When one stops to really think about it Religious Freedom simply means the ability to ,literally, IMPOSE your system of belief upon every one else, does it not?

Very well said. The Northern coast if now New England was dominated by the Puritans for many years. Thankfully the Unitarians came in and twisted things a little (they never fully caught on, but the political right keeps saying WE were founded as a xtion nation by xtion founders - mist were liberal xtions even then). The South was built by and on slaves and indentured servants. The indentured servants could then move West.

Exactly correct.

I live in semi-rural Covington, Ga. It is the Bible Belt, but I have had no trouble being vocally Atheist for 20 years. They do pray gor me, swear that one day I will see the light, and invite me to church (I have been a few times), but they have been quite accepting. I know a few closet Atheists in the area.

@Reignmond Oh the religious prey(pun intended) for me too but they have stopped inviting me to church. I do not go out of my way to try and explain my point and they have learned it is best to not get into a discussion about religion, I am better armed . I do occasionall do a heavy eye roll when something truly weird is said.
.

I've never had a Jew or Muslim friend try and convert me. Christians are all about that conversion crap, like they get bonus points in heaven or some garbage

I would expand that to include all Abrahamic religions.

@Reignmond more war and gore because of Christianity and though they stopped chopping off heads and stoning they are still horrible

@Reignmond You will never find a Jewish proselytiser. Judaism doesn’t need or want converts.

For what reason, please expand on that statement.

@JustaRandomGuy42 @Geoffrey51 @Reignmond

Blasting comment to all 3 not for sure who was asking what but this would cover my 2 cents worth about Jewish/islam versus christianity converts.

Jewish and islam is a genetic related connection at their basis. Another words passed down from generations to generations following family lines.

Christianity however, is a sort of "God child" accepting people to be Christian with out having the genetic or family generations connected.

It’s not as simple as that I’m afraid...it’s now more about British or Irish identity and cultural differences..Nationalist/Loyalist. I do agree though, that until all children are educated together from an early age progress will be slow. The middle and professional classes have no trouble mixing and religion bears very little relevance to them, often educating their children in Integrated schools and colleges. However, in the working class housing estates the Paramilitaries, both nationalist & loyalist, still rule and command...and they may call themselves religious because it suits them, but they are really in the business of controlling and terrorising these areas they consider to be their “turf” and run their drug and protection rackets from.

@Marionville what was once catholic or protestant is now republican or loyalist. The basis of the division is still based in religion i am not an expert on the troubles but i doubt you would find republicans that are that are protestants and vice versa. Those problems are still.bubling under the surface

@Marionville Though not violent, the issue with English and Irish is pronounced in Quebec Province. Let's face it, the English had a knack for pissing people off. I am, of course, of English heritage with Scotch and Irish in good measure (among other things).

@raymetcalfe I have lived in Northern Ireland for almost 50 years...believe me when I tell you what is going on here...and there are indeed loyalists who are Catholics, and there are Protestants who would vote for a United Ireland...albeit small in number. I myself have friends from all sectors of society, religions, and national affiliations...as I say the continuing divisions in Northern Ireland don't really affect the entire Province as a complete entity, only in the heartlands of Nationalism or Loyalism. It’s not entirely accurate to call it Protestant or Catholic any more as I’ve already detailed. If you came to visit Belfast it would appear no different from any other British city...that is unless you strayed into a Loyalist stronghold in East Belfast where you’d see UDA or UVF murals ...or into Republican West Belfast where you’d see the counterpart murals of the IRA! The city centre and most other areas are completely neutral territory, and as like Leeds or Leicester or any other city.

@Marionville What do you think will happen if closed borders return again because of Brexit? I'm pretty pessimistic, but I'm not there. I do want to get there one day - been to Asia and Africa and still no Ireland where my great grandparents came from. There is even a cave or mineral springs with the family name (the daughton).

