On January 16, 1786, the Virginia General Assembly passed the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Thu Jan 16, 2020: On January 16, 1786, the Virginia General Assembly passed the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom

Thomas Jefferson and the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom



Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) was prevented by illness from attending the Virginia Convention of 1774 that met to discuss what to do in the aftermath of the Boston Tea Party and the closing of the port of Boston by the British. But Jefferson sent a paper to the convention, later published as A Summary View of the Rights of British America. The force of its arguments and its literary quality led the Convention to elect Jefferson to serve in the Continental Congress.

He was too anti-British to be made use of until a total break with Great Britain had become inevitable. Then he was entrusted with drafting the Declaration of Independence. This assignment, and what he made of it, ensured Jefferson's place as an apostle of liberty. In the Declaration, and in his other writings, Jefferson was perhaps the best spokesman we have had for the American ideals of liberty, equality, faith in education, and in the wisdom of the common man. But what Jefferson wanted to be remembered for, besides writing the Declaration of Independence, was writing the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom and founding the University of Virginia

Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom

(annotated transcript)

The Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom is a statement about both freedom of conscience and the principle of separation of church and state. Written by Thomas Jefferson and passed by the Virginia General Assembly on January 16, 1786, it is the forerunner of the first amendment protections for religious freedom. Divided into three paragraphs, the statute is rooted in Jefferson's philosophy. It could be passed in Virginia because Dissenting sects there (particularly Baptists, Presbyterians, and Methodists) had petitioned strongly during the preceding decade for religious liberty, including the separation of church and state.

Jefferson had argued in the Declaration of Independence that "the laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle [man]…." The first paragraph of the religious statute proclaims one of those entitlements, freedom of thought. To Jefferson, "Nature's God," who is undeniably visible in the workings of the universe, gives man the freedom to choose his religious beliefs. This is the divinity whom deists of the time accepted—a God who created the world and is the final judge of man, but who does not intervene in the affairs of man. This God who gives man the freedom to believe or not to believe is also the God of the Christian sects.

I. Whereas Almighty God hath created the mind free; that all attempts to influence it by temporal punishment or burthens, or by civil incapacitations, tend only to beget habits of hypocrisy and meanness, and are a departure from the plan of the Holy author of our religion, who being Lord both of body and mind, yet chose not to propagate it by coercions on either, as was his Almighty power to do . . .

The second paragraph is the act itself, which states that no person can be compelled to attend any church or support it with his taxes. It says that an individual is free to worship as he pleases with no discrimination.

II. Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that no man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place, or ministry whatsoever, nor shall be enforced, restrained, molested, or burthened in his body or goods, nor shall otherwise suffer on account of his religious opinions or belief; but that all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinion in matters of religion, and that the same shall in no wise diminish, enlarge, or affect their civil capacities.

The third paragraph reflects Jefferson's belief in the people's right, through their elected assemblies, to change any law. Here, Jefferson states that this statute is not irrevocable because no law is (not even the Constitution). Future assemblies that choose to repeal or circumscribe the act do so at their own peril, because this is "an infringement of natural right." Thus, Jefferson articulates his philosophy of both natural right and the sovereignty of the people.

III. And though we well know that this assembly elected by the people for the ordinary purposes of legislation only, have no power to restrain the act of succeeding assemblies, constituted with powers equal to our own, and that therefore to declare this act to be irrevocable would be of no effect in law; yet we are free to declare, and do declare, that the rights hereby asserted are of the natural rights of mankind, and that if any act shall be hereafter passed to repeal the present, or to narrow its operation, such as would be an infringement of natural right.

Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom - Wikipedia

[mahatmakanejeeves]

1. "No American should have to choose between faith and the law."

Thu Jan 16, 2020: "No American should have to choose between faith and the law."

Wednesday, January 17, 2018: "No American should have to choose between faith and the law."

“No American should have to choose between faith and the law”?

