Religious freedom

Over the history of mankind there have been relatively few who have truly enjoyed religious freedom. Though we see definite signs of increased limitations being put on traditional religious organizations today, we here in America enjoy freedom far beyond that enjoyed by the generations before us and most of our contemporaries around the world. We take our freedoms for granted just as we take fresh air until we are deprived of it. It seems to be a fact of human nature that it is only in its absence that a particular freedom is most valued.
Let us briefly review a little history of religious freedom in Europe prior to the settling of America.
The first major breakthrough came about 1450 with Johann Gutenberg’s invention of removable type and the printing press. Not until Gutenberg’s invention was the mass production of the printed word possible. Books prior to that time were copied by hand, and a large library of even a wealthy family might be ten books or less. It is estimated t...