American Minute with Bill Federer
Maryland's Christian Founding: What Happened Since Then?
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On June 20, 1632,
King Charles I of England
granted a charter for the
Colony of Maryland,
named for his CATHOLIC wife, Queen Henrietta Maria, stating:
"Charles, by the Grace of God, of England, Scotland, France, and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith ...
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Whereas our well beloved ... subject
Cecilius Calvert, Baron of Baltimore,
in our Kingdom of Ireland ... being animated with a laudable, and
pious zeal for extending the CHRISTIAN RELIGION
...
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hath humbly besought leave of us that he may transport, by his own ... expense, a numerous colony of the English Nation, to certain ... parts of America ... partly occupied by savages, having no knowledge of the
Divine Being
...
With the increasing worship and
RELIGION OF CHRIST
within said region ... shall ... be built ... Churches, Chapels, and Places of Worship."
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The CATHOLIC
Lord Baltimore Cecilius Calvert
sent two ships, the
Ark
and the
Dove,
to settle the
Colony of Maryland.
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He gave instructions to his brother,
Leonard Calvert,
the Governor of the expedition, 1634:
"To preserve peace and unity amongst all the passengers ...
treat the PROTESTANTS with as much mildness and favor
as justice will require."
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Buying land from the Indians, they founded the
St. Mary's City,
considered the
birthplace of religious tolerance in the United States.
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In 1649, they extended liberty to
PROTESTANTS
by issuing the
Maryland Toleration Act,
which stated:
"That no person ... within this province ...
professing to believe in JESUS CHRIST shall ... from henceforth be any ways troubled or molested
... in respect of his or her religion."
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Meanwhile, back in England, a
Civil War
broke out between
PURITANS
and
ANGLICANS.
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The
PURITANS
won and chopped off the head of
ANGLICAN
King Charles I
in 1649.
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At this time, an
ANGLICAN
named
John Washington
emigrated to Virginia.
His great-grandson was George Washington.
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In 1650, when Virginia drove out anyone who was not an
ANGLICAN,
many
PURITANS fled from Virginia to Maryland, founding the city of Annapolis.
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On March 25, 1655, in what was considered
"the last battle of the English Civil War,"
PURITANS
took over the
Colony of Maryland,
and proceeded to pass laws against
CATHOLICS
, such as the
Act Concerning Religion,
October 20, 1654:
"That such as profess Faith in GOD by JESUS CHRIST, though differing in Judgment from from the Doctrine, Worship or Discipline ... should not be restrained but protected in the Profession of the Faith and Exercise of their Religion ...
Provided such liberty was NOT EXTENDED TO POPERY ...
That
none who profess and exercise the PAPISTIC,
commonly known as the
ROMAN CATHOLIC RELIGION,
can be protected in this province."
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PURITANS
lost control of England.
Admiral William Penn
helped bring
Charles II
back to England to restore the monarchy.
In 1658,
Lord Baltimore
was restored to being Maryland's Governor.
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With the help of
Admiral Penn, Charles II
defeated the
Dutch
and gave the
Dutch colony
of
New Amsterdam
to his brother,
James, the Duke of York, causing New Amsterdam
to become
New York.
Charles II
also gave to the son of
Admiral Penn
the
Colony of Pennsylvania.
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When
Charles II
died in 1685, and his brother became
King James II.
James II's
daughter,
Mary,
married the
Dutch
leader
William III, the Prince of Orange.
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When it appeared that
James II
was going to
make England CATHOLIC again
, he was driven out in the
"Glorious Revolution,"
where
ANGLICAN
leaders in England invited
William III,
and his wife,
Mary,
to co-rule as
William and Mary.
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In
Maryland, ANGLICANS
took control of the colony, and
CATHOLICS
were again denied freedom of conscience, as stated in an
Act to Prevent the Growth of Popery
, September 30, 1704:
"That whatsoever
POPISH Bishop, Priest or Jesuit,
shall baptize any child ... other than such who have
POPISH Parents
or shall say Mass ... shall forfeit ... fifty pounds Sterling ... and shall also suffer
six months imprisonment
...
And be it further enacted ... if any
PAPIST
... shall keep school or take upon themselves the education ... or boarding of youth ... such persons ... shall upon conviction be transported out of this Province."
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The wealthiest man in Maryland,
Charles Carroll, Sr., of Annapolis,
sailed to France in 1752, to meet with
CATHOLIC King
Louis XV
to propose obtaining land in the
Louisiana Territory
in order to move
Maryland
CATHOLICS
there, though this never materialized.
