MARCH 21, 1801
Yours is one of the few lives precious to mankind, and for the
continuance of which every thinking man is solicitous. Bigots may be an
exception. What an effort, my dear sir, of bigotry, in politics and
religion, have we gone through! The barbarians really flattered themselves
they should be able to bring back the times of Vandalism, when ignorance
put everything into the hands of power and priestcraft. All advances in
science were proscribed as innovations. They pretended to praise and
encourage education, but it was to be the education of our ancestors. We
were to look backwards, not forwards, for improvement,--the President
himself declaring, in one of his Answers to Addresses, that we were never
to expect to go beyond them in real science. This was the real ground of
all the attacks on you. Those who live by mystery and charatanerie, fearing
you would render them useless by simplifying the Christian philosophy,--
the most sublime and benevolent, but most perverted, system that ever shone
on man,--endeavored to crush your well-earned and well-deserved fame.
(SOURCE OF INFORMATION: Letter written by Thomas Jefferson to Joseph
Priestly, March 21, 1801, Works, Vol. IV. Pp 373. History of The United
States of America During the Administration of Thomas Jefferson. By Henry
Adams, Vol I. Library of America, 1986. pp 211-212
THE DOCUMENTARY HISTORY OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL PRINCIPLE OF
SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
1750-1947 Vol 5
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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/
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.. . . 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)
.. . .
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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.
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THE CONSTITUTIONAL PRINCIPLE:
SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/index.html
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