16 January 1786 A.D. Virginia Statute of Religious Liberty—Thomas Jefferson and Religious Freedom
Graves, Dan. “Forced Religion Sinful and
Tyrannical.” Christianity.com. Accessed 9
May 2007. http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1701-1800/forced-religion-sinful-and-tyrannical-11630274.html. 9 Jul 2014.
Some insurance policies award damages for lost
fingers, eyes and other vulnerable body parts. What is a tongue worth in your
contract? What are your ears valued at? For many centuries, people gave up
their ears and tongues for their faith.
The problem was monopoly. A
single denomination would control the faith of a country and everyone was taxed
to support it. These established churches were often opposed to reforms,
because they wanted to hang onto their privileges. Governments also preferred
to have just one church because a single church is easier to oversee.
Authorities were severe with
anyone who threatened church monopolies. A man might have his tongue cut off
for preaching without a license. A citizen might lose his ears for listening to
unapproved preaching. In the worst cases, rulers burned people to death for
teaching children the Ten Commandments or the Lord's Prayer.
But above all, church
monopolists were afraid of commoners having access to the Bible. Religious
authorities feared the laity would misinterpret Scripture, opening the door to
spiritual and civic anarchy. For centuries, the Roman Church blocked ordinary
people from laying eyes on Scripture. Even after the Protestant Reformation
began, governments tried to keep the Bible away from commoners. For example, on this day, January 16, 1543, nine years after King Henry
VIII became the head of the Church of England, Parliament passed a law making
it illegal for any "women or artificer's prentices, journeymen, serving
men of the degree of yeomen, or under, husbandmen or laborers to read the New
Testament in English." Commoners were hit!
Even after commoners won the
right to read the Bible, established churches remained the norm. Germany and
Sweden made Lutheranism their state churches. England had the Church of
England. In Massachusetts, the Puritans ruled with severity toward Baptists and
Quakers, whom they jailed, whipped exiled, or hanged. In Virginia, the Anglican
Church was the established church until 1779. Anglican priests did not hesitate
to demand the authorities jail Baptist preachers who competed with their
monopoly.
Thomas Jefferson, then governor
of Virginia, was disgusted. If you tell a man what to believe and punish him if
he doesn't, you may not change his mind but you might make a hypocrite of him.
You are guilty for putting bait in his path, said Jefferson. For seven years,
sometimes allied with Baptists and Presbyterians, Jefferson battled to pass an
act establishing complete freedom of religion in his state. The
Virginia Statute of Religious Liberty passed on this day, January 16, 1786, two hundred and forty three years to
the day after Parliament passed its act making Bible reading illegal.
Jefferson's act argued that “to
compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions
which he disbelieves, is sinful and tyrannical.” If you make an office
available only if people will hold or renounce certain ideas, you encourage men
to betray themselves for money. "Truth," he said, "is great and
will prevail if left to herself..." No one should suffer from the
government on account of his religious beliefs. Everyone should be free to
spread whatever religious opinions convince him. Jefferson did not argue that
religion should be suppressed but only that the state must not make any form of
it mandatory.
So proud was Jefferson of his
role in obtaining this piece of legislation that he asked that his tombstone
record it as one of his three great achievements. "Author of the
Declaration of Independence, Founder of the University of Virginia, and Author
of the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom."
Bibliography:
Commanger, Henry Steele. Documents of
American History. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1968.
Russell, Phillips. Jefferson, Champion of the Free
Mind. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1956.
Last updated May,
2007.
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