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Comment by brudgers | Hacker News Reader

The tone of the article is formulaic. [1] In the US, a church built its own state. In downtown Clearwater, Florida (today is probably not a good time to visit) a church has come to dominate the urban fabric of an existing city in more recent times. The states of Maryland, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island were founded as religious communities. San Francisco, San Deigo, San Jose, etc. in California. San Antonio in Texas. St. Louis in Missouri. The association between religious communities and city founding is quite common.

[1]: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/global-opinions/wp/2017/...

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I'm not sure where you're getting your history of Pennsylvania from, but that's not correct.

> Penn established a government with two innovations that were much copied in the New World: the county commission and freedom of religious conviction.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennsylvania#History

There have been a couple religious-based communities in PA, notably the Quakers, but PA was not founded as a religious state.

As I read the First section of the Pennsylvania Charter of Privileges, I see a colony founded on religious belief. In part my reading is based in the historical context of Quakers having been persecuted by the English State for the expression of their religious beliefs. That it is possible to see Penn's religious views as more consistent with an outline of contemporary liberal democracy does not, for me, make the document any less a codification of Quaker religious views.

http://www.ushistory.org/documents/charter.htm

The mention of all of the Spanish/Mexican missions is a little misleading. Yes, they had a religious component, but all of Spanish society did at the time.

Most of the missions were accompanied by settlers and military protection and/or "presidios" nearby. They were strategic initiatives by the state, which was intertwined with the Roman Catholic church at the time.

… including in the twentieth century, e.g. Zion, IL and (to some extent) Ave Maria, FL

Not To mention Los Angeles.

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