narrative from American history that, as popularly understood, has had negative repercussions for a religious group or religious identity.
1. **Puritans founded America for religious freedom** → Justified persecution of non-Puritans.
2. **Manifest Destiny was God’s plan** → Erased Indigenous spiritual traditions.
3. **The Salem Witch Trials punished real witches** → Led to fear-based persecution of women and nonconformists.
4. **Catholics were un-American** → Fueled anti-Catholic laws and discrimination.
5. **Jews control finance and media** → Justified anti-Semitic policies and violence.
6. **The U.S. is a Christian nation** → Marginalized non-Christian faiths.
7. **The KKK defended Protestant values** → Persecuted Catholics, Jews, and Black churches.
8. **Islamic extremism caused 9/11** → Led to Islamophobia and surveillance of Muslims.
9. **Catholics owe loyalty to the Pope, not America** → Fueled anti-immigrant sentiment.
10. **The Scopes Trial defended Christian values** → Undermined scientific education.
11. **Slavery was biblically justified** → Used religion to uphold racial oppression.
12. **The Inquisition was uniquely evil** → Ignored Protestant and secular persecutions.
13. **Quakers were dangerous heretics** → Justified their persecution in early America.
14. **Mormons are a cult** → Led to violent expulsions and legal suppression.
15. **The Pilgrims lived in harmony with Natives** → Concealed forced conversions and land theft.
16. **Jehovah’s Witnesses are anti-American** → Justified legal crackdowns and violence.
17. **Native American religions were pagan** → Used to justify cultural erasure.
18. **Freemasons secretly control the world** → Fueled conspiracy theories and violence.
19. **Protestant work ethic built America** → Dismissed contributions of other groups.
20. **Japanese Americans were potential traitors** → Justified internment, targeting Buddhists.
21. **The Spanish missions civilized natives** → Masked forced labor and conversion.
22. **Catholic schools brainwashed students** → Justified exclusion from public funding.
23. **Atheists lack morality** → Fueled discrimination and political exclusion.
24. **Hindus worship false gods** → Encouraged missionary efforts and bias.
25. **Muslims seek to impose Sharia law** → Used to justify discrimination and bans.
26. **Scientologists are dangerous** → Led to crackdowns on religious practices.
27. **Evangelicals control politics** → Generalized and misrepresented their influence.
28. **Jews killed Jesus** → Justified centuries of Christian anti-Semitism.
29. **The Founding Fathers were devout Christians** → Ignored their secularist views.
30. **Wicca is Satanic** → Led to legal battles over religious rights.
31. **Catholic priests are all corrupt** → Oversimplified church scandals.
32. **Sikhs are Muslim terrorists** → Led to hate crimes post-9/11.
33. **Buddhists are passive and peaceful** → Erased complex histories of conflict.
34. **The Amish reject modern society** → Led to legal battles over education.
35. **Jainism is extreme asceticism** → Misrepresented its philosophy.
36. **New Age spirituality is a scam** → Dismissed diverse traditions.
37. **Druids were barbaric pagans** → Justified Roman and later Christian suppression.
38. **The Vatican controls world politics** → Fueled conspiracies and prejudice.
39. **Satanic Panic exposed real dangers** → Led to wrongful convictions.
40. **Bahá’ís are heretics** → Justified persecution in some countries.
41. **Pentecostals are irrational fanatics** → Oversimplified charismatic traditions.
42. **Zoroastrianism is a dead religion** → Ignored its continued existence.
43. **Unitarians aren’t real Christians** → Marginalized their beliefs.
44. **Eastern Orthodoxy is superstition** → Led to suppression under Soviet rule.
45. **Native Hawaiians needed Christian civilization** → Justified colonialism.
46. **Masons are anti-Christian** → Led to purges and discrimination.
47. **Christian Science rejects medicine** → Ignored its nuanced approach.
48. **Rastafarians are just drug users** → Misrepresented their faith.
49. **Shintoism is emperor worship** → Led to post-WWII suppression.
50. **The Crusades were holy wars** → Justified ongoing religious conflicts.