  Meeting
Report
October 3, 2003
Walter Pontynen and Karen Scott
Roger Williams: Freedom's Forgotten Hero
There was a small turnout on October 3 for what turned out
to be a great meeting. Our guests were Walter Pontynen, a retired high
school history teacher, and Karen Scott, an attorney, who jointly produced
a documentary film, "Roger Williams: Freedom’s Forgotten Hero."
The film was about the life of the man who founded Rhode
Island after fleeing the theocracy of the 17th century Massachusetts Bay
Colony. They showed excerpts from the film and a series of slides about
the life and ideas of Roger Williams.
Roger Williams was a devout Christian, born in England and
educated at Cambridge before moving to Massachusetts in 1631. He quickly
ran afoul of the religious establishment and had to flee in January 1636
to avoid arrest. He founded Providence later that year and welcomed people
of all religious persuasions. Rhode Island became the first genuinely free
British colony in North America. It has the oldest Baptist church and the
oldest synagogue in the United States. It also had the first Roman
Catholic church outside Maryland in the British colonies in North America.
This was a result of Williams’ belief that forced religious observance was
wrong and would fill the churches with hypocrites. He objected to
requiring atheists to take oaths ending with the words "so help me God."
He is the real originator, in America, of the idea of the separation of
church and state.
Mr. Pontynen, with his strong interest in history, was
quite critical of Stephen Carter and Philip Hamburger, two modern American
historians, who he thinks are giving an incorrect interpretation of the
separation principle, one that could result in the undermining of
religious liberty. Carter, according to Pontynen, proposed a one-way wall
that would allow religious intrusion into government. Both of our speakers
agreed with Williams that the union of church and state would corrupt
both. History shows that they are right.
Report
prepared by Wayne Luney, HAGSA Recorder
Click below for biographical
information on both speakers. (It will appear in a new browser window.)
Pontynen and Scott Bios
 Click
below to return to the list of 2003 Meetings or to go to the previous or
next meeting report.
|