What drove English and American anti-Catholicism? A fear that it threatened freedom

Catholic Herald ^ | November 12, 2013 | DANIEL HANNAN

[Hugin]

Maybe so, but it makes it rather difficult to swear to preserve, protect, and defend the constitution when your “infallible” religious leader says it’s against the will of God.

Like I said, I’m happy to put it behind us.

[Slyfox]

If our Founders were truly anti-Catholic wouldn't they have denied religious freedom for them?

But they didn't do that. Instead, they worked to put all religions into the free market, to rise or fall each on their own merits.

Our Founders put their own prejudices on the back burner and worked to have freedom of religion and not just mere tolerance.

Otherwise, we would never have had a Bill of Rights nor a Constitution designed to include all religions, including Catholic.

[Clemenza]

Great cities like...New Orleans? Los Angeles?

[gusty]

Only Massachusetts, Connecticut, and maybe New Hampshire(I’m too lazy to look it up) had Calvinist state religions. That is only 3. What you describe would be the 17th Century, the founders lived in the 18th Century as men of the Enlightenment.

[RegulatorCountry]

The colonies had issues with established religions, yes, just as European states did. The colonies may have been controlled by England and many had established the Church Of England, but others had not. Our colonists had varying origins and various religious beliefs. The Roman Catholic Church was undeniably a State Church before there ever was a Protestant State Church, however, and so it is the original State Church.

[SeeSharp]

The Glorious Revolution was nearly a century and a half after the break between England and Rome. Henry confiscated all the church properties and doled them out to his nobles. After that, no return to Catholicism was possible. Ask Mary. She spend her entire reign trying. There wasn’t anyone agitating for “constitution” during her reign either.

[WhoisAlanGreenspan?]

Interesting thread including all the comments. As a Catholic Freeper, I really didn't now much of Guy Fawkes Night just a wikipedia link but also an interesting read.

[I-ambush]

I can’t think of a greater system of government than the one given to us by our Founding Fathers; forgive my cynicism, but I am sick to see it torn apart by the corruption in Washington. And I am deeply concerned that if the work of such geniuses can be confounded by human weakness, then no government of free men can survive.

[WhoisAlanGreenspan?]

Oh. k <—? missed that

[gusty]

The article was about why in the past history of the Anglosphere (UK, US, etc) there has been hostility toward the Catholic Church from the people and leadership of the English speaking world. The return of church land is irrelevant to the issue. The Glorious Revolution illustrates the point of the article to the tee.

[Revolting cat!]

Could it have been that Catholicism is incorrect?

Yes, it's politically incorrect, dear DU visitor.

[cripplecreek]

I grew up in a mixed family of Methodists, Baptists, and Catholics.

[SeeSharp]

Only Massachusetts, Connecticut, and maybe New Hampshire

Add to that list Plymouth Bay, New Haven, and New Jersey - though the first two didn't remain independent. I believe New Jersey was the last state to abolish it's established religion in the 1830's.

[gusty]

I stated Calvinist state religion as you did in your post. New Jersey probably had a state religion, but it was not Calvinist. Anglican probably.The Dutch earlier did not have a state religion. Their churches operated with a lot of independence for the times. Plus they were pretty tucked up in Bergen County, the rest of the state was settled by the English. NJ though had a Calvinist educational institution that James Madison attended called the College of NJ, now Princeton. I would consider Plymouth Bay a part of Massachusetts, and New Haven is Connecticut.

[gusty]

The Bicentennial this year.

[SeeSharp]

I would consider Plymouth Bay a part of Massachusetts, and New Haven is Connecticut.

They were originally independently chartered Puritan colonies. They lost their charters in 1660 through a bit of trickery (and bribery) between Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Charles II.

[SevenofNine]

You have remember Henry VIII want young wife in Anne Boylan so he made Bible reference that said Katherine of Aragon his wife of 20 years is not truth wife

Dont’ forget later on Pope was on house arrest under her nephew Emperor Charles of Spain and Holy Roman Empire later on

NO wonder that Pope going tick off that Emperor

How she related to Emperor Charles because he was son of Juana De Loca Crazy Queen of Flanders with Phillip the Fair

Juana went 5150 Britney Spears earlier in the years

[SeeSharp]

I thought that 11 out of the original 13 colonies had Calvinist state religions and drove Catholics, Baptists and Quakers out (or killed them).

Only the New England colonies did that sort of thing. As far as I know the only people actually executed for religious dissent were Quakers. Oliver Cromwell put a halt to local executions in New England in the 1650's after the execution of Mary Dyer (executed against his orders) and there were no executions of religious dissenters after that. During the Salem witch trials they were executing fellow Calvinists.

[gusty]

But still not one of the 13 original colonies. Going back to NJ, it originally was two colonies East Jersey and West Jersey, but in context of the 13, we only count it once, like Plymouth Bay and New Haven. Those Connecticut Puritans couldn't stay still and spilled over the Sound to become the original settlers of Long Island, NY, not the Dutch as most would think.

[gusty]

I owe you an apology, I thought you were the other guy. See what happens when you leave your reading glasses in the other room.