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attendance at church under penalty
of death for persistent violation.
Fines were assessed against those
who rejected the doctrine of infant
baptism. Other laws were enacted in
Virginia forbidding travel on Sun–
day. These colonial statutes not only
reflect state interference in man's
prívate religious affairs, but also as–
tounding igrÍorance of the actual bib–
Iical requirements.
But let's not pick on Virginia
alone. 1n 1647 Massachusetts en–
acted a law banning Catholic priests
from within its boundaries. First of–
fenders were to be imprisoned or ex–
iled; and, believe it or not, second
offenders risked the death penalty.
Quakers faced tbe same fate in Mas–
sachusetts. Other American colonies
also had their religious laws.
And do not think that these laws
conveniently disappeared from state
statute books when the Constitution
of the United States was finally rati–
fied. Notice this vital statement in
the
American State Papers on Free–
dom of Religion:
"When the Union
was formed and a constitutional gov–
ernment was ordained on the basis of
total separation of church and state,
there were certain religious jealou–
sies and prejudices which prevailed
in various sections of the country and
which could not be overcome without
jeopardizing the ratification of the
Constitution and the setup of the
Federal government.
"As a consequence, the various
States were permitted to retain upon
their statute books religious laws
which were diametrically opposed to
the fundamental principies of reli–
gious liberty and human rights as set
forth in the Federal Constitution.
These un-American laws and reli–
gious tests have remained upon sorne
State statute books to plague Ameri–
can citizens and courts until this
present time" (p. 12) .
Can you now begin to realize what
our Founding F athers were up
against?
Jefferson and Madison
It is axiomatic that all Americans
owe the Founding Fathers a great
debt for our vast religious freedoms.
Each one contributed to these liber–
ties something a little different from
the other. However, the third Presi–
dent of the United States, Tbomas
The
PLAIN TRUTH June-July 1979
Jefferson, was a real champion of
religious freedom.
In addition to writing the bill for
religious freedom in Virginia, Jeffer–
son was a philosophical "father fig–
ure" to the Bill of Rights. His ardor
for religious liberty was an un–
quenchable tire. He pressed hard for
both freedom of worship and free–
doro from the oppressions of a state
church. As one writer put it , speak–
ing of Jefferson's Virginia Statute of
Religious Freedom: " .. . the pream–
ble hurls fire and brimstone upon the
hypocrisy and tyranny long asso–
ciated in Jefferson's mind with the
alliance of church and state, and the
unusual final clause contains a Jef–
fersonian warning to the legislature
that any act hereafter framed repeal–
ing or narrowing its operation 'will be
an infringement of natural right.' "
The heart, root and core of bis bill
for religious freedom in Virginia is
found in section two: "We, the Gen–
eral Assembly of Virginia, do enact
that no man shall be compelled to
frequent or support any religious
worship, place or ministry whatsoev–
er, nor shall be enforced, restrained,
molested or burdened in bis body or
goods, or shall otherwise suffer, on
account of bis religious opinions or
belief; but that all men shall be free
to profess, and by argument to main–
tain, their opinions in matters of reli–
gion, and that the same shall in no
wise diminish, enlarge, or affect their
civil capacities."
Jefferson's
Virginia Statute of Re–
lígious Freedom
was the philosophi–
cal progenitor of the religious por–
tions of the later Bill of Rights. Reli–
gion was not only to be tolerated, but
a man's personal religious beliefs and
practices were to be protected by
law.
In his sunset years, Jefferson indi–
cated that his battles for religious free–
doro were perhaps the bitterest of his
life. We owe a great deal to this man
and to bis presidential successor ,
James Madison. The two worked
closely together. For instance, it was
Madison who pushed Jefferson's bill
through the Virginia state legislature.
Madison, our fourth President, ex–
celled in biblical courses as a grad–
uate student at Princeton, especially
in Hebrew language studies. He con–
tinued his theological studies
throughout his life. Yet, in the field
of religion, James Madison was first
and foremost an advocate of freedom
of worship. In helping draft.the state
constitution of Virginia, Madison
wrote the first rough manuscript of
the article on i-eligious freedom.
We quote it here: " .. . That re–
ligion or the duty which we owe to
our Creator, and the manner of dis–
charging it, can be directed only by
reason and conviction, not by force or
violence: and therefore, that all men
should enjoy the fullest toleration in
the exercise of religion, according to
the dictates of conscience, unpun–
ished and unrestrained by the magis–
trate, unless under colour of religion,
any man disturb the peace, the hap–
piness, or safety of Society. And that
it is the mutual duty of all to practice
Christian forbearance, !ove and char–
ity towards each other"
(The Jour–
na/ of the Virginia Convention,
1776).
Madison had made an historical
study of the ecclesiastical problem.
He found that state establishment
had inevitably led to moral deca–
dence in religious ranks. Yet Chris–
tianity had bloomed in the New Tes–
tament years and during the Refor–
mation when there was opposition to
state establishment of religion.
The First Amendment
But the capstone of President Madi–
son's contribution to religious free–
doro has to be the "inclusion of the
First Amendment into the Constitu–
tion.
It
reads: "Congress shall make
no law respecting the establishment
of religion, or prohibiting the free
exercise thereof."
Previous to its inclusion, the fear
that the Constitution had not pro–
vided sufficient guarantees for reli–
gious liberty was enunciated by a
whole host of early American pa–
triots.
Writing from París on December
20, 1787, Thomas Jefferson ex–
pressed bis concern to James Madi–
son: "1 will now add what
1
do not
like. First , the omission of a bill of
rights providing clearly and without
the aid of sophisms for freedom of
religion ... "
(Papers of James Ma–
dison,
Vol. VIII, Manuscript Divi–
sion, Library of Congress). As he had
done before, Madison was instru–
mental in giving Jefferson's views
(wpicb he shared) the force of law.
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