Why crimes of blasphemy and profane swearing must be immediately punished by the state:

“Crimes of this description are not punishable by the civil arm merely because they are against religion. Bold and presumption must he be who would attempt to wrest the thunder of heaven from the Hand of God and direct the bolts vengeance where to fall. The Supreme Deity is capable of maintaining the dignity of His moral government and avenging the violation of His Holy laws. His omniscient mind estimates every act by the standard perfect truth and His impartial justice inflicts punishments that are accurately proportioned to the crimes.

"But short sighted mortals cannot search the heart and punish according to the intent. They can only judge by overt acts and punish them as they respect the peace and happiness of civil society. This is the rule to estimate all crimes against civil law and is the standard of all human punishments. It is on this ground only that civil tribunals are authorized to punish offences against religion.”

-- Zephaniah Swift, A System of the Laws of the State of Connecticut, 1796