The claim that American is a land of religious tolerance is one of the biggest lies of history.  That claim, which has never been true, has been exposed a big lie by the work of noted scholars John Corrigan and Lynn Neal in their book (Univ. of North Carolina Press, 2010) "Religious Intolerance in America."   The book documents the long and sordid history in the U.S. of prejudice and violence directed at Catholics, Jews, Mormons, Aboriginal peoples, and 'new religions' of the 20th century.  Religious intolerance in America began with the arrival of the so-called Puritans, and has continued unabated to the present day.  In most cases, the driving force behind the pervasive religious intolerance that consistently characterises U.S. history is the so-called 'Christian right' in American that often takes its cue from xenophobic groups like the KKK.  Indeed, today we have a President who has elevated bigotry to the level of public policy.