Separation of Church and State
Evolved from 1640 through 1748
30 Philosophers, Chapter 23, Roger Williams, Touchstone 57: Separation of Church and State.
More than a historical or religious treatise, the Bloody Tenet by Roger Williams is a seminal work. It launched a full-throttle assault on the prevailing norms of religious and political intolerance that plagued both Old and New England. In it, he passionately argued for the separation of church and state insisting that governments had no role in regulating thought or belief. One of Williams’ most evocative lines was the call for separation:
“…a hedge or wall of separation between the Garden of the Church and the Wilderness of the world.”
And now, a premium bonus.
Your mind belongs to you. Neither church nor state has legitimate authority to dictate what you must believe.
Subject: Freedom of Conscience.
Church-state separation is more than an institutional arrangement. At its heart is freedom of conscience. Government can regulate conduct when necessary to protect others, but belief itself belongs to the individual. Williams helped establish a principle that became foundational to liberal democracy: government should protect conscience, not command it.
What is the right of an individual to hold and express their own beliefs?.
Answer. Freedom of Conscience.
was first published on TST 2 years ago.
