To what extent were Baptists persecuted in Colonial America? Describe the contributions of Baptists in the fight for religious freedom. In what ways has this legacy continued today?
According to our text,” Restrictions upon Baptist varied at different times and places from mild harassment to severe persecutions. No Baptist is known to have been executed for religion in America. However, many Baptist were severely whipped, forced to pay taxes to support the state church, had property confiscated, paid fines, and suffered lingering imprisonments. They also faced public harassment; Baptist preachers endured occasional indignities, public baptisms were often mocked or disrupted by onlookers, and Hezekiah Smith complained that “a beetle was
[2] Baptists in Virginia who failed to attend the Anglican Church or spoke against its doctrines were whipped, fined, or suffered bodily mutilation. They were also required to register their meeting houses and to pay tithes in tobacco and other crops for the support of Anglican ministers, and the validity of marriages performed by Baptists were denied by the authorities. [3] - Describe the contributions of Baptists in the fight for religious freedom! In the first place, Baptists, for almost four centuries, have not only insisted upon religious liberty for themselves and for others; but also have resisted every effort, whether from civil or ecclesiastical authorities, to force them into religious conformity. [4] Secondly, although Baptists in America generally drew upon their English heritage for ideas and strategies in the long campaign for freedom of religion [5], their contributions in the fight for religious freedom, specifically, consist in the followings:
-Roger William's insistence upon "the wall of separation" between church and state; since truth, according to Williams, would prevail by its own strength without being propped up by the civil arm, and complete freedom in religion was not only demanded by theology and Scripture, but on a practical level, would result in a more tranquil society. [6]
-Isaac Backus' pragmatic yet practical arguments on the benefits of religious liberty, especially in light of Article