Exploding the idea of Religious Commonwealth

Elder John Leland

"The notion of a Christian commonwealth should be exploded forever...Government should protect every man in thinking and speaking freely, and see that one does not abuse another. The liberty I contend for is more than toleration. The very idea of toleration is despicable; it supposes that some have a pre-eminence above the rest to grant indulgence, whereas all should be equally free, Jews, Turks, Pagans and Christians."

Elder John Leland (Baptist leader Revolutionary period leader)
The Virginia Chronicle, 1790.

Few remember today that Baptists have a long and distinguished history of activism and leadership in religious and personal freedom; specifically church/state separation. This includes Baptists themselves who, like most Americans, are profoundly ignorant of their own history. This central role was in great part because the Baptists themselves had been themselves on the “receiving end” of a great deal of state-sponsored and mob persecution. Remember, many European countries and US colonies themselves were subject to religious establishment. Quakers were HUNG in Massachusetts; Baptists persecuted in Virginia and elsewhere. The list is long.

Elder John Leland (1754-1841), the author of the remarkable quote that leads this post, was a massively influential leader and agitator for intellectual freedom in the Revolutionary and founding periods. He prominently advocated abolition LONG before the movement emerged with any strength. He spearheaded James Madison’s election to the Virginia Assembly, led Virginia in the campaign for a “Bill of Rights” that would guarantee freedom of religion, the press, assembly, the right to bear arms, and personal liberty of conscience. John Leland’s endorsement and leadership were central to the appointment of James Madison to to the Constitutional Congress. Historian Michael Meyerson has made the case that Leland was the most prominent religious figure of the founding era; a champion universal freedom.

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