Page 32 - ATD29NOV2016

A32 FEATURE
Tuesday 29 November 2016
To help draw business, a state looks back to its 1636 roots

MATT O’BRIEN have clear resonance,
Associated Press such as Republican Presi-
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — dent-elect Donald Trump’s
Tax credits. Lower cost of campaign proposal to ban
living. Restaurants and Muslim immigrants.
beaches. And don’t for- Williams was a devout
get Roger Williams and his Christian who favored ac-
experiment in protecting ceptance of religious dif-
everyone’s liberty of con- ferences over mere “tol-
science. eration,” because only the
One of Colonial America’s divine could pass judg-
most important freethinkers ment on another’s belief,
has a new role as a mar- Barry said.
keting tool for the place he “He explicitly stated that
settled 380 years ago. a Muslim — and someone
Rhode Island started out he called anti-Christian,
as a refuge for dissidents or atheist — could be as
experimenting with revolu- good a government of-
tionary ideas that formed ficial as a Christian,” Barry
the backbone of U.S. de- said. “That was extraordi-
mocracy. Now, the tiny nary in his time. Unfortu-
state is invoking its roots to nately, it seems unusual
draw and retain educat- among some parts of the
ed young people search- In this Thursday, Nov. 3, 2016, photo, a statue of Roger Williams over looks the skyline, in Provi- American population to-
ing for a community that dence, R.I. day.”
matches their ideals. Associated Press The Rhode Island General
“Young people want to Assembly also became
live in a place that’s toler- because of that state’s religious freedom,” Rai- English colonists in his early one of the first govern-
ant and diverse and inclu- law blocking transgen- mondo wrote to the NCAA. opposition to slavery and ments to abolish slavery,
“Today, that tradition of in fostering relatively warm though merchants later
acceptance persists, and relations with New Eng- ignored the law and be-
we count the diversity it in- land’s indigenous people. came active in the slave
vites as one of our deepest It makes sense for Raimon- trade. Williams died in 1683.
strengths.” do and other leaders to A big proponent today is
The NCAA ended up mov- harken back to his legacy, Roger Williams National
ing its games to South Car- said John Barry, author of Memorial Park Ranger
olina, but PayPal has been the 2012 book “Roger Wil- John McNiff, who said peo-
in serious talks to open a liams and the Creation ple “are basically rediscov-
Rhode Island branch. of the American Soul: ering Roger Williams as this
To be fair, the state hasn’t Church, State and the Birth country is going through a
always lived up to its of Liberty.” series of changes.”
founding ideals. Raimondo It’s impossible, he said, to “They look at Roger Wil-
was cautious about wel- imagine how the theolo- liams and see a radical set
coming Syrian refugees,
saying the state would ac-
cept them if asked by the
federal government. Other
politicians in the state ad-
vocated banning Syrian
refugees or putting them
In this Thursday, Nov. 3, 2016, photo, a statue of Roger Williams in camps; previous waves
overlooks the skyline in Providence, R.I.
Associated Press of immigrants have faced
discrimination.
sive,” Gov. Gina Raimondo der people from using the Williams is better known in
said during an interview bathroom of their choice, Rhode Island than in the
at the Roger Williams Na- she called up the San Jose, rest of the United States,
tional Memorial , which California-based compa- where history textbooks
commemorates the min- ny and asked it to move to give passing mention to
ister and his advocacy for Rhode Island instead. Her his banishment from Puri-
individual freedom. “This is appeal included a refer- tan Massachusetts and his
part of who we are. It’s not ence to the founding ideas founding of Providence as
a fad or something tempo- of Williams’ colony. a refuge for like-minded
rary. It’s ingrained in who Raimondo used the strat- dissenters. In this Thursday, Nov. 3, 2016, photo, Linda Hartnell, front left,
we are as Rhode Island- egy again in September The ideas he espoused and Gillian Durham, both of Canada, examine a photo while
ers.” with a letter to the National about personal freedom visiting a statue of Roger Williams, background, that overlooks
The Democratic gover- Collegiate Athletic Associ- and separating church the skyline in Providence, R.I.
nor views those principles ation after it pulled a men’s and state, and the citizen- Associated Press
through the lens of eco- basketball tournament out led government he formed
nomic development. of North Carolina. in Providence, became gian would have interpret- of ideas,” he said. “They
When PayPal announced “Rhode Island was famous- precursors to American ed laws affecting trans- see a place where these
it was halting plans to open ly founded in 1636 on the constitutional democracy. gender rights. But on other ideas were actually put
a North Carolina branch principle of personal and He also stood out among hot-button issues, his ideas into practice.”q