Turkey

In the 1600's the Church of England came to the new world. By the mid 1700's Virginia was almost entirely made of of Episcopalians (as they now called themselves). The Episcopal church was that state's established religion. The state decided parish boundaries, oversaw vestry elections, reviewed church finances, licensed priests, and subsidized them. However, Virginia also had what they considered a small "sect" of Baptists. Baptist pastors could be thrown in jail for preaching and parishioners persecuted. This situation helped James Madison convince George Mason (who was writing the Virginia Declaration of Rights) to change his wording from "fullest tolerance of religion" to "free exercise of religion". Tolerating another religion means people are allowed to worship because of the state's forbearance. Free Exercise means that a person's right to their religious beliefs is inalienable and can not be controlled by the state. (This idea then percolated through the rest of the emerging nation's documents.) I think about this little piece of history (and there are many other examples) when I hear politicians claim they want the U.S. to be a Christian Nation - what they mean is "as long as the laws enacted reflect their interpretation of Christian."