Protestantism

===Rights and liberty===
[[File:JohnLocke.png|thumb|upright=1.1|[[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]] philosopher [[John Locke]] argued for individual conscience, free from state control and helped influence the political ideology of [[Thomas Jefferson]] and other [[Founding Fathers of the United States]]]]
Protestants also took the initiative in advocating for [[religious freedom]]. Freedom of conscience had a high priority on the theological, philosophical, and political agendas since Luther refused to recant his beliefs before the Diet of the [[Holy Roman Empire]] at Worms (1521). In his view, faith was a free work of the Holy Spirit and could, therefore, not be forced on a person.<ref>Clifton E. Olmstead, ''History of Religion in the United States'', p. 5</ref> The persecuted Anabaptists and Huguenots demanded freedom of conscience, and they practiced [[separation of church and state]].<ref>Heinrich Bornkamm, ''{{lang|de|Toleranz. In der Geschichte des Christentums}}'', in ''{{lang|de|Die Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart}}'', 3. Auflage, Band VI (1962), col. 937–938</ref> In the early seventeenth century, Baptists like [[John Smyth (Baptist minister)|John Smyth]] and [[Thomas Helwys]] published tracts in defense of religious freedom.<ref>H. Stahl, ''{{lang|de|Baptisten}}'', in ''{{lang|de|Die Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart}}'', 3. Auflage, Band I, col. 863</ref> Their thinking influenced [[John Milton]] and [[John Locke]]'s stance on tolerance.<ref>G. Müller-Schwefe, ''Milton, John'', in ''{{lang|de|Die Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart}}'', 3. Auflage, Band IV, col. 955</ref><ref>Karl Heussi, ''{{lang|de|Kompendium der Kirchengeschichte}}'', p. 398</ref> Under the leadership of Baptist [[Roger Williams]], Congregationalist [[Thomas Hooker]], and Quaker [[William Penn]], respectively, [[Rhode Island]], [[Connecticut]], and [[Pennsylvania]] combined democratic constitutions with freedom of religion. These colonies became safe havens for persecuted religious minorities, including [[Jews]].<ref>Clifton E. Olmstead, ''History of Religion in the United States'', pp. 99–106, 111–117, 124</ref><ref>Edwin S. Gaustad (1999), ''Liberty of Conscience: Roger Williams in America'', Judson Press, Valley Forge, p. 28</ref><ref>Hans Fantel (1974), ''William Penn: Apostle of Dissent'', William Morrow & Co., New York, pp. 150–153</ref>

The [[United States Declaration of Independence]], the [[United States Constitution]], and the American [[United States Bill of Rights|Bill of Rights]] with its fundamental human rights made this tradition permanent by giving it a legal and political framework.<ref>Robert Middlekauff (2005), ''The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution, 1763–1789'', Revised and Expanded Edition, Oxford University Press, New York, {{ISBN|978-0-19-516247-9}}, pp. 4–6, 49–52, 622–685</ref> The great majority of American Protestants, both clergy and laity, strongly supported the independence movement. All major Protestant churches were represented in the First and Second Continental Congresses.<ref>Clifton E. Olmstead, ''History of Religion in the United States'', pp. 192–209</ref> In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the American democracy became a model for numerous other countries and regions throughout the world (e.g., Latin America, Japan, and Germany). The strongest link between the American and [[French Revolution]]s was [[Marquis de Lafayette]], an ardent supporter of the American constitutional principles. The French [[Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen]] was mainly based on Lafayette's draft of this document.<ref>Cf. R. Voeltzel, ''{{lang|de|Frankreich. Kirchengeschichte}}'', in ''{{lang|de|Die Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart}}'', 3. Auflage, Band II (1958), col. 1039</ref> The [[Declaration by United Nations]] and [[Universal Declaration of Human Rights]] also echo the American constitutional tradition.<ref>Douglas K. Stevenson (1987), ''American Life and Institutions'', Ernst Klett Verlag, Stuttgart (Germany), p. 34</ref><ref>G. Jasper, ''{{lang|de|Vereinte Nationen}}'', in ''{{lang|de|Die Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart}}'', 3. Auflage, Band VI, col. 1328–1329</ref><ref>Cf. G. Schwarzenberger, ''{{lang|de|Völkerrecht}}'', in ''{{lang|de|Die Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart}}'', 3. Auflage, Band VI, col. 1420–1422</ref>

Democracy, social-contract theory, separation of powers, religious freedom, separation of church and state—these achievements of the Reformation and early Protestantism were elaborated on and popularized by [[Age of Enlightenment]] thinkers. Some of the philosophers of the English, Scottish, German, and Swiss Enlightenment—[[Thomas Hobbes]], [[John Locke]], [[John Toland]], [[David Hume]], [[Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz]], [[Christian Wolff (philosopher)|Christian Wolff]], [[Immanuel Kant]], and [[Jean-Jacques Rousseau]]—had Protestant backgrounds.<ref>Karl Heussi, ''{{lang|de|Kompendium der Kirchengeschichte}}'', 11. Auflage, pp. 396–399, 401–403, 417–419</ref> For example, John Locke, whose political thought was based on "a set of Protestant Christian assumptions",<ref>Jeremy Waldron (2002), ''God, Locke, and Equality: Christian Foundations in Locke's Political Thought'', Cambridge University Press, New York, {{ISBN|978-0521-89057-1}}, p. 13</ref> derived the equality of all humans, including the equality of the genders ("Adam and Eve"), from Genesis 1, 26–28. As all persons were created equally free, all governments needed "the [[consent of the governed]]".<ref>Jeremy Waldron, ''God, Locke, and Equality'', pp. 21–43, 120</ref>

Also, other human rights were advocated for by some Protestants. For example, [[torture]] was abolished in [[Prussia]] in 1740, [[slavery]] in Britain in 1834 and in the United States in 1865 ([[William Wilberforce]], [[Harriet Beecher Stowe]], [[Abraham Lincoln]]—against Southern Protestants).<ref>Allen Weinstein and David Rubel, ''The Story of America'', pp. 189–309</ref><ref>Karl Heussi, ''{{lang|de|Kompendium der Kirchengeschichte}}'', 11. Auflage, pp. 403, 425</ref> [[Hugo Grotius]] and [[Samuel Pufendorf]] were among the first thinkers who made significant contributions to [[international law]].<ref>M. Elze,''Grotius, Hugo'', in ''{{lang|de|Die Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart}}'', 3. Auflage, Band II, col. 1885–1886</ref><ref>H. Hohlwein, ''Pufendorf, Samuel'', in ''{{lang|de|Die Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart}}'', 3. Auflage, Band V, col. 721</ref> The [[Geneva Convention]], an important part of humanitarian [[international law]], was largely the work of [[Henry Dunant]], a reformed [[pietist]]. He also founded the [[Red Cross]].<ref>R. Pfister, ''{{lang|de|Schweiz. Seit der Reformation}}'', in ''{{lang|de|Die Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart}}'', 3. Auflage, Band V (1961), col. 1614–1615</ref>