re: #677 Charles

Clearly, you haven’t read much by Thomas Jefferson or James Madison if you believe that to be true.

Here’s the final draft of the Virginia Statute on Religious Freedom, authored by Jefferson himself in 1779 and signed into law by the Virginia Assembly in 1786. It was, at the time, possibly the most radically libertarian statement on church/state separation in human history, in terms of how comprehensively it limited government power. It was also unprecedented in its even-handedness — for instance, it does not so much as whisper at suggesting that atheists alone have some sort of inferior status, while theists of any and every stripe are “created equal” (contrast with the modern Boy Scouts of America policy).

Section I is a lengthy Preamble that explains the philosophical reasoning behind the Statute, whose practical effects are spelled out in one long sentence in Section II. And at the link given above, the non-boldface text represents language from the 1779 Jefferson draft that was stricken from the final 1786 version, represented in bold text. For example, from Section I:

That to compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves and abhors, is sinful and tyrannical

All of this was in Jefferson’s version, but the two words “and abhors” were subsequently removed by the other legislators before the final draft was signed into law.

And notice that ALL of the substantive deletions (i.e., those not purely grammatical) occur in the preamble of Section I. In other words, the Assembly slightly trimmed Jefferson’s philosophical arguments — presumably because they found the language too radical — but the practical force of the statute in Section II is exactly as T.J. had originally desired.

Finally, Section III makes the radical claim that “although the present Assembly has no power to prevent future Assemblies from revoking this statute, we declare that the rights asserted in it are held by all humanity from birth, and thus any future attempt to repeal or narrow this statute would be an infringement of inalienable human rights.”

The above is my very condensed paraphrase with emphasis added — but if you check out the original language at the link, you’ll see that the final draft is identical in substance to Jefferson’s version.