Evening star., 1947-02-21
Our First Freedom
Madison's Fight for Religious Liberty in Virginia
Laid the Cornerstone of Our Guaranteed Rights

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tain in his own mind that under the
Constitution there is not shadow of
right in the general government to in
termeddle with religion" and that "this
subject is, for the honor of America,
perfectly free and unshackled. The Gov
ernment has no Jurisdiction over 1t g ="
Nevertheless he pledged that he would
work for a Bill of Rights, including q
specific guaranty of religious freedom,
and Virginia, with other States, ratified
the Constitution on this assurance
Ratification thus accomplished, Madi-
son was sent to the first Congress. There
he went at once about performing his
pledge to establish freedom for the Ma
tion as he had done in Virginia. Within
little more than three years from his
legislative victory at home he had pro-
posed and secured the submission and
ratification of the First Amendment as
the first article of our Bill of Rights.
All the great instruments of the Vir-
ginia struggle for religious liberty thus
became warp and woof of our constitu-
tional tradition, not simply by the
course of history, but by the common
unifying force of Madison's life, thought
and sponsorship. He epitomized the
whole of that tradition in the amend
ments compact, but nonetheless COM
prehensive, phrasing. cCongress shall
make no law respecting an establish
ment of religion, or prohibiting the free
exercise thereof . ".")
AS the Remonstrance discloses
throughout, Madison opposed every form
and degree Of official relation between
religion and civil authority For him
religion was a. wholly private matter
beyond the scope of civil power either
to restrain or to support. Denial or
abridgment OF religious freedom was
violation of rights both of conscience
and of natural equality. State aid was
no less obnoxious or destructive to free-
dom and to religion itself than other
forms of State interference. Establish
ment" and free exercise" were corre-
lative and coextensive ideas, represent
ing only different facets of the single
great and fundamental freedom. The
Remonstrance, following the Virginia
statutes example, referred to the his
tory of religious conflicts and the effects
of all sorts of establishments, current
and historical, to suppress religions
free exercise. With Jefferson, Madison
believed that to tolerate any fragment
of establishment would be by so much
70 perpetuate restraint upon that free
dom. Hence he sought to tear out the
institution not partially but root and
branch, and to bar its return forever.
He Opposed Any Form Of State Aid.
In no phase was he more unrelentingly
absolute than in opposing State support
or aid by taxation. Not even three
pence" contribution was thus to be ex-
acted from any citizen for such pur-
pose Tithes had been the life blood
OF establishment before and after other
compulsions disappeared. Madison and
his coworkers made no exceptions or
abridgments to the complete separation
they created. Their objection was not
to small tithes. 1t was to any tithes
whatsoever. IF it were lawful to i'm
pose small tax for religion the admis-
sion would pave the way for oppressive
levies." Not the amount but "the prin-
ciple Of assessment was wrong" And
the principle was as much to prevent
the interference of law in religion
as to restrain religious intervention in
political matters. In this field the au-
thors OF our freedom would not tolerate
the first experiment on our liberties"
or wait till usurped power had strength
ened itself by exercise, and entangled
the question in precedents. Nor should
we.
In view of this history no further
proof is needed that the amendment
forhids any appropriation, large or small
from public funds to aid or support any
and all religious exercises But II more
were called for, the debates in the
First Congress and this Courts con-
sistent expressions. whenever 1t has
touched on the matter directly, sup
ply it, ~.e .'~r'
BY contrast with the Virginia history.
the congressional debates on considera-
tion of the amendment reveal only
sparse discussion, rejecting the fact
that the essential issues had been set
tied Indeed the matter had become
so well understood as to have been
taken for granted in all but formal
phrasing. Hence, the only enlightening
reference shows concern, not to pre-
serve any power to use public funds in
aid Of. religion, but to prevent the
amendment from outlawing private gifts
inadvertently by virtue of the breadth
of its wording.
Compulsory attendance upon religious
exercises went out early in the process
Of separating church and state, to-
gether with forced observance of re-
ligious forms and ceremonies. Test
oaths and religious qualification for
Office followed later. These things none
devoted to our great tradition of religious
liberty would think of bringing back.
Hence today apart from efforts to in
ject religious training or exercises and
sectarian issues into the public schools,
the only serious surviving threat to
maintaining that complete and perma-
nent separation of religion and civil
power which the first amendment
commands is through use of the taxing
power to support religion, religious
establishments, or establishments having
a religious foundation whatever their