So in deciding whether to honor our nation’s secular Constitution & heritage honoring the Rule of Law or theocratic, Sharia-style Law, the White House supports Christian Sharia Law? Good to know. #ReligiousFreedom

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A commitment to religious freedom has guided the Administration throughout its first year in office. No American should have to choose between faith and the law.

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No American Should Have to Choose Between Faith and the Law

January 16, 2018 3 minute read

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Tuesday, January 16, 2018, marks America’s celebration of National Religious Freedom Day. President Donald J. Trump made the observance official in a signed proclamation this week.

Religious freedom has shaped the history of the United States since our forefathers sought refuge from religious persecution. Federal recognition of Religious Freedom Day began with President George H. W. Bush in 1993, and presidents have generally signed a new proclamation every year since.

January 16 is the anniversary of the 1786 Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom’s passage. Considered one of the foundational texts of a young America, the document outlined what principles constituted true respect by a government for freedom of religion. “All men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinions in matters of Religion, and that the same shall in no wise diminish, enlarge or affect their civil capacities,” wrote its author, Thomas Jefferson.

The Virginia statute served as a model in many ways for the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which followed a few years later with its familiar words, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”

In that spirit, Religious Freedom Day is a moment to celebrate and fight to protect religious freedom in America and around the world. “We will continue to condemn and combat extremism, terrorism, and violence against people of faith, including genocide waged by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria against Yezidis, Christians, and Shia Muslims,” President Trump writes in this year’s proclamation.

From the replies at the White House Twitter feed:

Replying to @IbWizard @WhiteHouse
The basis of our laws are from the Ten Commandments

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Replying to @BKelnhofer @IbWizard @WhiteHouse
No, they’re from the constitution.

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Replying to @pkzcass @IbWizard @WhiteHouse
Where do you think the Constitution got thou shalt not kill, steal, lie, etc.?

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Replying to @BKelnhofer @pkzcass and 2 others
They got it from human decency. I don’t need the bible nor commandments to tell me not to kill or steal

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Replying to @JaDyWaDy2009 @pkzcass and 2 others
And where did your decency come from? Your parents and their parents and so on? Use logic it helps

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Replying to @BKelnhofer @pkzcass and 2 others
Right. It came from being a decent human. Not a fable

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Replying to @JaDyWaDy2009 @pkzcass and 2 others
What’s a fable

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Replying to @BKelnhofer @JaDyWaDy2009 and 2 others
Use a dictionary, it helps.

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Replying to @pkzcass @JaDyWaDy2009 and 2 others
For what

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[mahatmakanejeeves]

2. Related: On this National Day of Prayer, let us remember Jefferson's prayer, shared with Madison.

Thu Jan 16, 2020: Related: On this National Day of Prayer, let us remember Jefferson's prayer, shared with Madison.

Thursday, May 3, 2018: On this National Day of Prayer, let us remember Jefferson's prayer, shared with Madison.

Post #5, in I wonder what jefferson would say about the media these days, maybe change his mind?

The comments going back and forth in Trump v. Clinton look like a tea party (you know what I mean) compared to the discourse back then.

Jefferson and Madison just detested Patrick Henry.

Ken Cuccinelli Once Filed An Amendment To Change Virginia's State Song To The Beatles' “Taxman”

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Patrick Henry wasn't quite as opposed to taxes as Cuccinelli made him out to be. Though it is not widely known now, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison absolutely detested Patrick Henry. Why? Because Patrick Henry wanted to tax citizens to pay the salaries of clergymen.

I've heard that Thomas Jefferson detested Patrick Henry.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1014&pid=334609

For Religious Freedom Day: What Jefferson Really Thought of Theocrat Patrick Henry
http://freethoughtblogs.com/rodda/2012/01/16/for-religious-freedom-day-what-jefferson-really-thought-of-theocrat-patrick-henry/

For Religious Freedom Day: What Jefferson Really Thought of Theocrat Patrick Henry
Categories: Uncategorized
by Chris Rodda

So, today {January 16} is Religious Freedom Day, the anniversary of the passage of Thomas Jefferson’s Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom. No, I’m not going to post Jefferson’s statute; I’m going to post something cooler than that — one of my favorite lines ever written by Jefferson.

