Freedom of Religion - Freedom from Religion - Freedom of Public Display of Religion and Traditions
We establish no religion in this country, nor will we ever. We command no worship. We mandate no belief. But we poison our society when we remove its theological underpinnings. We court corruption when we leave it bereft of belief. All are free to believe or not believe; all are free to practice a faith or not. But those who believe must be free to speak of and act on their belief. -- Ronald Reagan (Temple Hillel Speech, 1984)
One thousand years before the birth of Christ, Rome, the city that became the capital of the known world, conquest was established and men and intellect had maintained it. It was founded by survivors of Troy and begun with the adaptation of Greek culture, to include the concept of a republic and a senate. Four hundred years after Christ’s birth, once again a great change had occurred and the greatest civilization in the world came to an end; but out of the ashes arose the beginning of another and the Christians who had struggled for so long to exist became the founders of the new Rome. The once persecuted people called Christians became the founding principle of the new Rome under the leadership of bishops and cardinals who had been ordained by the Apostles of Christ, all under the prime leadership of the Papal authority. The Church converted the barbarians who were instrumental in the fall of the Roman Empire; but unlike its previous society, superstition and the papal power would replace science, educational thought and republican senatorial government, which had been weakened by emperors and military coups. [I]
