Topic: Freedom Of Religion

Mitch Horowitz’s book "Occult America" serves as a reference for the history of mysticism and the origins of New Age philosophy in the United States. The American legal system historically protected figures like Joseph Smith, establishing a precedent for freedom of religion and individual spiritual contact. This shift away from European clerical hierarchies allowed for the development of affirmative thought and hypnotic trance techniques.

The conversation shifts to the Vatican's ideological motivation for opposing the Union during the American Civil War. Paul Serup explains that the Pope at the time publicly spoke against democracy, freedom of speech, and freedom of religion. By addressing Jefferson Davis as the President of the Confederate States, the Vatican allegedly aimed to destabilize the foremost democratic threat to the Church's preferred system of divine right.