The European Union in Prophecy The EU in Prophecy I | Page 231

The European Union in Prophecy
principle of Roger Williams's colony was "that every man should have liberty to
worship God according to the light of his own conscience."-- Ibid., vol. 5, p. 354. His
little state, Rhode Island, became the asylum of the oppressed, and it increased and
prospered until its foundation principles--civil and religious liberty--became the
cornerstones of the American Republic.
In that grand old document which our forefathers set forth as their bill of rights-
-the Declaration of Independence--they declared: "We hold these truths to be self-
evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with
certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of
happiness." And the Constitution guarantees, in the most explicit terms, the
inviolability of conscience: "No religious test shall ever be required as a qualification
to any office of public trust under the United States." "Congress shall make no law
respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."
"The framers of the Constitution recognized the eternal principle that man's
relation with his God is above human legislation, and his rights of conscience
inalienable. Reasoning was not necessary to establish this truth; we are conscious of
it in our own bosoms. It is this consciousness which, in defiance of human laws, has
sustained so many martyrs in tortures and flames. They felt that their duty to God
was superior to human enactments, and that man could exercise no authority over
their consciences. It is an inborn principle which nothing can eradicate."-
Congressional documents (U.S.A.), serial No. 200, document No. 271.
As the tidings spread through the countries of Europe, of a land where every
man might enjoy the fruit of his own labor and obey the convictions of his own
conscience, thousands flocked to the shores of the New World. Colonies rapidly
multiplied. "Massachusetts, by special law, offered free welcome and aid, at the public
cost, to Christians of any nationality who might fly beyond the Atlantic 'to escape from
wars or famine, or the oppression of their persecutors.' Thus the fugitive and the
downtrodden were, by statute, made the guests of the commonwealth."--Martyn, vol.
5, p. 417. In twenty years from the first landing at Plymouth, as many thousand
Pilgrims were settled in New England.
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