Religious Freedom Then and Now

In recent months and years, there has been an increasing amount of attention paid to the issue of religious freedom as certain religious bodies find themselves more and more at odds with real or perceived cultural trends. I think an important question to ask is whether this is the first time in American history that this has occurred.
    Of course, the answer to this question will, at least in part, depend on what is meant by "American history." if we include the colonial era, than the answer is definitively "no." Jamestown and the Virginia colony were under Anglican rule just as the mother country was. In New England except for Rhode Island, the government basically amounted to a Puritan theocracy rather than an Anglican one. Colonies founded on religious toleration, notably Rhode Island and Pennsylvania, were the only places of refuge for many groups who deviated from state churches.
    After the founding of the Republic, all religious groups were granted equal rights on paper. In reality, the situation was much different. A good illustration of this is the fact that Catholics faced significant prejudice when running for political office. It would be 170 years after the ratification of the United States Constitution that a Catholic would be elected President of the United States. and even then, the idea remained controversial in some circles.
    As we examine this, we can clearly see that whether one defines "American History" as beginning with the first colonists landing at Jamestown or if it is defined as beginning with the ratification of the United States Constitution, the phenomenon of certain religious groups being shut out of certain sectors of society due to prejudice is not new in American History. The old idea of a Catholic president taking direct orders from Rome has it's parallel in the idea of people who adhere to certain religious beliefs being unable to uphold certain aspects of the constitution.
    As people began to get used to the idea that a Catholic could just as easily be President of the United States as a Protestant, the Catholicism of Catholic candidates for President has become largely irrelevant as a political issue. Perhaps the formula for getting past our current impasse in regards to religious freedom is the reintroduction of certain types of religious people into roles in which they will be defending rights that they themselves likely oppose. As people see this, there is likely to be a softening of attitudes in general. These individuals are more than likely to be seen as real people, rather than as some sort of caricature.