Freedom of Religion for Who?
This blog post is the speech given by Rev. Dr. Jenny Whitcher on Colorado Religious Freedom Day. The event took place on April 13, 2023 at the Colorado State Capitol.
There once was a ship that landed in the Wampanoag village of Patuxet.
Aboard the Mayflower were pilgrims seeking religious freedom from the Church of England. They had already escaped to the Netherlands and lived there for several years, but out of fear of losing their English language and cultural heritage they sailed across the Atlantic Ocean. Their journey to build a new life came at the cost of the Algonquin language, colonization of the Wampanoag people, and indigenous genocide.
On the Mayflower were two of my ancestors on my mother’s side: Church of England Separatist and Pilgrim Elder William Brewster, and Captain Myles Standish, a non-separatist mercenary.
In addition to the Separatists seeking religious freedom, the Mayflower carried indentured servants, or debt-bonded slaves, including children. Elder Brewster and his wife had two children enslaved to them by the children’s father without their mother’s permission.
Outnumbering the Pilgrims were people the Pilgrims called “strangers,” individuals and families recruited by a company of merchants looking for a good investment. The merchants funded the Mayflower voyage in exchange for labor and part ownership of all goods generated by the colonists in their first seven years.
As the passengers of the Mayflower established Plymouth Colony, William Brewster became the ruling elder, or religious leader, and eventually an advisor to the Governor. The Pilgrims originally left England because they were being persecuted by the Church of England—where there was no separation of Church and state and no freedom of religion.
But they did not leave England to pursue religious freedom beyond their own beliefs. The Mayflower Compact, likely penned by Elder Brewster, named their purpose in building a colony as for the “Glory of God, and advancements of the Christian faith.”
Myles Standish, my other ancestor, was hired by the Pilgrims as a military advisor for Plymouth Colony. Standish served as the first commander of the Plymouth Colony militia and as assistant governor, and never joined the Pilgrim’s church. Standish was well known for his fiery temper and brutality towards indigenous people, so much so that some of the soldiers under his command were disturbed.
Photo taken and provided by the Interfaith Alliance of Colorado
Why share this story today? Because it is the first story told about religious freedom in the United States, but it is more complex than we often recognize, and illustrates the challenges we face in seeking religious freedom that benefits all. It is also part of the story of the beginnings of congregationalism and our denomination, the United Church of Christ.
The United States was founded on the entanglement of religious freedom with Christian nationalism, white supremacy, slavery, colonization, debt-bondage capitalism, exploitation of children, and genocide.
These entanglements have birthed our cultural, economic, political, democratic, and religious shared life for generation upon generation. We must be watchful of how these entanglements continue to show up today.
So, what does religious freedom that benefits all look like?
All people should be free to practice their religion…as long as it doesn’t come at the cost of other people’s rights and lives.
All people should be free to practice their religion…as long as they don’t force their beliefs and practices on others.
Photo taken by Behka White, Interfaith Co-Director Denver North Area
From the Christian tradition, Jesus spent most of his time with people on the margins of society—the oppressed and disregarded.
Jesus preached that people on the margins are blessed, and in his actions showed how to unconditionally love children, women, those stigmatized by disease, sex workers, the poor, people of different ethnicities, and more.
Does religious freedom that benefits all appy to to the people on the margins of our society today?
Do trans kids feel safe and free in our country right now?
Do women feel safe and free in our country right now? I don’t, and I sure am grateful to live in Colorado and not Texas right now.
Do people who can no longer access life saving healthcare or afford necessary medications feel safe and free?
Do the houseless feel safe and free?
What about anyone whose skin color isn’t white?
There are so many people in this country who do not benefit from how our right to religious freedom is manipulated and politicized to uphold those who already have cultural, economic, and political power. Sadly in our country it is often my fellow Christians who use their power to further oppress those already on the margins of society.
And yes, people of all faiths and spiritualities can be misguided in how they treat others.
The truth is that we all want freedom, but too many of us don’t want to fully extend that same freedom to people who are different from us.
We aspire to religious freedom that benefits all, and yet, we struggle with how to live it out together.
And yet, every day we have a choice, a chance to transform our beliefs and actions, to transform our way of being with one another, to transform our shared public life.
I pray that someday religious freedom will benefit all, especially those on the margins.
