[9] From: charles.sumner@juno.com (Charles Sumner) at equinoxsmtp 11/27/97 8:01A M (8111 bytes: 149 ln) To: chstate@ecunet.org at EQUINOXSMTP bcc: Fred Rice Subject: [chstate] Thanksgiving for 1st Amendment ------------------------------- Message Contents ------------------------------- The following vignettes are provided for use with our organizational name if possible; however, you may use them without it if preferred. These might be used in church newsletters or on bulletin boards. There are 13 in all - transmitted in two parts. CELEBRATING THE BILL OF RIGHTS 1. PRESIDENT THOMAS JEFFERSON'S VIEWS ON GOVERNMENT-SPONSORED PRAYERS As President, Thomas Jefferson declined to recommend a day of fasting and prayer because he felt that to do so would be an unwarranted government encroachment on religion. In a letter written in 1808 to Reverend Samuel Miller, a Presbyterian minister, Jefferson explained, "Fasting and prayer are religious exercise; the enjoining them an act of discipline. Every religious society has a right to determine for itself the times for these exercises and the objects proper for them, according to their own particular tenets; and this right can never be safer than in their own hands, where the Constitution has deposited it." We are fortunate in America to have a government not hostile to religion. We are free to proclaim our religion and to practice it without any interference from government. Let's continue to preserve that right by supporting the First Amendment guarantees of no establishment of religion and freedom of religion. CELEBRATING THE BILL OF RIGHTS 2. THE RESULTS OF ESTABLISHMENT OF RELIGION At the time of the American Revolution, the Church of England was the established church in Virginia and all residents were taxed for its support. Between 1768 and 1777 some 83 Baptist preachers in Virginia suffered persecution, 44 of them serving prison terms. Their only crime was preaching the Gospel without a license. With the passage of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution all the people in our nation became free to practice their religion or not without government compulsion. The first words of the Bill of Rights promise that no tax dollars will be extracted from the people for the purpose of supporting a religious establishment. Let's keep it that way! CELEBRATING THE BILL OF RIGHTS 3. COLONIAL CONNECTICUT Because of the First Amendment to the Constitution we enjoy religious liberty. We may worship God as conscience dictates, or we may may choose not to be religious. Government has no authority over our consciences. It was not this way in the Connecticut Colony. A justice of the peace fined two young girls five shillings each "because on the Lord's Day during divine services they did smile." Did you smile in church? Did you attend church? Remember what preserves your religious liberty. The principle is called separation of church and state. It is embodied in the First Amendment. Help preserve it. CELEBRATING THE BILL OF RIGHTS 4. MASSACHUSETTS BAY COLONY By 1692 in the Massachusetts Bay Colony more than 200 people had been accused of being witches. Thirty-two people were put to death. The power of the government was used to enforce religious orthodoxy. Giles Corey would not plead guilty. He was pressed to death by weights. Be thankful that you have as your protection the First Amendment to the Constitution. It was not available to Giles Corey in 1692. Keep church and state separate and free; it's best for both. CELEBRATING THE BILL OF RIGHTS 5. MINISTERS IN THE COLONY OF VIRGINIA In America today you may belong to one of several hundred religions without interference from the government. It was not like this in colonial America. In Virginia the law required you to attend Anglican worship once a month or be fined. Non-Anglican ministers had to be licensed by the state. Those who defied the law were arrested and convicted. Some were fined. Many more were imprisoned. A Separate Baptist minister was jailed four times; another was imprisoned for five months. It took many years for the Virginia Statute for Religious Liberty to become law. It became the forerunner to the First Amendment to the Constitution, which provides us with protection. The principle was called by Thomas Jefferson separation of church and state. Celebrate the Bill of Rights. Help preserve its principles. CELEBRATING THE BILL OF RIGHTS 6. VIRGINIA'S "TAX FOR RELIGION" As a result of the Great Awakening and immigration, by the 1770's the colony of Virginia no longer had a majority of Anglicans. So when Patrick Henry proposed his "General Assessment Bill" it would have taxed all citizens to fund "teachers of the Christian religion" of the major faiths, not just the Anglican. James Madison and Thomas Jefferson opposed the bill and saw that it was defeated. However, it took seven years for them to muster enough support for the Virginia Statute for Religious Liberty to get it passed. Its principles were incorporated in the First Amendment to the Constitution, which today gives you protection against being taxed to support religions. The principle was called by Jefferson "separation of church and state." It has served us well. Help preserve the First Amendment. CELEBRATING THE BILL OF RIGHTS 7. OLD NEW YORK In the colony of New Amsterdam (now known as New York City) the son of a Dutch Reformed minister was appointed governor. His name was Peter Stuyvesant. One of his first acts was to proclaim that "no other religion shall be publicly admitted in New Netherlands except the Reformed." Jews, Quakers and Lutherans were vigorously persecuted. The First Amendment has protected us from such treatment for over 200 years. Religious liberty is a precious heritage. However, it can be diminished or lost if the public is not aware of the historical background. Help preserve the religious liberty clauses of the First Amendment. Become informed. CELEBRATING THE BILL OF RIGHTS 8. MARRIAGES IN VIRGINIA For many years in the colony of Virginia marriages could be performed ONLY by an Anglican clergyman. You could be married unofficially by your own minister, but you had to go to the Anglican church to make it official. In nine of the thirteen colonies there were established churches. This meant that these churches had preferential treatment by government, often receiving tax funds. The reason we enjoy religious liberty today is because the first words of the First