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Backfired: A Nation Born For Religious Tolerance No Longer Tolerates Religion
The faith that gave birth to tolerance is no longer tolerated! * Ten Commandments taken down, "Under God" removed from Pledge, Prayer prohibited, Nativity Scenes banned, Religious Art & Music censored, Salvation Army & Boy Scouts defunded, Christmas carols disallowed... * How did America go from Pilgrims seeking freedom to express their Christian beliefs to today's discrimination against those very beliefs in the name of tolerance? "From its beginning, the new continent seemed destined to be the home of religious tolerance. Those who claimed the right of individual choice for themselves finally had to grant it to others."- Calvin Coolidge, May 3, 1925 *DISCOVER HOW TOLERANCE TRANSFORMED ->From Pilgrims ->To Puritans ->To Protestants ->To Catholics ->To "Liberal" Christians ->To Jews ->To Monotheists ->To Polytheists ->To All Religions ->To Atheists ->To only the Politically Correct "The frustrating thing is that those who are attacking religion claim they are doing it in the name of tolerance.... Question: Isn't the real truth that they are intolerant of religion""- Ronald Reagan, August 23, 1984
287 pages, Paperback
First published January 10, 2005
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About the author
William J. Federer
23 books55 followersWilliam J. Federer is a nationally recognized speaker, best-selling author, and president of Amerisearch, Inc., a publishing company focused on America's heritage. His "American Minute" radio feature airs daily nationwide, and his television program "Faith in History" broadcasts on the TCT Network and DirecTV.
A former U.S. Congressional candidate, Bill has appeared on major media outlets such as CSPAN, FOX, NPR, TBN, MSNBC, NewsMax, OAN, and Real America's Voice. He has been featured on shows like Hannity, The O’Reilly Factor, The Eric Metaxas Show, Prager U, and others. On radio, he has been interviewed by Focus on the Family, Salem Radio Network, USA Radio Network, and numerous other programs.
Bill’s writing has been quoted in USA Today, The New York Times, Washington Times, Washington Post, and WorldNetDaily, among others. His book America's God and Country Encyclopedia of Quotations has sold over half a million copies and remains widely cited. Other titles by Bill include Change to Chains, Socialism: The Real History from Plato to the Present, The Ten Commandments and Their Influence on American Law, George Washington Carver: His Life & Faith In His Own Words, and What Every American Needs to Know About the Qur'an.
Bill has spoken extensively across the U.S. at political conventions, military bases, universities, high schools, churches, and national landmarks like Mount Rushmore and the Lincoln Memorial. His audiences have included Congress members, military officers, students, and civic organizations.
Honored for his contributions to history and public service, Bill has received an Honorary Doctorate of Humanities from American Christian College and an Honorary Doctorate of Global Leadership from Midwest University. Other awards include the George Washington Honor Medal by the Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge and the National Association of Christian Lawmakers' Lifetime Achievement Award.
Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Bill graduated from St. Louis University High School and earned his business degree from St. Louis University. He is the fifth of eleven children and married his wife Susie in 1981. Bill has worked in real estate, oil & gas, and religious organizations and is an original signer of the Manhattan Declaration.
In politics, Bill’s Congressional campaigns in 2000 and 2004 were notable. Running against Minority Leader Dick Gephardt, Bill mounted one of the most expensive and closely watched races in the nation, setting voting records for a Republican in Missouri’s 3rd District.
A former U.S. Congressional candidate, Bill has appeared on major media outlets such as CSPAN, FOX, NPR, TBN, MSNBC, NewsMax, OAN, and Real America's Voice. He has been featured on shows like Hannity, The O’Reilly Factor, The Eric Metaxas Show, Prager U, and others. On radio, he has been interviewed by Focus on the Family, Salem Radio Network, USA Radio Network, and numerous other programs.
