John Adams's 1765 Defense of Religious and Political Liberty

The New Discourses Podcast with James Lindsay, Ep. 220 In 1765, Great Britain had foolishly decided to continue escalating its attempts to recover the cost of the French and Indian War from its American Colonists by passing the infamous and odious Stamp Act upon the colonies, who famously were not represented in the Parliament that would tax them. In response, a great deal of pre-Revolutionary mayhem and energy was unleashed on this side of the Pond, and within that current came one of the most brilliant and under-recognized essays (https://www.fredbischoff.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Adams-Canon-Feudal.pdf) of the nascent American era, penned under pseudonym by the incredible John Adams. "A Dissertation on the Canon and Feudal Law," as it was called, was a hammerstroke against the twin tyrannies of an overbearing church and state, and worse yet, their confederacy. It was also a call to learning and to memory for the colonists about who they are, who they were, and why they and their forefathers came: not just for religion, but for religious liberty and a hatred of these wicked tyrannies all across Europe. In this episode of the New Discourses Podcast, host James Lindsay reads Adams's amazing essay with no less goal than to make it famous among all Americans. Join him and share the essay with everyone you can! (Get Eric Metaxas's Revolution here (https://amzn.to/4wgxMDg) and Tim Sandefur's Proclaiming Liberty here! (https://amzn.to/4cpyV4d)) Join us for the Preserving Liberty Conference at Sea!: https://ndcruise.com Support New Discourses: https://newdiscourses.com/support Follow New Discourses on other platforms: https://newdiscourses.com/subscribe Follow James Lindsay: https://linktr.ee/conceptualjames © 2026 New Discourses. All rights reserved. #NewDiscourses #JamesLindsay #Religion