People of the Book

Brown University's Ted Widmer had a piece published in the Boston Globe a few weeks ago focusing on the historic relationship between the Founding Fathers and non-Christian religions (and locally unpopular denominations at the time, like Catholicism).  As the media circus from last month illustrates, religious tolerance is as much a powder-keg issue as it has ever been. 

The religious right loves to take the position that the US is a Christian nation, and that Christianity should be the dominating religious influence within the country.  Even if that means denying other religious institutions their own rights.  And a lot of the vitriol stems from a more modern belief (especially by members of the Tea Party) that religious intolerance is somehow connected the founding principles of the country.

Not true, as Widmer has gone to some lengths to illustrate.  In fact, two of the Founding Fathers actually owned their own copies of the Koran:

No book states the case more plainly than a single volume, tucked away deep within the citadel of Copley Square — the Boston Public Library. The book known as Adams 281.1 is a copy of the Koran, from the personal collection of John Adams. There is nothing particularly ornate about this humble book, one of a collection of 2,400 that belonged to the second president. But it tells an important story, and reminds us how worldly the Founders were, and how impervious to the fanaticisms that spring up like dandelions whenever religion and politics are mixed. They, like we, lived in a complicated and often hostile global environment, dominated by religious strife, terror, and the bloodsport of competing empires. Yet better than we, they saw the world as it is, and refused the temptation to enlarge our enemies into Satanic monsters, or simply pretend they didn’t exist.

Funny how Fox News never brings this up, isn't it?  Read the entire article if you get a chance, it's a fascinating look at the tolerance and respect of all religions that went into founding our country.