Their contention now is, and has been, and, must ever be, that it is the natural and fundamental right of every human being to worship God or not, according to the dictates of conscience, and, as long as this does not infringe upon the rights of others, they are to be held accountable alone to God for all religious beliefs and practices. Our contention is not for mere toleration, but for absolute liberty. There is a wide difference between toleration and liberty. Toleration implies that somebody falsely claims the right to tolerate. Toleration is a concession, but liberty is a right.
Toleration is a matter of expediency, while liberty is a matter of principle.
Toleration is a gift from government, while liberty is a gift from God. It is the consistent contention of Baptist people, always and everywhere, that religion must be forever voluntary and uncoerced, and that it is not the prerogative of any power, whether civil or ecclesiastical, to compel conformity to any religious creed or form of worship, or payment of taxes for the support of a religious organization. Our religion needs no prop of any kind from any worldly source, and to the degree that it is thus supported is a millstone hanged about its neck. God wants free worshippers and no other kind. That utterance, once for all, marked the divorcement of church and state.