As someone who never travels without his pocket U.S. Constitution, I loved that yesterday’s New York Times forced me to revisit the two sections that deal with Judicial and Executive power — Articles III and II, respectively.
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Category Archives: First Amendment
Judicial Activism & the Yelp-ification of Voting?
Categories: Democracy, First Amendment, Learning
Tags: constitution, constitutional amendment, New York Times, us supreme court, voting
Leave a commentWhy We Celebrate — the (Religious) Origins of the Separation of Church & State
When New Amsterdam refused entry to a shipload of Quakers in 1657, the clergy of the Dutch Reformed Church were happy to be rid of them. In a letter to Holland, two church leaders speculated the Quakers had sailed to Rhode Island — “for that is the receptacle of all sorts of riff-raff people, and is nothing less than the sewer of New England. All the cranks of New England retire thither. They are not tolerated in any other place.”
Roger Williams, the founder of Rhode Island would probably have taken that as a compliment. He envisioned Rhode Island as a haven for the cause of conscience, and the colony was the first place in America with no established faith, where every person had full religious liberty. It came as no surprise to him that dissenters, non-conformists, and “cranks” ended up in his colony. Where else could they go?
Categories: Democracy, First Amendment
Tags: 4th of July, first amendment, religious liberty, roger williams
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