@Beowulfsfriend I feel sure there won’t actually be closed borders again....although there will have to be some sort of checks done somewhere...that’s a given because the border with the EU will be a reality...and only around 20 or 25 miles from where I live as a matter of fact. I know the whole Brexit fiasco has brought back calls for a United Ireland, something that had died away to a mere aspiration after the Good Friday agreement. Personally I’d be quite relaxed about being part of the Republic...and am not wedded to my British identity. Ireland is a young progressive country with it’s own identity and part of the EU...I want to be part of that, not dragged back to some museum piece of a long gone Britain who still thinks it rules half the world. Of course if Scotland gains its independence again that will be good too, but I have lived here for almost half a century and it’s where my life and friends are. I have friends across the religious divide of all ages and opinions ...it’s really a wonderful place to live. Daughton isn’t a name I’ve come across...any idea of the area?

@Marionville Fermanagh is listed as to where the caves exist. According to a letter and a lot of information in the 80's from a retired policeman who sent them to all the Daughtons he could locate - the family arrived in 1169 in the Anglo-Norman invasion, thus my Norman nose

@Beowulfsfriend Yes...there are the famous Marble Arch Caves in Fermanagh...they are very close to the border with the Republic.

@Marionville my step father was from belfast and all his family left because of the troubles. I have never been there myself it is on my list of places to visit in the next couple of years. I expect my veiw is coloured from the horrors of it all as sern on the news ans what i was told by friends who served the in the army

@Reignmond The English have certainly had a knack of pissing off lots of different nations and people, and are still managing to fo it to this day! The “little Englanders” of the Brexit fiasco have displayed the typical arrogance and disdain of Europe and have persuaded enough people that we can regain our glory days when ruled half the world of we just do our own thing again, because the rest of the world will be begging us to trade with them! What hubristic nonsense! I am Scottish but live in Northern Ireland, and could write a book on the mindset of both with regard to a certain type of English arrogance and patronising attitude to the other nations of the UK.

@raymetcalfe Things have changed considerably since I first came to live here in 1973. In fact it’s changed out of all recognition since the Good Friday agreement in 1999 and the end of “The Troubles “. There are still some dissident republicans who keep trying to stir things up and Protestant paramilitaries, but they’re into racketeering rather than terrorism, and are more of a threat to the people who live in the areas they control than the general population. My friends come from both sides of the religious divide and religion is actually never mentioned by any of them.

That is what is funny about the "Put Prayer Back In School" folks. They want religion, but whose? You want to see a fight, try forcing universal Methodist Religion in all Georgia Schools. Or all Baptist. Or all Jehovah Witness. Or all Lutheran. People would go nuts.

There are more than 2,000 sects of Christianity, and more forming all the time.

@Reignmond Exactly. Even in the early days they squabbled. The Paul vs James brands just 30 years after Jesus’ mission a casein point.

Too long a history of diversification. The differences should be embraced. It’s what people do.

They were crazy brutal!

More than just islam. Hindus and Buddhists and, still, Christians.

I live (for the last 20 years) in semi-rural Georgia. I have had no issues with being a widely known Atheist.

@Reignmond That's what I am saying, as much as we like to bitch about religion in our neck of the woods, we happen to live in a good place taking into consideration the alternatives.

Oh I don’t know. Give it another twenty years!

There seems to be a regressive Christianity occurring in USA, I say as an observer and not a resident.

@Geoffrey51 Don't believe everything you get on the media.....

The time of El CID. Drove the Moors out of south Iberia (Spain)..

@t1nick El Cid (Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar) did not drive the muslims out of Iberia, he died in the XI century, and he did fight and won many battles, he even fought for a Moorish king when he was in exile, the Catholic Kings who sponsored Columbus were the ones who drove them completely out of the peninsula in the XV century.

@Mofo1953

Thanks for the clarification. I was relying on memory from my travels through Spain.

What you say is true, but it depends on where you draw the lines. I did not include Spain because it is often though of as being "peaceful" while under Islamic rule (though I know this is not entirely the case, but compared to the rest of non-muslim Europe, it was). Also I must confess that since I have no Soanish heritage, other than a tiny bit of what is now the Spanish side of Bosque, I have not studied Spain's history much. The time period I chose is also accurate though sketchy. Depending on what events one considers "significant" you could go back few hundred years and forward more than a 100 more years. Since I was writing a "post" and not a treaty, I took liberties.

@Reignmond you clearly said Europe twice at least, now you say you didn't include Spain, where is that in your post?