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Maryland,
being a coastal colony, became a destination for settlers who were:
- QUAKERS,
- SCOTCH PRESBYTERIANS,
- GERMAN MORAVIANS,
- MENNONITES and
- other PROTESTANT DISSENTERS.
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When the
Revolutionary War
started, everything changed.
The thirteen colonies in America, with their different denominations, realized they had to
work together
in order to defeat the
ANGLICAN
King George III.
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One incident of working together came in 1775, when the
Continental Army
was camped at
Harvard College,
on the Cambridge Commons.
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Soldiers from Connecticut had made plans for the
annual Guy Fawkes procession,
with its custom of
burning the Pope in effigy,
(and later wearing
Guy Fawkes masks),
in remembrance of how in 1605, the
gunpowder plot of CATHOLICS to blow up the British Parliament was foiled.
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When
General Washington
heard of the planned activity,
he halted the event
and expressed dismay at their lack of decency, as
CATHOLICS
were
fighting together with them
against the British.
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At first,
Maryland,
resisted joining the Revolution, as almost
every member of the ANGLICAN clergy supported King George III.
Helping to convince
Maryland
to join in the R
evolution
was
Charles Carroll,
son of the wealthiest landowner in
Maryland.
He
gave his support to independence, being
the sole CATHOLIC to sign the Declaration.
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Charles Carroll
wrote to Rev. John Stanford, October, 9, 1827:
"To obtain
religious
as well as
civil liberty
I entered jealously into the Revolution, and
observing the CHRISTIAN religion divided into many SECTS,
I founded the hope that
no one would be so predominant as to become the religion of the State.
That hope was thus early entertained because all of them joined in the same cause, with few exceptions of individuals."
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During the Revolution's freezing winter at Valley Forge,
a plot emerged in the Continental Congress to replace General George Washington
with
General Horatio Gates.
Charles Carroll
was key in persuading them
not to.
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Charles Carroll's
cousin,
John Carroll,
was the
first CATHOLIC Bishop in America.
In 1776,
Bishop John Carroll
traveled with
Charles Carroll, Samuel Chase
and
Ben Franklin
to
Canada
in a failed attempt to persuade that country to join in the Revolution.
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Bishop John Carroll
founded
Georgetown University.
Bishop Carroll
wrote:
"Freedom and independence, acquired by...the mingled
blood of PROTESTANT and CATHOLIC fellow-citizens,
should be equally enjoyed by all."
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President Washington
wrote to
Bishop John Carroll,
March 1790:
"Your fellow-citizens will not forget the patriotic part which you took in the accomplishment of their Revolution ...
May the members of your society in America, animated alone by the
pure spirit of CHRISTIANITY
... enjoy every temporal and spiritual felicity."
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At the time of the Revolution, the colonies were around
98 percent PROTESTANT,
a little less that
1 percent CATHOLIC,
and
1/10th of a percent JEWISH.
Catholics
had only been allowed in three colonies:
Maryland, Pennsylvania, and to a lesser degree New York.
Bishop John Carroll
wrote to Rome in 1790:
"The thirteen provinces of North America rejected the yoke of England, they proclaimed, at the same time, freedom of conscience ...
Before this great event, the CATHOLIC faith had penetrated two provinces only,
Maryland and Pennsylvania.
In all the others the laws against CATHOLICS were in force ...
By the Declaration of Independence, every difficulty was removed: the CATHOLICS were placed on a level with their fellow-CHRISTIANS, and every political disqualification was done away."
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Bishop John Carroll's
brother was
Daniel Carroll,
who was
one of two CATHOLICS to sign the U.S. Constitution,
the other being
Thomas Fitzsimons
of Pennsylvania.
Daniel Carroll
wanted to
limit the power of the Federal Government
and proposed in the Congressional debates that the phrase
"or to the people"
be added to the Tenth Amendment:
"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively,
OR TO THE PEOPLE."
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Daniel Carroll
provided the farm upon which the
U.S. Capitol
is built.
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Daniel Carroll's
nephew,
Robert Brent,
was the first mayor of Washington, D.C., being reappointed by
Jefferson
and
Madison.
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George Washington
wrote to the Congregation of New Church in
Baltimore, Maryland,
January 27, 1793:
"Every person may here
WORSHIP GOD
according to the d
ictates of his own heart.
