Freedom of Religion · Not from It

The Founders didn’t design a godless republic — they protected a free one. In this episode, we unravel the modern distortion of “freedom of religion” and expose how media, culture, and institutions have twisted the Founders’ intent. Was it about protecting the government from religion… or protecting religion from the government?

From Jefferson’s wall to Washington’s warnings, we trace what they really said — and what we’re being told to believe today. This is gaslighting. With a hymn book.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
This is Think First, where we don't follow the script
.
We question it Because, in aworld full of poetic truths and
professional gaslighting,someone's got to say the quiet
part out loud.
Why does every modern debateabout religion and politics
start with someone quoting afounding father and end with

(00:24):
everyone arguing about whetherJefferson was a closet atheist
or just bad at church?
Because here's the realquestion Did the founders
believe in freedom of religionor were they secretly hoping
we'd all just politely lose ourfaith, stay quiet and stream
Netflix?
Let's go deeper.
What does separation of churchand state actually mean when

(00:46):
your kid's school hosts a dragassembly but bans a nativity
scene?
Why do modern politiciansname-drop Jesus like a campaign
endorsement while pretendingbiblical morality was just some
colonial phase?
And why does the media roll itseyes when someone quotes
scripture but swoon when someonemisquotes Jefferson?
I'm Jim Detchen and this isThink First, powered by the

(01:09):
framework of Gaslight360.com.
I'm not here to tell you whatthe founders believed, but I can
tell you this the people whobuilt this country.
They weren't allergic to God.
Let's start with the poetictruth that America was built on

(01:30):
a clear and total divide betweenreligion and government, like
church and state were theMontagues and Capulets.
You hear it in every paid,verified post on X the founders
didn't want religion anywherenear public life.
Except that's not even remotelytrue.
Thomas Jefferson yes, the guywith the wall of separation
quote also wrote the VirginiaStatute for Religious Freedom,

(01:50):
where he said that compellingsomeone to support religion they
disbelieve is sinful andtyrannical.
He didn't want a church-rungovernment, but he also didn't
want a godless state.
See the nuance.
It's like wanting yourmother-in-law to visit but not
move in.
George Washington said Religionand morality are indispensable

(02:11):
supports to political prosperity, not optional Indispensable.
He wasn't exactly out therepushing yoga and crystals.
John Adams warned us that theConstitution was made for a
moral and religious people andwould fail if we weren't.
And as for those dramaticclaims that America was founded
explicitly on Christianity,let's be clear.

(02:34):
There's a quote floating aroundonline about America being
founded not by religionists butby Christians.
Not on religions but on thegospel of Jesus Christ, by
Christians.
Not on religions but on thegospel of Jesus Christ.
It's often pinned to PatrickHenry, but turns out that quote
originated in 1956, not 1776.
Total misattribution.
So, yes, if you've seen itembroidered on a throw pillow or

(02:57):
meme, now you know.
Now Ben Franklin was a wild card.
He believed in God and also inelectricity, fart jokes and the
virtue of taking naps in foreignembassies.
But even he acknowledged a needfor providence, famously
suggesting prayers during theConstitutional Convention, when
progress stalled.

(03:18):
Imagine suggesting prayer at apolitical event today.
You'd get trending hashtags,three lawsuits and a surprise
call from the ACLU.
And yet every time a tragedyhits, what do our leaders say?
Thoughts and prayers.
They just forget to mentionwhere those prayers are going.

(03:39):
This is where the gaslightingcreeps in.
We're told by the press, byschools, by culture, that
religion is supposed to beprivate, hidden, quiet,
preferably extinct.
But when you read the founders'own words, they believe faith,
particularly biblical morality,was the glue holding this crazy

(03:59):
republic together, not a tool ofcontrol, not a weapon, but a
compass.
So when someone tells you thatreligious people have no place
in public debate, they're notjust erasing history, they're
rewriting it.
Look at the double standard.
Today.
A politician quotes Leviticushe's a theocrat.
A celebrity quotes theirhoroscope or smudges the room

(04:22):
with sage so brave.
A football coach kneels to prayat the 50-yard line.
Suddenly he's dangerous.
Meanwhile, tiktok is meltingkids' brains and no one bats an
eye.
Here's the part that matters.
You don't have to believe whatthe founders believed, but you
do deserve to know what theyactually said.

(04:44):
They didn't ban religion, theyprotected it.
They didn't fear public faith,they feared government control
over it.
And if that sounds inconvenientto modern ears, good History
should make us uncomfortable nowand then.
You don't need all the answers,but you should question the

(05:04):
ones you're handed.
If the founders didn't fearpublic faith, why are so many
modern leaders terrified of it?
And if we've misquoted thefounders this much, what else
have we been gaslit to forget?
The founders protected freedomof religion, not freedom from it
.
They didn't want the governmentcontrolling faith, but they

(05:25):
never imagined faith would beforced into hiding.
And if this episode made youpause, even a little, share it
with someone who's been toldthat faith and freedom don't mix
.
Visit Gaslight360.com to digdeeper and learn how to spot the
gaslight before it burns.
Until next time, stay skeptical, stay curious and always think

(05:49):
first.