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The following Bill was prepared and proposed by Thomas Jefferson "as part of the Revised Code" of Virginia, in 1779:
| "Well aware that Almighty
God hath created the mind free; that all attempts to influence it by temporal
punishments or burdens, 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 in His almighty
power to do; that the impious presumptions of legislators and rulers, civil
as well as ecclesiastical, who, being themselves but fallible and uninspired
men, have assumed dominion over the faith of others,setting up their own
opinions and modes of thinking as the only true and infallible, and as
such endeavoring to impose them on others, hath established and maintained
false religions over the greatest part of the world, and through all time;
that to compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation
of opinions which he disbelieves, is sinful and tyrannical; that even the
forcing him to support this or that teacher of his own religious persuasion,
is depriving him of the comfortable liberty of giving his contributions
to the particular pastor whose morals he would make his pattern, and whose
powers he feels most persuasive to righteousness, and is withdrawing from
the ministry those temporal rewards which, proceeding from an approbation
of their person conduct, are an additional incitement to earnest and unremitting
labors for the instruction of mankind; that our civil rights have no dependence
on our religious opinions, more than our opinions in physics or geometry;
that, therefore, the proscribing any citizen as unworthy the public confidence,
by laying upon him an incapacity of being called to the offices of trust
and emolument, unless he profess or renounce this or that religious opinion,
is depriving him injuriously of those privileges and advantages to which,
in common with his fellow-citizens, he has a natural right; that it tends
to corrupt the principles of that very religion it is meant to encourage,
by bribing with a monopoly of worldly honors and emoluments those who will
externally profess and conform to it; that, though indeed these are criminal
who do not withstand such temptation, yet neither are those innocent who
lay the bait in their way; that to suffer the civil magistrate to intrude
his powers into the field of opinion, and to restrain the profession or
propagation of principles, on the supposition of their ill tendency, is
a dangerous fallacy, which at once destroys all religious liberty, because,
he being of course judge of that tendency, will make his opinions the rule
of judgment, and approve or condemn the sentiments of others only as they
shall square with, or differ from, his own; that it is time enough for
the rightful purposes of civil government for its officers to interfere
when principles break out into overt actions against peace and good order;
and, finally, that truth is great, and will prevail if left to herself;
that she is the proper and sufficient antagonist to error, and has nothing
to fear from the conflict, unless by human interposition disarmed of her
natural weapons, free argument and debate, errors ceasing to be dangerous
when it is permitted freely to contradict them.
"Be it therefore 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 beliefs; but that 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. "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 acts of succeeding assemblies, constituted with powers equal to our own, and that therefore to declare this act 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 act will be an infringement of natural right." |
In the autumn of 1784, the "Protestant Episcopal Church," favored by prominent Virginians such as Patrick Henry, alleging "a decay of public morals," introduced a bill into the General Assembly of Virginia assessing a tax for religious teachers, "A Bill Establishing a Provision for Teachers of the Christian Religion." James Madison (Jefferson being absent in France) protested against the bill. The importance of this protest is that it helps to define what the Founding Fathers meant by "establishment of religion" in the First Amendment:
"The assessment bill exceeds the functions of civil authority . . . ."
After the bill's publication, the people
of Virginia spoke with an authority equaling the "We, the people . . ."
of the later U.S. Constitution, in a noble and ringing Remonstrance through
their representative, James Madison declaring that "in matters of religion
no man's right is abridged by the institution of civil society, and that
religion is wholly exempt from its cognizance" (Remonstrance of
the people of Virginia, Section 1, 1784). With compelling eloquence
they rejected both the principle and the consequences of church-state establishment,
thus paving the way for a secular U.S. Constitution:
| Remonstrance of the people of Virginia,
Section 3, 1784:
"Because it is proper to take alarm at the first experiment upon our liberties. We hold this prudent jealousy to the first duty of citizens, and one of the noblest characteristics of the late Revolution. The freemen of America did not wait until usurped power had strengthened itself by exercise, and entangled the question in precedents. They saw all the consequences in the principle, and they avoided the consequences by denying the principle. We revere this lesson too much to soon forget it. Who does not see that the same authority which can establish Christianity, in exclusion of all other religions, may establish, with the same ease, any particular sect of Christianity, in exclusion of all other sects? that the same authority which can force a citizen to contribute threepence only, of his property, for the support of any one establishment, may force him to conform to any other establishment in all cases whatsoever?" |
This vigilance successed. The assessment
bill failed. Reassembly of the Legislature of Virginia brought no new attempts
to push it. James Madison selected the "religious freedom" bill for immediate
action. In December 1785, the House voted nearly 4 to 1 to adopt it. After
minor preamble adjustments, the Virginia Senate passed the bill into law,
January 16, 1786.
| "No man shall be compelled
to frequent or support any religious worship, place, or ministry whatsoever,
nor shall suffer on account of his religious opinions or belief; opinion
in matters of religion shall in nowise diminish, enlarge, or affect civil
capacities. The rights hereby asserted are of the natural rights of mankind."
(quoted in George Bancroft's History of the Constitution, Vol. I, pp. 215-216). |
The 1779 Virginia Statute to establish religious freedom was one of the most important foundations of freedom of religion in the future United States of America.
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