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Article: Religious disagreements.(CORRESPONDENCE)(Letter to the editor)
- Article from:
- First Things: A Monthly Journal of Religion and Public Life
- Article date:
- November 1, 2006
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2006 Institute on Religion and Public Life. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Paul Johnson's essay "The Almost-Chosen People" (June/July) reminds us of the central role played by religion in American history. However, in describing the relationship of religious pluralism to religious freedom in the development of the American republic, Johnson conflates religiosity with religious pluralism and thereby presents an incomplete tale. Missing is any serious mention of the religious persecution that marked not just the Thirteen Colonies but also the United States.
For instance, Johnson overstates the case about the frontier circumstances of the American colonies when he states that "dissenters merely moved on." As evidence, he cites Roger ...