In this enlightened Age and in this land of
equal liberty
it is our boast that a man's religious tenets will not forfeit the protection of the laws."
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In 1776,
Maryland's original State Constitution
generously granted religious freedom to
PROTESTANTS
and
CATHOLICS:
"ARTICLE 33: That, as it is the duty of every man to worship God in such manner as he thinks most acceptable to him; all persons, professing the
CHRISTIAN RELIGION,
are equally entitled to protection in their religious liberty;
wherefore no person ought by any law to be molested in his person or estate on account of his religious persuasion or profession, or for his religious practice ...
yet the Legislature may, in their discretion, lay a general and equal tax for the support of the
CHRISTIAN RELIGION."
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Maryland's original 1776 Constitution
continued:
"ARTICLE 55. That every person, appointed to any office ... shall ... take the following oath:
I ... do swear, that I do not hold myself bound in allegiance to the King of Great Britain, and that I will be faithful, and bear true allegiance to the State of Maryland; and shall also subscribe a declaration of his belief in the
CHRISTIAN RELIGION."
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In 1799, the Maryland Supreme Court
stated in the case of
Runkel v. Winemiller:
"Religion is of general and public concern,
and on its support depend, in great measure, the peace and good order of government, the safety and happiness of the people.
By our form of government, the
Christian religion is the established religion;
and all sects and denominations of Christians are placed upon the same equal footing,
and are equally entitled to protection in their religious liberty.
The principles of the
Christian religion
... and its doctrines generally propagated ... (by) places of public worship and teachers and ministers, to explain the Scriptures to the people ...
Pastors, teachers and ministers,
of every denomination of Christians,
are equally entitled to the
protection of the law ...
Every ... minister, of any sect or denomination of Christians
, who has been wrongfully dispossessed of his pulpit, is ... to be restored."
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In 1835, French political writer
Gustave de Beaumont,
a contemporary of Alexis de Tocqueville, wrote in,
Marie ou L'Esclavage aux E'tas-Unis:
"In the United States, the law is never atheistic ... All of the American constitutions proclaim freedom of conscience and the liberty and equality of all the confessions ...
... Maryland's Constitution
also declares that all of the faiths are free, and that no one is forced to contribute to the maintenance of a particular Church.
However, it gives the legislature the right to establish a general tax ... for the support of the
CHRISTIAN RELIGION
...
Maryland Law
declares that, to be admitted to public office, it is necessary to be a
CHRISTIAN."
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In 1851,
Maryland's Constitution
stated:
"ARTICLE 34. That no other test or qualification ought to be required ... than such oath of office as may be prescribed by this Constitution ... and a declaration of belief in the
CHRISTIAN RELIGION;
and if the party shall profess to be a
JEW,
the declaration shall be of his belief in A FUTURE STATE OF REWARDS AND PUNISHMENTS."
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In 1864,
Maryland's Constitution
stated:
"ARTICLE 37. That no other test or qualification ought to be required ... than such oath of allegiance ... to this State and the United States ... and a declaration of belief in the
CHRISTIAN RELIGION;
or in THE EXISTENCE OF GOD, and in A FUTURE STATE OF REWARDS AND PUNISHMENTS."
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In 1867,
Maryland's Constitution
stated:
"ARTICLE 37. That no religious test ought ever to be required ... other than a declaration of
belief in THE EXISTENCE OF GOD."
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In 2002,
Maryland's Constitution
stated:
"ARTICLE 37. That no religious test ought ever to be required ... other than
a declaration of belief in THE EXISTENCE OF GOD."
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In 1961, Roy Torcaso wanted to be a notary public in Maryland but he was denied as he refused to make
"a declaration of belief in the existence of God,"
as required by
Maryland's State Constitution, Article 37.
The case,
Torcaso v Watkins
(1961), went to the Supreme Court where
Justice Hugo Black
creatively
used the 14th Amendment to usurp jurisdiction of religion away from the States.
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He included a footnote which has since been cited authoritatively in subsequent cases:
"AMONG THE
RELIGIONS
in this country which do not teach what would generally be considered a belief in the existence of God are Buddhism, Taoism, Ethical Culture,
SECULAR HUMANISM
and others."
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Supreme Court Justice Scalia
wrote in
Edwards v. Aguillard
(1987):
"In
Torcaso v. Watkins,
367 U.S. 488, 495, n. 11 (1961), we did indeed refer to 'SECULAR HUMANISM' as a 'religion.'"
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After recognizing
SECULAR HUMANISM as a religion,
in order to not prefer one religion over another, the courts proceeded to expel
God.