The background: Jefferson drafted his religious freedom statute in 1777 and introduced it in 1779, but it didn’t go anywhere. It wasn’t until 1786 that Jefferson’s statute was passed. Jefferson was in France at the time, so it was Madison who reintroduced the religious freedom statute. This was right after James Madison defeated Patrick Henry’s bill to tax everybody in Virginia to support teachers of the Christian religion.

Jefferson couldn’t stand Patrick Henry and his theocratic agenda, and made this quite clear in one {of} his letters to Madison while Madison was battling Henry’s bill for a Christian religious tax. When Madison wrote to Jefferson asking what they should do about Henry, Jefferson replied:

“While Mr. Henry Lives another bad constitution would be formed, and saddled for ever on us. What we have to do I think is devoutly to pray for his death …”

Of course, the Christian nationalist history revisionists either ignore this line from Jefferson, or claim it is made up by evil secularists to impugn the character of our very Christian founding fathers.
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{This is} from a letter written by Thomas Jefferson to James Madison on December 8, 1784, and can be found on pages 353-354 of The Republic Of Letters, The Correspondence between Thomas Jefferson and James Madison 1776-1826, Volume I.

Patrick Henry was the first governor of Virginia, and Thomas Jefferson was the second. We really got off to a great start, didn't we?

If only Cuccinelli knew Virginia history.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

3. Jefferson still teaches us lessons about religious freedom

Last edited Mon Jan 16, 2023, 07:02 AM - Edit history (1)

Jefferson still teaches us lessons about religious freedom | Commentary

By JOHN RAGOSTA
GUEST COLUMNIST | JAN 16, 2021 AT 6:00 AM

Jan. 16 is Religious Freedom Day, commemorating adoption of Virginia’s Statute for Religious Freedom, a foundation for the First Amendment. ... It is a good day to remember Thomas Jefferson, the statute’s author, champion of religious freedom and someone who enslaved 607 humans.

Before the Revolution, America was plagued with religious establishments. In Virginia, everyone paid taxes supporting the government-favored Church of England. Religious dissenters, mostly evangelical Baptists and Presbyterians, faced serious discrimination and persecution — jailed, beaten, dunked in rude parody of immersion baptism. The Virginia statute, championed by Jefferson, James Madison and the evangelicals, put a stop to this.

The statute became a model for the First Amendment. For 100 years, Americans grappling with religious freedom turned to Jefferson and his “wall of separation between church and state.” When states debated religious freedom, they almost never asked what Washington or Hamilton or Adams thought. Again and again they turned to Jefferson, Madison and Virginia’s statute.

Jefferson’s vision became so dominant that in 1879, the Supreme Court unanimously declared the statute “defined” religious freedom; Jefferson’s Danbury Baptist letter declaring a “wall of separation” explained the First Amendment.

Now, Jefferson’s memory is under attack because he was a slaveowner and racist. His role in what he understood was the abomination of slavery must be fully explored. History, though, also demands that we consider what he gave our nation.

{snip}

Religious Freedom Day is a good day to remember Jefferson’s deep and serious flaws, how much he did for our country, and how much we have yet to do.

John Ragosta, author of “Religious Freedom: Jefferson’s Legacy, America’s Creed,” is a Fellow at Virginia Humanities in Charlottesville.

[keithbvadu2]

4. Gov't sponsored religion

Many Catholics/Protestants feel that the other is not a true Christian.

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/americas-true-history-of-religious-tolerance-61312684/?no-ist= ;

Madison also made a point that any believer of any religion should understand: that the government sanction of a religion was, in essence, a threat to religion. "Who does not see," he wrote, "that the same authority which can establish Christianity, in exclusion of all other Religions, may establish with the same ease any particular sect of Christians, in exclusion of all other Sects?" Madison was writing from his memory of Baptist ministers being arrested in his native Virginia.

[keithbvadu2]

5. Freedom of religion... For some more than others.

Freedom of religion... For some more than others.