Experience Philadelphia’s Most Immersive Museum

“For many, the diversity that characterizes contemporary American society represents a worrisome or threatening development. William Penn envisioned a colony in which many religious communities could not only peacefully coexist, but also work together across religious lines in order to benefit the entire society.”

“There’s a fascinating intersection of religion, politics, and law in the founding of America. The Bible is woven into the fabric of the American experience. You have to know something about the Bible to understand America. From early colonies that were founded as Bible commonwealths to our nation’s first laws, the Bible provided the basic building blocks of American civic life.”

“There is a significant amount of humanity that has departed from religion, but one does not need to be religious to understand that our world was shaped by religion. You could argue this context isn’t important – that we could do without it – but in the long run, a society that loses touch with its history in a deep sense is going to repeat its mistakes. If you want the society that America’s founders were thinking of and cherish the universality of the ideas they distilled, you need to understand the North Star of their discourse.”

“Too many think the Bible has been a book of oppression. While many in history certainly have used the Bible to oppress peoples like African-Americans, Native-Americans, and women, the Bible has largely been a cultural force for social reform and progress in the American liberty narrative. It’s a complicated story that needs to be told well.”

“The Bible has not and is not going to mean the same thing for everybody. But the good thing is it can be interpreted differently to come up with fresh solutions to modern problems.”

“This will be wonderful. It will be non-judgmental, and an enriching way to explore what is religion and what the Bible is.”

“Once the Faith and Liberty Discovery Center opens, I think it is really going to attract not just visitors, but residents. Regardless of your faith and whether you believe in God, this gives us an opportunity to learn from what people had in the past and what we might have in the future. It adds to the history and the culture and the diversity of our city.”

“We don’t have to shy away from discussing the biblical influences on the Founding Fathers, because they are essential to understanding our constitutional history. Starting with Thomas Jefferson, all the framers believed people were born with certain inherent rights that came from God or nature rather than Government.”

“What the Faith and Liberty Discovery Center should be, at its finest, is a place that unites. A place where we can buffer ourselves against all of the harsh devices and systems and platforms and politics and social media that separates us.”