# The Pilgrims and religious persecution

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pilgrims-and-religious-persecution/1023495>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [September 29, 2025, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pilgrims-and-religious-persecution/1023495 "2025-09-29T21:28:51Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 4

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\
**Post date:** [September 30, 2025, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pilgrims-and-religious-persecution/1023495/4 "2025-09-30T00:57:14Z")

</div>

> [@Man drove truck into, shot up, set church on fire (Sept 28, 2025, Grand Blanc, MI)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-drove-truck-into-shot-up-set-church-on-fire-sept-28-2025-grand-blanc-mi/1023461/50):
>
> > [@Man drove truck into, shot up, set church on fire (Sept 28, 2025, Grand Blanc, MI)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-drove-truck-into-shot-up-set-church-on-fire-sept-28-2025-grand-blanc-mi/1023461/50):
> >
> > I find it uniquely American that the pilgrims came here to escape religious persecution,
> 
> A very common misconception. They actually came here to escape religious tolerance

True, though in the greater context the point stands, insofar as the “seeking religious freedom” tale is supposed to be one of the _foundational myths_ of the American identity, inculcated into every generation…  
Yet as in the case of the Pilgrims/Puritans right from the start, successive generations have followed suit in reading that as freedom to be the RIGHT religion.

---

_[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pilgrims-and-religious-persecution/1023495)._