This lesson gave me a more in-depth idea of religious freedom. The article that talks about how Americans never agreed on what religious freedom is, really highlights some of the issues we see when discussing religious freedom. It is almost common sense that due to different outlooks on many topics, especially important ones like deities and morality, that a diverse mix of people that America and countries like it will not one-hundred percent agree on a topic such as religious freedom. The article talks about how in early America, some religions got “left behind” when discussing freedoms and how only major religions benefited from certain legislations. Even to this day, a lot of orders regarding religious freedom mainly follow a conservative, mostly white Christian constituency.
Another topic that really caught my attention was the article about how there were Muslims living in America before Protestants. Before my college education, I was taught that Christopher Columbus “discovered” America, but there were Native Americans that lived in America first and then the Pilgrims came over and started what we know as America today. However, this article discusses how the first people Columbus actually spoke with, were Moors (African and Arabic Muslims), and they spoke in Islam. Outside of my education from school, I haver heard of the Moors and how they were some of the first people to actually sail and conquer throughout the world, however many were converted to Christianity, usually after losing their land.