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Thus,
they effectively established SECULAR HUMANISM as the official national religion
in violation of the First Amendment's prohibition that the Federal Government: "make no law respecting an establishment of religion "
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In 1960, an atheist in
Maryland
named
Madalyn Murray O'Hair
sued the
Baltimore City Public School System,
(Murray v. Curlett),
to have Bible reading taken out of public schools, using her 14 year old son, William J. Murray, III, as the plaintiff.
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The case went to the
Supreme Court
where it was combined with the case of
Abington Township v. Schempp.
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Justice Potter Stewart
wrote in the dissenting opinion of
Abington Township v. Schempp,
1963:
"The state may not establish a 'religion of secularism' in the sense of affirmatively opposing or showing hostility to religion, thus
'preferring those who believe in no religion over those who do believe' ...
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... Refusal to permit religious exercises thus is seen, not as the realization of state neutrality, but rather as the
establishment of a religion of secularism."
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U.S. District Court,
Crockett v. Sorenson,
W.D. Va,. 1983:
"The First Amendment was never intended to insulate our public institutions from any mention of
God
, the
Bible
or
religion.
When such insulation occurs, another
religion,
such as
SECULAR HUMANISM,
is effectively established."
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Of note is that in 1995,
Madalyn Murray O'Hair
was murdered, mutilated, and buried by the felons she had employed.
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Her son,
William J. Murray, III,
became a renown Christian author and speaker, founding the
Religious Freedom Coalition
to aid persecuted Christians in Islamic and Communist countries.
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Subsequent to
Abington Township,
American laws, decisions, and regulations became
increasingly hostile to JUDEO-CHRISTIAN beliefs.
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This culminated in the 2015
Obergefell vs. Hodges
Gay-Marriage decision, which effectively criminalizes those holding the Biblical view of natural marriage.
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Biblical marriage is defined in the first book of the Bible,
Genesis 2:23-24:
"The man said, 'This is now bone of my bones, And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called
WOMAN,
Because she was taken out of
MAN.'
For this reason a
MAN
shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his
WIFE;
and they shall become one flesh."
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Jesus
performed his first miracle at a wedding, and reaffirmed the
Genesis
definition of marriage in the Gospel of Mark (10:6-9)
"But from the beginning of creation, God made them
MALE
and
FEMALE.
For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother, and the two shall become one flesh; so they are no longer two, but one flesh.
What therefore
God
has joined together, let no man separate."
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At the time of the country's founding, agendas promoting
sex outside of marriage
would have been considered
"acts of licentiousness."
In the
Proceedings of the Maryland State Convention to Frame a New Constitution
at Annapolis,
November 4, 1850, (p. 250), delegate Mr. Biser stated:
"The liberty of conscience hereby secured shall not be construed as to excuse
acts of licentiousness."
"Licentiousness"
is defined as: unrestrained by morality, promiscuous, unprincipled in sexual matters, disregarding sexual restraints.
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With many states now teaching the LGBTQ-transgendered sexual agenda in schools, one is reminded of Jesus' warning in Matthew 18:6 (NIV):
“If anyone causes one of these little ones — those who believe in me — to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea."
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Maryland has gone from its 1649
Toleration Act,
where "no person ... professing to believe in JESUS CHRIST shall ... be any ways troubled or molested," to
today's LGBTQ agenda,
which is effectively a creative way to cut ties with the JUDEO-CHRISTIIAN past.
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Government's advancement of this agenda through student indoctrination and redefinition of gender bathrooms is effectively an
oppression of conscience
for those holding the values of the founders.
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George Washington
wrote to a meeting of Quakers from
MARYLAND,
Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey & Delaware, October of 1789:
"GOVERNMENT being ... instituted to
PROTECT the persons and
CONSCIENCES of men from oppression ...
the liberty enjoyed by the People of these States of
WORSHIPING ALMIGHTY GOD
agreeable to their
CONSCIENCES
is not only among the choicest of their blessings, but also of their rights."
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Maryland's transition on its views on religion
are in the books:
and
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Schedule Bill Federer for informative interviews & captivating PowerPoint presentations: 314-502-8924
[email protected]
American Minute is a registered trademark of William J. Federer. Permission is granted to forward, reprint, or duplicate, with acknowledgment.
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