Madison's View On Religious Freedom

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Throughout history, religions have been manipulated by political agendas, and political offices have been compromised by particular beliefs. Indeed, the Christian church is most incorrupt when it is a separate entity from the government. In the beginning of the nation, America’s founding fathers declared that they wished to separate from the overbearing rule of the English. Gone were the days of forced, collective beliefs, and instead, the freedom of choice became the foundation of the nation. However, as a newly founded country, freedom was an incredibly broad concept, and had to be further defined. One unclear part of that concept which lacked a solid definition was the exact role of the Christian church in the lives of the citizens and…show more content…
His first point made was that the Christian religion could easily be forced onto others if adapted into and given favor to by the law. It was an issue because it would go against the newfound freedom of America, and one freedom should be the same as other freedoms. Additionally, Madison noted that people cannot be forced into a belief, but rather they must come to their own conclusion. Another point made by Madison is that the government is there to serve all people to the best of its ability, and even though majority rules on a vote, all should be considered. This proposed bill would not be considerate of the other religions and traditions that do not practice Christianity. With that, Madison feared that the authority of the government might be questioned because religion is not a necessity to survival, and therefore not everyone will trust the reasoning behind making it an absolute in society. In turn, the church might try to use the government to further its agenda, or vice versa, to a negative…show more content…
In the case of the state supporting the Christian teachers, it is a genuine innocent wish. But it leaves out the teachers of other practices. Then, after the teachers are supported, it would be easy to say the entirety of the Christian church should fall under the government’s wing. Before anyone realizes it, the church and the state aren’t separated, and other religions are suddenly kicked out. This happened in Germany with Hitler when he started by saying that the Jewish race just needed to be separate, and then they needed their own housing, and then eventually, they needed to be killed. The fact that the Church and the State are each their own has kept the United States from harms

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