@motrubl4u his hat works he got it pretty right

You know the Mason's sumbol right? Protractor and Square ruler? Know what the "G" in the middle of it stands for? God. Not an "S" for Satan. God. Satanists are very forthcoming with letting you know they are all for the Big Red Guy. (No, not Santa, but he's as real as the lot of them anyway.)

@JustaRandomGuy42 I have familiarity with Masonic lodge secret religion racist devil worshippers

@JustaRandomGuy42 It’s s set square and compass.

@motrubl4u I have been using foil on my hard hat, as you can see it is a little worn out from all the use. And attacks.

The "two churches" were not just related but synonymous. "Anglican" is the adjectival form of "Church of England"; note that "Anglo-" is the prefix referring to the English.

The Church of England was established by Henry the Eighth because the Pope wouldn’t grant him a divorce from Catherine of Aragon, his first wife. It was to all intents and purposes the same as the Roman Catholic Church....but just with Henry at its head instead of the Pope. Anglican is just another way of saying English, and the Anglican Church family is dividend into High and Low English...High English looks and feels to all intents and purposes almost identical to Roman Catholic in liturgy and ritual. Low English is more Protestant in its leanings and is more evangelical in its style, and gives less regard to tradition and ritual. Both Protestant and Catholic monarchs treated non adherents abominably, Queen Mary (Henry VIII’s daughter who was Catholic like her mother) wasn’t called Bloody Mary for nothing! Britain today is a very different country and extremely tolerant of any or indeed no religion. A Catholic monarch cannot sit on the British throne now as that was introduced with The Law Of Settlement of 1701. Any conversion to Catholicism would immediately disqualify the monarch from being King or Queen.

@Marionville

Thanks for the added information

@t1nick pleased to...I’m a bit of a geek when it comes to British history!

@Marionville

I'll remember that for future reference if a question arises in the future regarding British history.

@Marionville Nice one Marj. Always love a High Church do.

I can’t imagine living during the Reformation. How scary would that have been. And then the Civil War.

That painting “And When Did You Last See Your Father’ by someone I can’t remember always gives me chills.

As pertinent now as then I would guess!

My Haudenosaunee ancestry contains many famous Natives; Red Jacket, Handsome Lake, Corn Planter, Ely S. Parker, Guyasuta, and Mary Brant. My European ancestors were more recently decended, like most of the colonial "immigrants", from the Criminals and endentured "servants" (pretty much the same as slaves). Contrary to popular myth, very few of those from Europe were of respectable stock.

That said, I am more than merely familiar with the history. My family lived it.

@Reignmond everyone’s family lived it . What’s your point ?

Then mention today's version of that stupidity still going on in Northern Ireland. Same stupid, different excuses.

Probably because Jesus would have been concerned about the Roman occupation, like the many other Messianic preachers of the time.

He wasn’t a fortune teller. You are confusing the myth with man and the stories created around the myth.

If you think it through logically the Christianity that morphed into the nonsense we see today was created by Paul in contradiction to James.

What science are you referring to? Not sure the Dark Ages is as graphics as it’s rhetoric suggests. Britain thrived after the Roman withdrawal because it had all the Roman infrastructure in place, the significant trading through Europe and no taxes to pay to the Roman Empire.

Interestingly, it was the muslim Moors in Spain that saved a lot of the old Greek and Roman knowledge, added to it, and passed it on to help spur on the Renaisance. Some Monasteries in Ireland also held some old texts as well.

Of course if Jesus existed he was just a man. But my reference was to the fraudulent Christian Jesus and I was trying to expose him as a fake. @Geoffrey51

[badnewsaboutchristianity.com]
This website will give you some examples of Christian suppression of Science
@Geoffrey51

@nicknotes We all know about the Christian book burning and persecution but civilisation was still pretty vibrant.

The Dark Age rhetoric would imply that everyone was grovelling around in the mud confused and befuddled. Anglo-Saxon England was in great shape and later so was Danelaw.

Islam were a pretty good source as we know by their adjuncts to the Greek knowledge.

The world would have definitely been better without Christianity. @Geoffrey51

@nicknotes we wouldn’t have had the Industrial Revolution without the Protestant work ethic.

Come on...that's a great story but it's not true. @Geoffrey51

@nicknotes It is sociological science.

See the work of Max Weber one of the top three sociologist of the period with Durkheim and Marx.