With both parties’ conventions behind us as we head into a quasi-apocalyptic election, there’s more need than ever for a sense of balance. Not the kind of false balance that equates truth with lies, or soothing psychological balance that lulls us with a false sense of security, but rather a balanced sense of history and political possibility that helps us understand where we’re going, and why. Understanding America’s real history is particularly important, as shown in Nathan Kalmoe’s new book, “With Ballots and Bullets: Partisanship and Violence in the American Civil War,” as discussed in our recent interview.
But there was another time, long before the Civil War, when America threatened to come apart — and believe it or not, it was New England, not the South, that threatened to secede. That largely forgotten episode was entwined with a longer forgotten history: How religious freedom, once it was established in the U.S. Constitution, finally triumphed over theocracy in the intransigent state of Connecticut (as implausible as that may sound today). That story is told in a new book by author and researcher Chris Rodda, “From Theocracy to Religious Liberty,” which uses contemporary sources to trace the narrative that led from Thomas Jefferson’s famous 1802 letter to the Baptists of Danbury, Connecticut, to a state constitution that enshrined religious liberty.
What a story it is! It’s a tale of two clashing partisan identities that’s strikingly similar to our world today, especially as Rodda describes the “Party of God,” circa 1800: Continue reading.
