This article is actually quite deceptive in insinuation that Jefferson was trying to change the concept of religious freedom to separation of church and state in that letter to the Baptists in 1801. He had written about separation of church and state as early as his book in 1885, and likely held that veiwpoint when he wrote the Declaration of Independence, since he used language very similar to the Virginia Bill of Rights, which also informed his belief in separation of church and state. They try to make a point of Jefferson declaring days of fasting and prayer, as Governor of Virginia during the Revolutionary War, as being evidence that he did not believe in separation of church and state at that time, but they deceitfully leave out the fact that he led the effort to have his own church, the Anglicans, disestablished as the official Church of Virginia. There is no inconsistency in Jefferson's doctrine of separation of church and state, and this basic American principle of freedom was established at the founding of the nation. The separation of church and state has been a foundational principle throughout American history, and I don't believe that this generation is going to let some buffoon of the caliber of Rick Santorum tear down that which has served us so well for over 200 years.
Yet Jefferson heard Church Services in the Capitol in which even the Marine Band would play.
I do agree that Jefferson certaintly led efforts to get the Anglican Church not to no loger be the estbalished Church of VA.
But did that lead him to a more radical notion that The Faith could not influence people or play a role in the public square. That people of Faith when they were saying talking to their more "enlightment" fellow citiens has their viewpoint disqualified because they couched it in Faith.
This article is actually quite deceptive in insinuation that Jefferson was trying to change the concept of religious freedom to separation of church and state in that letter to the Baptists in 1801. He had written about separation of church and state as early as his book in 1885, and likely held that veiwpoint when he wrote the Declaration of Independence, since he used language very similar to the Virginia Bill of Rights, which also informed his belief in separation of church and state. They try to make a point of Jefferson declaring days of fasting and prayer, as Governor of Virginia during the Revolutionary War, as being evidence that he did not believe in separation of church and state at that time, but they deceitfully leave out the fact that he led the effort to have his own church, the Anglicans, disestablished as the official Church of Virginia. There is no inconsistency in Jefferson's doctrine of separation of church and state, and this basic American principle of freedom was established at the founding of the nation. The separation of church and state has been a foundational principle throughout American history, and I don't believe that this generation is going to let some buffoon of the caliber of Rick Santorum tear down that which has served us so well for over 200 years.
ReplyDeleteIt was a typo when I mention a book Jefferson wrote in 1885. Of course I mean the "Notes on the State of Virginia" which was published in 1785.
ReplyDeleteYet Jefferson heard Church Services in the Capitol in which even the Marine Band would play.
ReplyDeleteI do agree that Jefferson certaintly led efforts to get the Anglican Church not to no loger be the estbalished Church of VA.
But did that lead him to a more radical notion that The Faith could not influence people or play a role in the public square. That people of Faith when they were saying talking to their more "enlightment" fellow citiens has their viewpoint disqualified because they couched it in Faith.
That I am not so sure