Bill’s writing has been quoted in USA Today, The New York Times, Washington Times, Washington Post, and WorldNetDaily, among others. His book America's God and Country Encyclopedia of Quotations has sold over half a million copies and remains widely cited. Other titles by Bill include Change to Chains, Socialism: The Real History from Plato to the Present, The Ten Commandments and Their Influence on American Law, George Washington Carver: His Life & Faith In His Own Words, and What Every American Needs to Know About the Qur'an.
Bill has spoken extensively across the U.S. at political conventions, military bases, universities, high schools, churches, and national landmarks like Mount Rushmore and the Lincoln Memorial. His audiences have included Congress members, military officers, students, and civic organizations.
Honored for his contributions to history and public service, Bill has received an Honorary Doctorate of Humanities from American Christian College and an Honorary Doctorate of Global Leadership from Midwest University. Other awards include the George Washington Honor Medal by the Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge and the National Association of Christian Lawmakers' Lifetime Achievement Award.
Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Bill graduated from St. Louis University High School and earned his business degree from St. Louis University. He is the fifth of eleven children and married his wife Susie in 1981. Bill has worked in real estate, oil & gas, and religious organizations and is an original signer of the Manhattan Declaration.
In politics, Bill’s Congressional campaigns in 2000 and 2004 were notable. Running against Minority Leader Dick Gephardt, Bill mounted one of the most expensive and closely watched races in the nation, setting voting records for a Republican in Missouri’s 3rd District.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 28, 2015
Back Fired by William J. Federer.
This is a great book for showing how the doctrine and practice of “Tolerance” began in the Colonies of what became the United States of America. In modern thought, tolerance is putting up with somebody or something that is irritating or unpleasant to you. However, as surely as historical revisionists have rewritten American History, the original definition of tolerance has changed too. Webster’s 1828 Dictionary of The English Language defined it as – Allowance of religious opinions and modes of worship in a State when they are different from those of the established church… For example, the Protestant religion might be tolerated in France and the Roman Catholic religion might be tolerated in England.
Tolerance did not begin in Saudi Arabia where it still means the death penalty if someone converts from Islam to another religion. Nor did it come out of Communist China or the former atheistic Soviet Union where those who believed differently than the State had to meet in underground groups or be killed or imprisoned. It did not come from Medieval Europe, the Middle East, Africa or the Far East. Tolerance is an American Judeo-Christian contribution to the world. The reason the old definition of tolerance is important is because in the 15-1700’s, what ever the King believed the kingdom had to practice or be persecuted or flee. Many of those who fled came to North America where the concept of toleration began to grow. The first Colonists were Separatists and Puritans from England who did not immediately start to offer toleration to others mainly because they still feared that if others gained power it would rekindle the persecution from which they had fled. More and more pilgrims began to flee the religious persecution of Europe and slowly but surely the Colonists began to realize that if they expected others to tolerate them then they must also tolerate others. The book shows a list of where different denominations had settlements in the Colonies of the 1600’s.
In early America, the Puritans began to tolerate other Protestants and Separatists, then Catholics, then any who professed Christianity, then Jews, and in time, all Monotheists, then polytheists and other non-Christian religions, and eventually anti-religionists and atheists. This, of course, all took time but here is the rub. Our tolerance has evolved to where the modern “Politically Correct” crowd has taken control of our government and reversed the role of tolerance. We are at the place now where God, the Bible and Christianity are banned from the public square in America, especially in our public schools. Even worse, people of faith are being forced to legitimatize acts like abortion and immoral lifestyles that are offensive to their conscience or else be branded as “intolerant” and suffer penalty under new laws that pervert the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
As the early Pilgrims feared, the government has once again become tyrannical, this time, not by the so-called divine right of the King but in the name of pseudo tolerance. Those who brought tolerance to the world are no longer tolerated. Where did we go wrong? How did this all BACK FIRE on the people of God and the Bible? Those that attack the Bible, public prayer and the display of religious symbols say they are doing it in the name of tolerance but the real question is – Are they not the ones that are being intolerant? Tolerance does not come by lowering our standards or forcing people to approve what is wrong in their heart.
