From Thomas Jefferson....?

Question

In Thomas Jefferson's papers that he wrote about the State of Virginia between 1781 and 1784 he stated this:

"But it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty Gods or no God. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg."

What are your thoughts on President Jefferson's quote?

Answer 1

Wise man T.J.
Most that call them selves Christians feel that it is there duty a direct call from God himself to get non-believers to convert even if they have to beat them to death with the bible!
For Me:
A non-believer can worship a lamppost for all I care, have at!
As long as I can worship (pray) where I want, when I want, and gather with others who like me wish to do the same with out someone saying "Hay that offends me stop it!"

Answer 2

He also said around the same period, "The day will come when the mystical generation of Jesus, by the Supreme Being as his father, in the womb of a virgin, will be classed with the fable of the generation of Minerva in the brain of Jupiter."
He believed in a god but thought that Christianity was indeed a fable. So much for our country being founded on Christian principles as so many Christians claim.
Among our founding fathers were Deists, Unitarians, and people who just hoped that there may be an afterlife. And many were not particularly religious or had ambiguous religious views. And some actually hated the idea of organized religion outright.

Answer 3

It meant that Jefferson respected the right of every person, within the privacy of his own mind, to believe (or not believe) however he wanted; but there is more... Jefferson ALSO said: "I have examined all the known superstitions of the word, and I do not find in our particular superstition of Christianity one redeeming feature. They are all alike founded on fables and mythology. Millions of innocent men, women and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burnt, tortured, fined and imprisoned. What has been the effect of this coercion? To make one half the world fools and the other half hypocrites; to support roguery and error all over the earth."
-- Six Historic Americans by John E. Remsburg, letter to William Short

Jefferson again: "Christianity...(has become) the most perverted system that ever shone on man. ...Rogueries, absurdities and untruths were perpetrated upon the teachings of Jesus by a large band of dupes and importers led by Paul, the first great corrupter of the teaching of Jesus."

More Jefferson: "The clergy converted the simple teachings of Jesus into an engine for enslaving mankind and adulterated by artificial constructions into a contrivance to filch wealth and power to themselves...these clergy, in fact, constitute the real Anti-Christ.

Jefferson's word for the Bible? "Dunghill."

Answer 4

Thomas' life was an unceasing journey toward truth. That quote represents his guiding principle he expressed thousands of times in thousands of ways and that is that one person's freedom begins with respect for another's.

(And Thomas also took the New Testament and clipped, rearranged and pasted those pieces into new orderings, and worked at this for years to obtain a more orderly and discernable presentation of the Salvation Story. So, this is solid evidence that he was sorely troubled during that part of his life by some sense of loss and inadequacy--or an insufficient contact with the Other.)

I fully expect to find Tom among the archangels if and when I get to Heaven. He will be one of God's most prideful works.

Answer 5

i'd be curious to study the source of your quote, and pretty the context. i don't think of this quote is honestly Jefferson's, and it would not really reflect the view of the author of Virginia's Statute for non secular Freedom. i have analyze eighty p.c. of Jefferson's writings, and that i'd be fairly curious to work out this quote in context, seeing that i do not comprehend it. . . . and that i take position to understand particularly more effective about Thomas Jefferson than you do. I wrote a biography of him.

Answer 6

It refers to the freedom of religion in America. Although this is one of the Enlightenment ideals the country supposedly was built on, it sadly no longer exists today the way it was meant to. I feel this is a brilliant quote ane if you feel the same I highly recommend you read the Jefferson Bible.

Answer 7

I think he was right to encourage tolerance, but when people try to force their religion (atheism) into your school, then it is no longer just saying it. And the potential moral implications could do worse than pick a pocket or break a leg.

Answer 8

I agree with Jefferson, freedom of religion means ANY religion or none at all. I would never want to live in any kind of theocratic dictatorship. I think any kind of combination of church and state takes things way too far.

Answer 9

Agreed. It makes no difference what my neighbors choose to believe.

It makes a difference when they get together to try to impose their beliefs on others -- a development which Jefferson and most of his contemporaries would have opposed with every fiber of their being.

Answer 10

I think he's saying that it doesn't matter how his neighbor worships. It won't change the way he worships God. And it won't hurt him if they worship God in a different way. (And, therefore, his neighbor ought to have the freedom to worship in their own way).

This quote encourages religious freedom and tolerance. I think the world would be a much better place if everyone would be more tolerant of different religions.