FFRF’s “Secular Spotlight” celebrates the nation’s 250th anniversary by highlighting the secular underpinnings of the nation.
As America marks its 250th anniversary, FFRF’s Kyle Steinberg separates myth from history by examining the Constitution, the First Amendment, and the founders’ own writings to explain why state/church separation remains a cornerstone of American freedom.
“[The Founders] wanted to preserve the practice of religion; coming from England and the older sources of law, there was a lot of religious persecution. Everybody had to follow the king’s religion, and the founders were really concerned about that,” Steinberg explains. “There were different denominations in early America, and they really wanted to protect against the government dictating what people believe. The Founders, a lot of them were religious, and sometimes disagreed in terms of their own religions, and so they really wanted to protect that freedom of conscience, to believe whatever the individual wants to believe.”
You can catch this episode of “Secular Spotlight” on FFRF’s YouTube channel, as well as by watching on your smart TV after downloading FFRF’s free app, Freethought TV, which also highlights FFRF’s other video programming. Our recent episodes include one with Taylor “The Antibot” Leigh to discuss how religious influencers use their platforms to enrich themselves, and one with YouTube content creator Tim Whitaker to examine the religious and political rally “Rededicate 250”. Make sure you’re subscribed to FFRF’s YouTube channel for all the latest updates!
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a U.S.-based nonprofit dedicated to defending the constitutional principle of separation between state and church and educating the public on matters relating to nontheism. With more than 41,000 members, FFRF is the largest association of freethinkers (atheists, agnostics and humanists) in North America. For more information, visit ffrf.org.
