John Winthrop, the first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, was a source of inspiration for U.S. presidents from John F. Kennedy to Ronald Reagan though he did not believe in democracy or religious tolerance. The Massachusetts Bay Colony did not hesitate to execute people like the Quakers and even engaged in the trial and execution of witches.
But, early America probably came by it naturally: During the Crusades the Roman Catholic Church taught that going to war against the infidels was an act of Christian penance. If a believer was killed during a crusade, he would bypass purgatory, and go directly to heaven. Each warrior received a cross from the hands of the Pope or his legates making him a soldier of the Church.
Fortunately our Founding Fathers didn’t see it that way: “I never will, by any word or act, bow to the shrine of intolerance or admit a right of inquiry into the religious opinions of others,” said Thomas Jefferson.
But, regardless of our Constitution, intolerance has persisted, even infecting our most noble institutions of higher learning: According to historian David Oshinsky, writing about Jonas Salk, "Most of the surrounding medical schools - Cornell, Columbia, Pennsylvania, and Yale - had rigid quotas in place. In 1935 Yale accepted 76 applicants from a pool of 501. About 200 of those applicants were Jewish but only five got in." Oshinsky notes that the dean's instructions were remarkably precise: "Never admit more than five Jews, take only two Italian Catholics, and take no blacks at all."
And the Ku Klux Klan, a.k.a. The Invisible Empire, carried it even further: The second Ku Klux Klan, as founded by William J. Simmons, added to the original anti-black ideology with a new anti-immigrant, anti-Catholic, prohibitionist and anti-Semitic agenda. Klansmen were bound to “Fight the Good Fight” to ensure that America was inhabited only by WASPs.
And more recently American evangelical Christians managed to anger all the world's major religions when Southern Baptists published a booklet encouraging prayer for the conversion of Jews. Previously they had published a prayer guide for Muslims and one for Hindus, and not to leave anyone out they later released a prayer guide for Buddhists. (per Charles Colson)
But there has always been at least one sane person around to remind us of the true purpose of religious freedom: “A man who is convinced of the truth of his religion is indeed never tolerant. At the least, he will feel pity for the adherent of another religion but usually it does not stop there. The faithful adherent of a religion will try first to convert those that believe in another religion and usually turns to hatred if he is not successful. Hatred then leads to persecution when the might of the majority is behind it.” Albert Einstein
There have also been people who remind us why we really shouldn’t amend our current Constitution: “Once you attempt legislation upon religious grounds, you open the way for every kind of intolerance and religious persecution.” William Butler Yeats
And, as to that mosque in NYC, well I hope we Americans can show the world we still believe in the First Amendment to our Constitution and not succumb to fear or intolerance for if we do, perhaps the terrorists have won. I prefer to believe we are as big as we are strong. The rest of humanity is watching.
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