Reverend Sarah Carpenter-Vascik examines the role and impact of religion in American history

Were the Founding Fathers Christians? If yes, were they religious fundamentalists? How “tolerant” were the Pilgrims, mainly Puritans that fled religious persecution in England, of those who held different religious views? Was America founded on Christianity or religious freedom?
 
The answers to the questions above can be found in the book by Reverend Sarah Carpenter-Vascik, titled “Freedom of Religion by Individual Choice: The Religious Beliefs And Convictions Of Our Founding Fathers…” (Westwood Books Publishing; 2018).
 
“Freedom of Religion by Individual Choice” aims to explore America’s contentious history of mixing religion and politics and to explain how the marriage of church and state undermines religious freedom and worsens religious intolerance.
 
The author, who is a progressive clergywoman and scholar, contends that the Founding Fathers, “though many themselves admitted holding various religious beliefs,” did not want government to promote a particular religion “because they witnessed firsthand the immediate effect and long-term aftermath of a state-sponsored and supported church.”
 
The Founding Fathers “also studied and in many cases observed the political and social impact that the collusion between the government and the church created in England, as well as several countries across Europe, as part of their academic education.” They advocated respect for religious pluralism, which was not readily accepted by Christian pastors that supported the integration of the church and state.
 
The marriage of church and state has impacted America throughout its history. Readers will be confronted with America’s history of religious intolerance, government meddling in religion, and the misuse of religious freedom, especially by the religious right, that continue up to this day. Perhaps it’s time for a happy divorce.
 
Reverend Sarah Carpenter-Vascik’s “Freedom of Religion by Individual Choice: The Religious Beliefs And Convictions Of Our Founding Fathers…” is available through Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/Freedom-Religion-Individual-Choice-Carpenter-Vascik-ebook/dp/B07D1C3FRV) and Barnes & Noble (https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/freedom-of-religion-by-individual-choice-sarah-carpenter-vascik/1128553330).
 
The book was last displayed at the recently concluded 2018 Miami Book Fair held last November 11-18 at the Miami Dade College’s Wolfson Campus in Downtown Miami.
 
 
 
Freedom of Religion by Individual Choice: The Religious Beliefs And Convictions Of Our Founding Fathers…
Written by Sarah Carpenter-Vascik
Published by Westwood Books Publishing
Published date: August 2018
Paperback price: $7.99
 
About the Author
 
Reverend Sarah Carpenter was ordained in 1996 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Religion and Philosophy. She received a Master’s Degree in Biblical Studies in 2000 and was awarded a Doctorate in New Testament Studies in 2006. Her study of theology was in addition to her career in engineering. She recently retired from the University of Vermont in Burlington Vermont after a 35-year career in Clinical Engineering and is currently living in Massachusetts. Reverend Carpenter published a book titled “Religion, Faith and the GLBT Community” in 2002.
 

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