freedom of religion.

  This continued for centuries, from 1620 through the 19th Century bigotry against newcomers from Ireland and Italy, as well as 20th Century attempts to limit immigration from Eastern Europe and Asia.

   Even today, in the 21st Century, there is a continuing effort to stop immigration from Latin America and from Far East nations spoiled by war.

   When will it stop? I don't know. Such political bigotry is contrary to the teachings of brotherhood espoused by many spiritual traditions. Perhaps it will come to an end when people practice the preaching they make to each other.

   As for defending their talk by saying they answer to a Higher Power, this is true for all of us. The Higher Power they refer to does not discriminate among creations, so why should any of the creatures impose their own bias?

   Yet we see this every day, in all parts of the world. What better place to start to change this than here at home? If we are indeed created equal, as was written by America's founders, then we today must live up to that, and treat others as we wish our ancestors had been treated. Indeed, how we wish we ourselves are treated today.