Years ago I bought an "important" conservative book, but apparently never read much of it, as only the 3rd page had a dog ear.
Started it again, and came across this in the first few pages:
From the earliest beginnings of liberal thought there was a tendency in the direction of indiscriminate freedom. Hobbes and Locke, and the American founders following them, intended to palliate extreme beliefs, particularly religious beliefs, which lead to civil strife. The members of sects had to obey the laws and be loyal to the Constitution; if they did so, others had to leave them alone, however distasteful their beliefs might be. In order to make this arrangement work, there was a conscious, if covert, effort to weaken religious beliefs, partly by assigning ... religion to the realm of opinion as opposed to knowledge. (my emphasis.)
Having just finished Russell Shaw's American Church, this quote, seems relevant. Many American Catholics become good "Americans" whose religious beliefs are just opinions, as good as everyone else's? This explains dissent, cafeteria Catholicism, etc.
Oremus pro invicem!
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