This is a great book for showing how the doctrine and practice of “Tolerance” began in the Colonies of what became the United States of America. In modern thought, tolerance is putting up with somebody or something that is irritating or unpleasant to you. However, as surely as historical revisionists have rewritten American History, the original definition of tolerance has changed too. Webster’s 1828 Dictionary of The English Language defined it as – Allowance of religious opinions and modes of worship in a State when they are different from those of the established church… For example, the Protestant religion might be tolerated in France and the Roman Catholic religion might be tolerated in England.
Tolerance did not begin in Saudi Arabia where it still means the death penalty if someone converts from Islam to another religion. Nor did it come out of Communist China or the former atheistic Soviet Union where those who believed differently than the State had to meet in underground groups or be killed or imprisoned. It did not come from Medieval Europe, the Middle East, Africa or the Far East. Tolerance is an American Judeo-Christian contribution to the world. The reason the old definition of tolerance is important is because in the 15-1700’s, what ever the King believed the kingdom had to practice or be persecuted or flee. Many of those who fled came to North America where the concept of toleration began to grow. The first Colonists were Separatists and Puritans from England who did not immediately start to offer toleration to others mainly because they still feared that if others gained power it would rekindle the persecution from which they had fled. More and more pilgrims began to flee the religious persecution of Europe and slowly but surely the Colonists began to realize that if they expected others to tolerate them then they must also tolerate others. The book shows a list of where different denominations had settlements in the Colonies of the 1600’s.
In early America, the Puritans began to tolerate other Protestants and Separatists, then Catholics, then any who professed Christianity, then Jews, and in time, all Monotheists, then polytheists and other non-Christian religions, and eventually anti-religionists and atheists. This, of course, all took time but here is the rub. Our tolerance has evolved to where the modern “Politically Correct” crowd has taken control of our government and reversed the role of tolerance. We are at the place now where God, the Bible and Christianity are banned from the public square in America, especially in our public schools. Even worse, people of faith are being forced to legitimatize acts like abortion and immoral lifestyles that are offensive to their conscience or else be branded as “intolerant” and suffer penalty under new laws that pervert the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
As the early Pilgrims feared, the government has once again become tyrannical, this time, not by the so-called divine right of the King but in the name of pseudo tolerance. Those who brought tolerance to the world are no longer tolerated. Where did we go wrong? How did this all BACK FIRE on the people of God and the Bible? Those that attack the Bible, public prayer and the display of religious symbols say they are doing it in the name of tolerance but the real question is – Are they not the ones that are being intolerant? Tolerance does not come by lowering our standards or forcing people to approve what is wrong in their heart.
July 19, 2020
I am sympathetic to this book's intended purpose (which, I think, was to detail how the USA has witnessed a slow evolution from a policy of religious toleration to a government policy hostile to religion in public life), but I feel that it does a terrible job. The book is confusingly organized, because it is not organized chronologically, nor does it follow a single theme coherently from start to finish. It introduces a new theme every chapter ("Toleration for Catholics", "Toleration for Atheists", etc), but even within each chapter it is not always chronological, and does not do a good job of presenting a clear evolution or of giving a nuanced, detailed history of any of the topics. It instead relies on rapid-fire and unrelated quotes that the author often gives no context for, from which the reader is expected to glean the author's point. Roger Williams is barely even mentioned until the last few chapters of the book, which is shameful for any treatment of religious toleration in America. His logic and facts are very weak, and I feel do a very poor job of proving any of his stated points. I was very unimpressed with this book. The only thing it does do well is pulling in some interesting quotes from founders and court rulings that relate to some of his points, but you have to wade through an enormous amount of weak and unimportant chaff to get to them.
March 22, 2025
This book is not a typical book. It’s more of a large compilation of evidence and short sections of arguments to win a case. That’s what makes this so valuable. The left has had the hearts and minds of 3 to 4 generations captured and convinced this is a secular nation from its founding. This book provides overwhelming evidence to prove otherwise.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews