by Nick Gier, Professor Emeritus, University of Idaho published in The Moscow Pullman Daily News (July 7, 2026) I would address my daughter as a rational being, and guard her against a low estimation of self. —18th Century Universalist Judith Sargent…
The Story of Muslims in America
by Nick Gier Historically, Muslims are Americans, as originally American as Anglo-Protestants.— historian Sam Haselby (aeon.co) Many early Americans were astute enough, unlike so many Americans today, to distinguish between good and bad Muslims. From the 16th to the 18th Centuries…
Protected: T-Mobile Payments by Nicholas Gier (208-301-1278)
There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.
Only One Religion? Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission
by Nick Gier, Emeritus Professor of Philosophy and Religion, University of Idaho Idaho State Journal, June 12, 2026 Neither Pagan nor Mohametan nor Jew ought to be excluded from the civil rights of the Commonwealth. —Thomas Jefferson citing English philosopher…
Strange Bedfellows: Deists and Baptists Insist on Church/State Separation
Nick Gier, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy and Religion, University of Idaho Our civil rights have no dependence on our religious opinions, any more than our opinions in physics or geometry. —Thomas Jefferson, “A Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom” For two centuries,…
Let’s not forget our founding mothers
Nick Gier, Professor Emeritus, Philosophy and Religion, University of Idaho Men of sense in all ages abhor those customs which treat us only as the servants of your sex. – Abigail Adams to her husband, March 31, 1776 I cannot…
The Persecution of Quakers
SHAME ON OUR PURITAN FOREFATHERS by Nick Gier, Professor Emeritus, University of Idaho (ngier006∂gmail.com) I would carry fire in one hand and faggots in the other to burn all the Quakers in the world. –Boston preacher John Norton This is…
Celebrating America at 250
Sometime in 1975 I heard a guest on National Public Radio say that Theodore Roosevelt condemned Thomas Paine as “that dirty little atheist.” My curiosity was piqued because I assumed that the founders were Christians of one denomination or another.…
Christian Nationalism and the Treaty of Tripoli
by Nick Gier A shorter version was published in the Moscow-Pullman Daily News (March 26, 2026) Religion and government will both exist in greater purity the less they are mixed.—James Madison I would like to begin by quoting Article 11…
A Progressive View of the Declaration of Independence
by Nick Gier, Professor Emeritus, University of Idaho Sometime in 1975 I heard a guest on National Public Radio say that Theodore Roosevelt condemned Thomas Paine as “that dirty little atheist.” My curiosity was piqued because I assumed that the…