The Uncompromising Faith of America’s Founders Is Alive Today

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ORLANDO, FL – Enshrined in the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution is the right to freedom of religion. This right is the freedom that is listed first in the Bill of Rights. At America’s core, the ability of every individual to seek truth and choose their own religious beliefs – or none at all – affords everyone equal footing to live by their faith or live by the dictates of their conscience.

In 1791, Baptist minister John Leland wrote, “Every man must give an account of himself to God, and therefore every man ought to be at liberty to serve God in that way that he can best reconcile it to his conscience.” Leland noted that government would not be able to answer for individuals at the ultimate day of judgment, therefore, he urged the government should “let men be free.”

The Founders realized that without religious liberty there could be no true freedom, and therefore no person could be truly equal under the law. The Founders believed so much that religious liberty could not in any way be parsed from freedom that they were willing to suffer and sacrifice it all to bring the free America they envisioned into reality. All 56 patriots who signed the Declaration of Independence took their duties so seriously that they made a promise to the people stating, “with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.” They signed the Declaration knowing that pledge could literally cost them their lives and fortunes.