In the late 1600s & early 1700s those most strident for keeping church and state apart were the Baptists! Having experienced, perhaps within their own lives (& many generations before), they understood that freedom of religion MEANT a government that took no action on any religious pretext: no religious test for political candidates or civil employees, no specific funding, no laws based on religious texts etc. For a full & very factual explanation, see “Vindicating the Founders” by Thomas G. West. It should be required reading by Grade Ten.
Nowadays, too few Americans understand —partly because public education, towards the abstract ideas required, is terrible. Rand sought to set that right. She knew that the historically & politically uninformed Ralph Reagans (of the Left and the Right) regularly advocate principles that are inimical to American freedom. They are the true anti-Americans.
