Calvin emphasized a democracy within the church that we still practice today. Church members elected leaders. There was parity between elders and ministers, a practice that Reformed churches had defended fiercely over the centuries. And Calvin cultivated a position on church and state that provided a distinction between the church and the state, each being separate from the other, yet accountable to God. In all cases, Calvin placed Christians' responsibility to God above their responsibility to the state.

Over time Presbyterians moved to something like our First Amendment. The seeds were sown in the early days, but would come into a more recognizable form when Reformed people were religious minorities or found themselves living side by side with people who believed differently. In places where they were a minority, Presbyterians argued for the free exercise of their own Reformed religious beliefs because they did not want to be forced to be part of another church tradition. This desire to practice Presbyterianism resulted in church leaders' standing up for the rights of others to exercise their religious freedom.

In the late 18th century, the free exercise of religion was often thought of as the free exercise of different strains of Christianity. But as religious pluralism has grown, so has the idea that freedom of religious expression should not be limited to Christians. As we well know, affirming that someone should be free to express something is not the same as adopting their beliefs.