By Madame Publius | FreedomTalk Magazine September, 2026 pages 16-17
The term Presbyterian Rebellion has been used to emphasize the undeniable influence that the religious clerics of the Revolutionary times had in rallying support for the American Revolution with their sermons. One writer has explained that the American ministers and clergy were referred to as the “Black Regiment” due to their black robes, and that it was the sermons and preaching of the Black Regiment that motivated their fellow patriots to fight the American Revolutionary War of 1776.[i]
Even John Adams noted the indispensable support religion had in the foundation of this nation. In a letter written in 1821, Adams expressed his firm belief that without those ministers, specifically “Huss, Wycliffe, Luther, Calvin, Zwingli, Melancthon, and all other reformers,” and “their great exertions & severe sufferings, the USA had never existed.”[ii]
To the spiritually literate person, it is easy to understand how the churches became the lifeblood of the American Revolution, since the scriptures teach us that “where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is LIBERTY.”[iii] Clearly, the Colonial ministers were filled with the Spirit of the Lord. They carried the torch of liberty with them while they proclaimed liberty throughout the Colonies where it swept through the hearts of every freedom-loving patriot like wildfire.
Unfortunately, today’s churches appear to have lost the Spirit of Liberty, and it doesn’t appear by their compliance with governmental edicts that they will be lighting those fires anytime soon. Although the First Amendment prohibits Congress from passing any law that establishes religion or prohibits the “free exercise thereof,” the government has been able to lull away our churches into an amorphous segment of society which lacks substantive influence in matters of freedom and liberty. In other words, they’ve sold their birthright for the proverbial mess of pottage.
It should come as no surprise that LBJ, along with Congress, created a de facto control over religion and speech through tax exemptions. Known as the Johnson Amendment, it is a provision in the U.S. Tax Code, introduced in 1954, that prohibits all 501 non-profit organizations from endorsing or opposing political candidates. In other words, as long as the churches keep quiet about politics, then the government will allow them to keep all of their money! This exemption is patently unconstitutional, and the churches should never have submitted to such tyranny. Yet, they all willingly gave up their rights to freedom of religion and speech.
The churches of the Revolution spoke out against the policies of the monarchy and actually motivated the citizens of the country to stand up to tyranny. Yet, our churches today are silent too often on the topics of liberty and freedom because they don’t want to lose their money.
It’s not just the tax exemptions either. Remember when the Biden Administration used the tech sector to make another end run on the First Amendment in order to silence any and all opposition to their COVID tyranny? The government told us that we had to take their experimental “vaccines”, and the churches went right along with the narrative telling their parishioners that the “vaccines” were “safe and effective.” The government told us that we had to wear masks and to keep our distance, and the churches went right along with their tyranny. The government even went so far as to close down church meetings, while leaving businesses such as liquor stores open, and the churches complied once again.
Our churches have also stayed silent in the face of other acts of governmental tyranny. Whenever U.S. presidents ignore our Constitution’s mandate that the Congress must issue a Declaration of War before engaging in war and sending our sons and daughters off to die, the churches who supposedly preach the Gospel of peace won’t speak up against those unconstitutional wars.
Whenever the government pays religious charitable organizations to bring in millions of people illegally through our borders, the churches actually participate and speak on behalf of the illegals, destroy our constitutional structure, and help erase our borders thereby putting out our light on the hill.
In the beginning, the torch of liberty was lit by the churches. In the beginning, the churches stood up to tyranny. In the beginning, they inspired the hearts of the American patriot to fight against tyranny. Yet, in the end, the government knew they could emasculate the churches with money and keep them silent except to fill our ears with platitudes so that liberty would die.
[i] https://americanheritage.org/the-influence-of-the-bible-on-the-founding-era-the-presbyterian-rebellion/ [ii] https://americanheritage.org/the-influence-of-the-bible-on-the-founding-era-the-presbyterian-rebellion/ [iii] 2 Cor. 3:17
