Evening star., 1949-04-10

conscience owes a debt-greater perhaps
than he is even aware-to Thomas Jefferson.
Always the friend of mankind and the
enemy of every form OF tyranny over the
mind of man." Jefferson devoted lifetime
to the eradication of religious bigotry and
coercion whether by state or church 1t
was he who gave voice to. and by his labor
convictions which we today call the Amer
lean way.
jefferson never set down his religious
beliefs in any formal treatises but charac-
teristically scattered them through scores OF
letters to his friends. The statements are
necessarily disconnected, yet. when taken
together, a noble and consistent pattern
emerges with clarity and forcefulness.
First and foremost each individual must
eschew the Gothic idea" OF looking to the
authority Of the past for his religious beliefs
and, instead. rely entirely upon his own
reason to discover his spiritual convictions.
jefferson had an abiding faith in the ulu-
mate ability of man to choose good over
evil when permitted a free exercise Of his
reason. You are answerable." he wrote in
a noble sentence to his nephew, mot for the
rightness. but the uprightness of your deci-
sion"
The Legitimate Powers Of Government.
In the operation of this rational process
there must be interference by neither state
nor church. The legitimate powers Of gov
ernment extend to such acts only as are
Injurious to Others" and since "it does me
no injury for my neighbor to say there are
20 gods, or no God" there can be no rightful
legislative control. Reason will support true
religion by bringing every false one to Its
tribunal"
Y:t-~ t{erN
by theologians They had made n Babel OF
religion" and their "blasphemies' had "drtv-
en- thinking men into infidelity." Their
quarrels and their creeds had so distorted
and deformed the doctrines Of Jesus. 80
muffied them in mysticism. and falsehoods,
and caricatured them into forms so mon
strous and inconceivable." 1t were better they
had never lived for had the doctrines OF
Jesus been preached always as pure as they
came from his lips, the whole civilized world
would now have been Christian"
jefferson never sought to advertise his
views since, to him, mans religion was his
private affair Though he declared he never
had had an opinion in religion which he was
afraid to own. nevertheless my great wish
Is. to go on In strict but silent performance
of my duty ;. tand) TO avoid attracting
notice" Yet such opinions naturally led
him into trouble. His prominence made 1t
unavoidable that his ideas should become
public His words were often distorted and
it was q favorite falsehood to label him an
atheist.
Such an epithet was far from the truth.
Never once did jefferson speak OF Jesus or
of His ethics and morals save In the highest
terms, extracting from the gospels the very
words of Jesus. with all commentary omitted.
he declared the result TO be 'the most
sublime and benevolent code of morals which
has ever been offered to man Though he
denounced Athanasius and Calvin. he SPOKE
highly of the Quakers and he was by prefer
ence q Unitarian. expressing the hope that
there is not q young man nov living IN the
United States who VIII not die Unitarian"
though revealing that because "the popula-
ton Of my neighborhood Is too slender. :nd