John Leland

Alan W. Steelman’s editorial “Make America Christian Again?” in the Sunday, July 7, 2024 edition of the Dallas Morning News prompted me to learn more about an American Baptist minister named John Leland.

John Leland (May 14, 1754 – January 14, 1841) was an American Baptist minister who preached in Massachusetts and Virginia. He was an important figure in the struggle for religious liberty in the United States as well as an outspoken abolitionist. Leland also later opposed the rise of missionary societies among Baptists.

During the 1788-89 election, Leland supported James Madison due to Madison’s support for religious liberty in what became the First Amendment to the Constitution, and Madison was seated in the first Congress that same year. Leland returned to Massachusetts in 1791 the year the Bill of Rights was ratified, leaving Virginia after an anti-slavery sermon. Back in New England, Leland helped establish several Baptist congregations in Connecticut, to which President Jefferson later wrote his famous letter to the Baptists of Danbury, Connecticut in 1802 regarding religious freedom.

Steelman quoted Reverend Leland as saying:

Guard against those men who make a great noise about religion in choosing representatives. If they knew the nature and worth of religion, they would not debauch it to such shameful purposes.

Leland was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives and represented Cheshire in 1812.

Leland died on January 14, 1841, in North Adams, Massachusetts. His tombstone reads, “Here lies the body of John Leland, of Cheshire, who labored 67 years to promote piety and vindicate the civil and religious rights of all men.”

Leland opposed theological seminaries. Ironically, The John Leland Center for Theological Studies in Virginia is named in his honor. The school was named for Leland for three reasons: his firm stand for religious liberty for all, his opposition to slavery, and his service as a pastor and evangelist.

Excerpts from his writings

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.

‒ A Chronicle of His Time in Virginia.

Every man must give account of himself to God, and therefore every man ought to be at liberty to serve God in a way that he can best reconcile to his conscience. If government can answer for individuals at the day of judgment, let men be controlled by it in religious matters; otherwise, let men be free.

‒ Right of Conscience Inalienable.

Resolved, that slavery is a violent deprivation of rights of nature and inconsistent with a republican government, and therefore, recommend it to our brethren to make use of every legal measure to extirpate this horrid evil from the land; and pray Almighty God that our honorable legislature may have it in their power to proclaim the great jubilee, consistent with the principles of good policy.

‒ Resolution for the General Committee of Virginia Baptists meeting in Richmond, Virginia, in 1789.

Was America Founded on Christianity?

Steelman writes: “The Constitution contains no mention of Christianity or Jesus Christ. It refers to religion only twice: in the First Amendment, which prohibits state-endorsed religion, and in Article VI, which prohibits religious tests for public office.” <1>

The concept of separation of Church and State was described in Thomas Jefferson’s letter to the Danbury Baptists in 1802.

Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between Man & his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, & not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should “make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,” thus building a wall of separation between Church & State. Adhering to this expression of the supreme will of the nation in behalf of the rights of conscience, I shall see with sincere satisfaction the progress of those sentiments which tend to restore to man all his natural rights, convinced he has no natural right in opposition to his social duties. <2>

Comments from the Bible

Mark 12:17 ‒ “Jesus said to them, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”

Titus 3:1-15 ‒ “Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people. For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, …” <3>

Consequences

Creating a (white) Christian nation will destroy the basic rights granted in the First Amendment and will foster discrimination, bigotry, and hate crimes. I believe this possibility is in direct conflict with the teachings of Jesus Christ. Establishing a one religion nation whether it is Christian, Moslem, Jewish, or another belief is bad.

There were 7,759 reported hate crimes in the U.S. in 2023 which was the most in 12 years. Some experts and advocacy groups say the true number is probably even higher.

A Christian nation will encourage prejudice against non-Christians. Most American adults (82%) say Muslims are subject to at least some discrimination in the U.S. today, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted in March 2019 and a majority (56%) believe Muslims are discriminated against a lot.

Another way to look at discrimination is to try to gauge its practical impact. When asked whether being part of a certain group hurts or helps someone’s “ability to get ahead in our country,” most Americans see Muslims as being disadvantaged, according to a different Pew Research Center survey conducted in January and February of this year. Indeed, more than six-in-ten U.S. adults (63%) say that being Muslim hurts someone’s chances for advancement in American society at least a little, including 31% who say it hurts their chances a lot.

Substantially smaller shares of Americans say that being Jewish or evangelical is a disadvantage. One-in-five U.S. adults say being Jewish hurts someone’s chances of getting ahead, while 15% say the same about being evangelical. In both cases, slim majorities say being Jewish or evangelical neither helps nor hurts. <4>

Will a national Christian religion lead to a type of inquisition? The Spanish Inquisition was originally intended primarily to identify heretics among those who converted from Judaism and Islam to Catholicism. The regulation of the faith of newly converted Catholics was intensified following royal decrees issued in 1492 and 1502 ordering Jews and Muslims to convert to Catholicism or leave Castile, or face death, resulting in hundreds of thousands of forced conversions, the persecution of conversos and moriscos, and the mass expulsions of Jews and of Muslims from Spain. <5>

Will a Christian nation increase attacks on LGBTQ+ people? Within Christianity, there are a variety of views on sexual orientation and homosexuality. The view that various Bible passages speak of homosexuality as immoral or sinful emerged in the first millennium AD, and has since become entrenched in many Christian denominations through church doctrine and the wording of various translations of the Bible.

In the present day, there are a wide variety of views within Christianity on homosexuality and sexual orientation, with some scholars of Christianity contesting the notion that scripture speaks explicitly of homosexuality as a sin against God. Within a Christian denomination, individual believers and the groups they belong to may hold different views, and not all members of a denomination necessarily support their church’s views on homosexuality. Most denominations teach that homosexual behavior and acts are sinful. The Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches officially condemn homosexual activity as sin. Various mainline Protestant denominations have taken a stance towards accepting homosexual people and even unions or marriages between same-sex couples while others have not. <6>

Notes:

<1> Alan W. Steelman’s editorial “Make America Christian Again?” in the Sunday, July 7, 2024 edition of the Dallas Morning News.

<2> Jefferson’s Letter to the Danbury Baptists, https://www.loc.gov/loc/lcib/9806/danpre.html.

<3> Separation Of Church And State, https://www.openbible.info/topics/separation_of_church_and_state.

<4> Many Americans see religious discrimination in U.S. – especially against Muslim https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2019/05/17/many-americans-see-religious-discrimination-in-u-s-especially-against-muslims/.

<5> Spanish Inquisition, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_Inquisition.

<6> Christianity and Homosexuality, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_and_homosexuality.