The majority of the thirteen colonies had established State religions as part of their State Charter, to which these established religions, often made it a matter of policy that the residents of their State had to pay forth taxes to support the established Church of their State, regardless of whether they as an individual or family were members of the State established Church, or whether their personal religious beliefs were sympathetic with the State established Church. Further, in order to hold public office, if you were not a member and subscription paying supporter of the State established Church, you were typically ineligible to hold office. All of the foregoing was a primary reason that when our Constitution was written it spelt out in our 1st Amendment that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."
There were in colonial times some States that did not have an established religion, to which the prime example of a State that embraced true religious freedom, was Pennsylvania, led by the Quaker William Penn, who was granted by the King of England, sovereign rule over Pennsylvania, and true to his conscience, this was a State that stipulated in its charter: "That all men have a natural and unalienable right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their Own consciences and understanding." To put this into its proper perspective, this State Charter was written in 1681, at an age in which true religious toleration was unusual, the exception, and rarely sanctioned by any Governmental authority.
The upshot is that we have a lot to be thankful for in regards to the foresight and liberality of Pennsylvania when it came to their freedom of worship, something that is perhaps taken for granted today, but was revolutionary in its time, and truth be told, there are a multitude of countries that exist even today, that harbor no other religion, other than the State sanctioned religion of that respective country, and often treat others that do not follow the State sanctioned religion, in a manner, not limited to their banishment or even their death. William Penn, on the other hand, recognized that “force makes hypocrites; ’tis persuasion only that makes converts” and lived this principle in practice and by law in Pennsylvania.
The fact of the matter is, if a citizen cannot avail themselves of their freedom of conscience, than all other freedoms that they are purported to have are on the shakiest of grounds. While it can be said that for the good of the community, peoples need to band together for example, In the need of the common defense, bartering, trade, schooling, education, communication, aid, and in the general effectiveness that a peoples that work together as a team with a common and meaningful purpose is far more effective than a peoples that do not, than it can also be said that respect comes from granting that others are entitled to their own viewpoints, opinions, and thoughts, as opposed to a groupthink that brokers no opposition as to their preferred or authorized behavior.
In point of fact, the beginning of wisdom is the recognition that each of us is sovereign unto ourselves, and that therefore, that our Creator has granted each one of us, free will, to make of life what we so desire, and thereby by our voluntary alliances with others of like mind we, as a people, become one body, indivisible, expressing liberty and justice for all.