“There are two visions of America. One precedes our founding fathers and finds its roots in the harshness of our puritan past. It is very suspicious of freedom, uncomfortable with diversity, hostile to science, unfriendly to reason, contemptuous of personal autonomy. It sees America as a religious nation. It views patriotism as allegiance to God….

“Who does not see that the same authority which can establish Christianity, in exclusion of all other religions, may establish with the same ease any particular sect of Christians, in exclusion of all other sects?” – James Madison

Published in Liberty Magazine – July / August 2000 By Michael D. Peabody There’s nothing like the excitement surrounding the first day of school-it’s an American tradition. Across the nation, millions of students enter a new season of classes, books, and exams after a long summer’s rest. But late last August this tradition hit a…