Paine's claim about government and religion

 A footnote to yesterday’s note Thomas Paine, again quoting from Common Sense:

As to religion, I hold it to be the indispensible duty of all government to protect all conscientious professors thereof, and I know of no other business which government hath to do therewith.

What we want is universal protection, for every individual, against the views of others, whatever they might be. At the time, a lot of people were infuriated by the idea that government did not just protect — it promoted the agenda of one particular flavor of religion.

That anger seems quaint today. Some of the same religious groups that once were persecuted by government are now seeking to use government to advance their agendas.