Gotta disagree here. The 1A was to allow people to continue establishing their own little local theocracies in the Protestant tradition, free of central government mandates. Remember, the constitution is a limit on government authority(well, the first 10A, at least), not on people. They weren't trying to get away from theocratic rule. They just wanted freedom to have their own version.

I don't think individualizing is the correct word, but it's the right track. It was about decentralizing theocracy. Either way, you can't pretend moral authoritarianism wasn't a mainstay of Colonial America. It was just limited in scope. The church was the center of the community, and the line between local government and the church was often blurry. It just didn't have a centrally mandated denomination.

Gotta disagree here. The 1A was to allow people to continue establishing their own little local theocracies in the Protestant tradition, free of government mandates. Remember, the constitution is a limit on government authority(well, the first 10A, at least), not on people. They weren't trying to get away from theocratic rule. They just wanted freedom to have their own version.

I don't think individualizing is the correct word, but it's the right track. It was about decentralizing theocracy. Either way, you can't pretend moral authoritarianism wasn't a mainstay of Colonial America. It was just limited in scope. The church was the center of the community, and the line between local government and the church was often blurry. It just didn't have a centrally mandated denomination.