How many have fled from religious persecution to come to America? From the start of our nation to the present day- there’s not one day that goes by without an immigrant stepping foot on American soil in search of their right to follow their own opinions and conscience. Without this religious freedom, this would not be America.
Today, on the 4th of July, 2010, we celebrate our country’s independence from Britain and I’m also celebrating the one year anniversary of this blog-Peak History. I dedicate today’s post to the complex Thomas Jefferson who wanted to be remembered as the author of the Declaration of Independence, the Father of the University of Virginia and for writing the Statute for Religious Freedom in Virginia. It was tough for me to write about Thomas Jefferson who was a private man with lots of contradictions. What I decided is to focus on tackling his passion for religious freedom.
He makes his first argument by stating that:
Almighty God hath created the mind free
What’s he’s saying is that no one has the right to dominate the faith of others. He adds that:
-the proscribing any citizen as unworthy of the public confidence by laying upon him an incapacity of being called to offices of trust…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
He is saying that nobody should be penalized for their religious beliefs and that through merit we ought to be able to participate either civically or privately. What speaks most to me is a sentence that was removed from the final bill:
that the opinions of men are not the object of civil government nor under its jurisdiction
I wonder why that sentence was removed and I believe it’s the essence of what makes America the most culturally diverse country in the world. No government should force any citizen to a certain faith or to support a specific religious worship.
He finishes the bill by saying:
All men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinions in matter of religion, and that the same shall in no wise diminish, enlarge, or affect their civil capacities.
Thank you Thomas Jefferson for making the right to our own opinion one of your highest priorities and important contributions to America-which would not be America without the right to our religious freedom.
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