Religious persecution also existed in America whereRoger Williams (b. 1603 - d. 1683) was forced to leave the Massachusetts Bay Colony because of his views favoring church-state separation. Williams established both the first Baptist church in America and Providence Plantation that became the colony of Rhode Island. The colony afforded religious freedom to all. Although he did not remain a Baptist he continued to advocate what he termed a“hedge or wall of separation between the garden of the church and the wilderness of the world.” However, religious freedom was a scarce commodity throughout the New World. Baptists launched efforts up and down the eastern seaboard to bring about religious liberty. Government officials publicly flogged, imprisoned, and fined Baptists. Unruly mobs, unsympathetic to the Baptist cause, ridiculed, attacked, and beat Baptists. Through efforts by Baptist leaders such as Isaac Backus (b. 1724 - d. 1806) in New England andJohn Leland(b. 1754 - d. 1841) in Virginia, the Baptist voice, joined by others, was finally heeded. For example, Leland reportedly met with James Madison in Orange County, Virginia, and secured Madison’s pledge to work for an amendment to the new Constitution to provide for religious freedom. The Constitution of the United States, at first flawed by its lack of guarantee of religious freedom, was amended under Madison’s leadership to provide such a guarantee. The First Amendment to the Constitution states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” Some of the states, however, continued to maintain government-supported churches and Baptists continued to work for friendly separation of church and state and full religious freedom. Finally, in the early 1800s, all of the state churches were disestablished. For the first time in history a nation provided religious freedom for all of its citizens–not mere toleration, but freedom. The Application of Religious Freedom Baptists in the past paid a great price to help provide religious freedom for all. What should the Baptists of today do with this precious heritage? Appreciate the religious freedom that we enjoy in our nation. This freedom has come to us at a great sacrifice. We ought never take it for granted. Jesus suffered in order that we through faith in him might be free from the power and penalty of sin. Baptists and others have suffered to make the good news of this freedom available to all. Guard religious freedom. Eternal vigilance is the price of freedom, including religious freedom. It takes only a generation or two to lose by neglect what many generations gained through sacrifice. WILLIAMS MADISON& LELAND BACKUS
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