Amendment promise us no establishment of religion and free exercise of religion. The principle was called by Thomas Jefferson "separation of church and state." Will we preserve the First Amendment? Not unless we are alert to transgressions against it. It's time to join: Americans United for Separation of Church and State 1816 Jefferson Place NW, Washington, DC 20036 http://www.au.org americansunited@au.org Provided by Rochester Chapter http://www.frontiernet.net/~ldecours/au charles.sumner@juno.com --------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe from this list, send just the word unsubscribe in the body of a note to chstate-request@ecunet.org --------------------------------------------------------------- [11] From: charles.sumner@juno.com (Charles Sumner) at equinoxsmtp 11/28/97 1:43 PM (6419 bytes: 136 ln) To: chstate@ecunet.org at EQUINOXSMTP bcc: Fred Rice Subject: [chstate] Thanksgiving for 1st Amendment (2) ------------------------------- Message Contents ------------------------------- Part 2 The following vignettes are provided for use with our organizational name if possible; however, you may use them without it if preferred. These might be used in church newsletters or on bulletin boards. There are 13 in all - transmitted in two parts. CELEBRATING THE BILL OF RIGHTS 9. RELIGIOUS TOLERATION IN MARYLAND The colony of Maryland under a Roman Catholic, Lord Baltimore, is well known for the Toleration Act of 1649, which provided a degree of religious liberty unusual for the new world. Not everyone is aware that even here religious liberty did not apply to Unitarians or Jews. A fine, public whipping or imprisonment could be imposed upon evangelists or anyone speaking with disrespect about the Virgin Mary. Toleration ceased in 1655 when Puritans suspended the Toleration Act to be able to make second-class citizens of Anglicans, Quakers, Baptists and Catholics. Separation of church and state was a welcome feature of the new Constitution as embodied in the First Amendment. It brought religious peace. Finally in 1826 Jews and Unitarians achieved equal status with other religions. Religious freedom is a precious heritage. Help preserve the First Amendment. CELEBRATING THE BILL OF RIGHTS 10. WILLIAM PENN'S TOLERATION Pennsylvania under William Penn was one of the most tolerant of the American colonies. Roman Catholic churches could be built, but no schools. No Catholic could hold public office. It took many years of oppression before the principle of separation of church and state put Catholics on equal footing with others. That principle was developed by James Madison and Thomas Jefferson and embodied in the First Amendment to the Constitution. It states, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." We must guard the First Amendment and be certain that government does not try to make some religions second class. Religious liberty is a precious heritage. CELEBRATING THE BILL OF RIGHTS 11. THE PURITAN ESTABLISHMENT IN MASSACHUSETTS Many Puritans of the Massachusetts Bay Colony came to this country because they found that they could not worship according to their consciences in the Church of England. However, it took 203 years before they relinquished the position as the established church of Massachusetts in 1833. Everyone was taxed to support the Puritan church until 1711. To be a Freeman of the colony you had to belong to the right church. In 1636 they drove out a certain troublemaker named Roger Williams. Established churches were a European heritage. We found a better way which is fair to all. Help preserve this liberty. Celebrate the First Amendment. CELEBRATING THE BILL OF RIGHTS 12. PATRICK HENRY IGNORES CRIES OF "TREASON" December 15, 1763, Hanover County, Virginia. A virtually unknown young lawyer, Patrick Henry, ignored sharp cries of "Treason! treason!" in Hanover County Court as he denounced in passionate tones the meddling of King George the Third and pointed with an accusing finger at the state-supported clergy of the established church. Ordinarily the clergy of the established church received their salary from the state in tobacco, but the price of tobacco soared in 1758 due to an anticipated crop failure. The Virginia Legislature voted to give the ministers their salaries in currency at a rate below the market value of tobacco. The ministers appealed to the King, who disallowed the act. In a test case first brought to the courts in April of 1762, the clergy sued for the remainder of their 1758 salaries. The jury ruled the act of 1758 invalid in view of the King's edict, but it awarded the clergymen damages of only one penny. The so-called "Parson's Cause" marked a turn in the affairs of Virginia and the Colonies. It dramatized the potential evils of church-state union. This helped to bring about a climate in which the people of the Virginia colony supported the idea of religious liberty for all the people. Let's keep the First Amendment in letter and in spirit. CELEBRATING THE BILL OF RIGHTS 13. BAPTIST DISSENTERS IN LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS BAY COLONY, 1651 John Clark, Obediah Holmes, and Reverend Crandall visited William Whittier, one of the Baptist dissenters today. While they were conducting a service of worship on the Lord's Day, a constable stormed into the house with a warrant, arresting "three erroneous persons" and placed them in jail. The men were given the choice of paying heavy fines or being whipped. Holmes and Clark chose the whipping. Someone paid Clark's fine, but Holmes refused help, saying to accept it would admit a wrongdoing. Thirty strokes with heavy leather lashes left his back and shoulders a bloody mass of quivering flesh. When the whipping stopped two women rushed to his side and said, "God bless you." For this they were hustled off to jail. We enjoy freedom of worship and think it is our privilege to do so, but it was not like this in America 346 years ago. Help celebrate the First Amendment. It's time to join: Americans United for Separation of Church and State 1816 Jefferson Place NW, Washington, DC 20036 http://www.au.org americansunited@au.org Provided by Rochester Chapter http://www.frontiernet.net/~ldecours/au charles.sumner@juno.com --------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe from this list, send just the word unsubscribe in the body of a note to chstate-request@ecunet.org ---------------------------------------------------------------