Religious Tolerance Quotes
The treaty, which was also ratified by the Senate, was actually drafted by Joel Barlow, the U. S. Consul in Tripoli. It was the first official statement of the United States on its religious basis or lack thereof.
Ahmad denied saying this although the reporter who wrote the original story insists that he did and she wrote it down at the time. Ahmad did not deny the statement when it first appeared in the Fremont Argus, but only did so several years later.
This quotation shows Washington's amazing tolerance for the times.
Later, as President in 1811, Madison vetoed a bill granting Federal land to build a Baptist church in the Mississippi territory.
For the majority of the time of Christian History, it has been Catholic Christian History. Protestantism did not begin until the 16th Century.
Opponents of the strict separation of church and state use this quotation to support their view. However, Story herein describes public sentiment, not what was passed and ratified in the Constitution and Bill of Rights. See {614309} and {614310} for his statements from the same work that show that there was no question in his mind but that church and state are separated by the Constitution and the First Amendment.
This statement was made after he had led the Muslim Ottoman Turkish Army to success in capturing Constantinople—Byzantium, Istanbul—bringing the Byzantine Empire (Eastern Roman Empire) to an end. He had his sights set on the Western Roman Empire next which was the remainder of what they knew of as the world then.
At the time, anyone who differed with the Church on issues of philosophy, ethics or religion could be tortured and burned at the stake, and anyone who criticized the Monarchy could be tortured and hung or beheaded. The result was the concept of a secret society of which the Illuminati was one.
