Religions > Atheism > Jefferson’s View: Democracy, Not Theocracy – And Religious Freedom
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Jefferson’s View: Democracy, Not Theocracy – And Religious Freedom |
Jefferson’s View: Democracy, Not Theocracy – And Religious F
http://blog.au.org/2007/04/06/jeffersons-view-democracy-not-theocracy-and-religi\ous-freedom-for-all/
Jefferson's View: Democracy, Not Theocracy – And Religious Freedom For All
April 6th 2007
Blog Against TheocracyApril 13 is Thomas Jefferson's birthday.
Americans United encourages people to mark the occasion by standing up
for Jefferson's views on religious liberty.
This is important because
Religious Right groups often
argue that the Sage of Monticello
agreed with them on the relationship between religion and government.
Anyone who is familiar with Jefferson's
writings knows why such claims are absurd. If he were alive today, he
would rebuke the Religious Right, not join them.
Consider Jefferson's enlightened views on the scope of religious
liberty. He sought not toleration, where some faiths were favored and
other merely tolerated, but rather full-fledged religious freedom for
everyone. He reveled in the U.S. Constitution's separation of religion
and government.
Jefferson's "Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom," a predecessor of
the First Amendment, read in part, "all men shall be free to profess,
and by argument to maintain, their opinions in matters of religion,
and that the same shall in nowise diminish, enlarge, or affect their
civil capacities."
The proposed bill came up for deliberation in the Virginia legislature
during a time when Jefferson was living in Paris, where he was serving
as U.S. ambassador to France. During the debate, some lawmakers tried
to add references to Christianity to the measure. Jefferson's ally,
James Madison, helped block the move.
When informed about this, Jefferson rejoiced. Years later he wrote,
"[T]he insertion was rejected by the great majority, in proof that
they meant to comprehend, within the mantle of its protection, the Jew
and the Gentile, the Christian and Mohammedan, the Hindoo and Infidel
of every denomination."
Is this the Religious Right's view? Can anyone imagine Pat Robertson,
Jerry Falwell or Tony Perkins publicly standing up for the right to be
an infidel?
In another famous quote, Jefferson pithily explained why a person's
beliefs about God are none of the government's business.
"The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are
injurious to others," he wrote in Notes on Virginia. "But it does me
no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods or no god. In
neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg."
Jefferson also knew a few things about theocrats – he grappled with
them in his own day. Even as late as 1800, some misguided religious
leaders in New England still harbored hopes that their religions could
be officially established by government.
Jefferson would have none of it. He favored a democracy that maximized
religious liberty, not a theocracy that trampled it.
In a remarkable letter to Benjamin Rush dated Sept. 23, 1800,
Jefferson blasted the theocratic clergy who opposed his bid for the
presidency. He noted that these religious leaders had "a very favorite
hope of obtaining an establishment of a particular form of
Christianity thro' the U.S.; and as every sect believes its own form
the true one, every one perhaps hoped for his own, but especially the
Episcopalians & Congregationalists."
But then Jefferson exploded those hopes, writing, "The returning good
sense of our country threatens abortion to their hopes, & they believe
that any portion of power confided to me, will be exerted in
opposition to their schemes. And they believe rightly; for I have
sworn upon the altar of God, eternal hostility against every form of
tyranny over the mind of man."
The latter half of that phrase is etched on the Jefferson Memorial in
Washington, D.C. But few Americans who visit the monument and read the
passage are aware Jefferson said it as a broadside against the
theocrats of his day!
This is just a sample of what Jefferson had to say on this subject.
More quotes from Jefferson are available on the AU Web site.
The point is, anyone who believes that Jefferson did not support
complete religious and philosophical liberty, anyone who asserts that
Jefferson did not advocate open and free inquiry in religious matters
and vigorous debate over theological questions, anyone who tells you
that Jefferson favored some type of "Christian nation" is, quite
simply, full of it.
By Rob Boston
***************************************************************
You are invited to check out the following:
The Rise of the Theocratic States of America
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/theocracy.htm
American Theocrats - Past and Present
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/theocrats.htm
The Constitutional Principle: Separation of Church and State
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/index.html
[and to join the discussion group for the above site and/or Separation of
Church and State in general, listed below]
HRSepCnS · Historical Reality SepChurch&State
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HRSepCnS/
***************************************************************
.. . . You can't understand a phrase such as "Congress shall make no law
respecting an establishment of religion" by syllogistic reasoning. Words
take their meaning from social as well as textual contexts, which is why "a
page of history is worth a volume of logic." New York Trust Co. v. Eisner,
256 U.S. 345, 349, 41 S.Ct. 506, 507, 65 L.Ed. 963 (1921) (Holmes, J.).
Sherman v. Community Consol. Dist. 21, 980 F.2d 437, 445 (7th Cir. 1992)
.. . .
****************************************************************
USAF LT. COL (Ret) Buffman (Glen P. Goffin) wrote
"You pilot always into an unknown future;
facts are your only clue. Get the facts!"
That philosophy 'snipit' helped to get me, and my crew, through a good
many combat missions and far too many scary, inflight, emergencies.
It has also played a significant role in helping me to expose the
plethora of radical Christian propaganda and lies that we find at
almost every media turn.
*****************************************************************
THE CONSTITUTIONAL PRINCIPLE:
SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/index.html
****************************************************************
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