Source: https://www.conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Memorial_and_Remonstrance_Against_Religious_Assessments&amp;oldid=1098703
Timestamp: 2019-04-25 14:08:52+00:00

Document:
Memorial and Remonstrance Against Religious Assessments is the primary legislation on religious freedom and separation of church and state by James Madison, the primary author of the U.S. Constitution, and was an influence in the passing of Thomas Jefferson's Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, which was written years earlier. Together the two early documents defined religious freedom in the United States and restricted government intrusion in religious matters while serving as a precursor for the First Amendment.
The legislation was drafted in the Virginia State Legislature on June 20, 1785, and passed on January 16, 1786. The purpose of the legislation was to prevent a statewide tax proposed by Patrick Henry in support of Christianity at a time when most colonies had a state religion. Virginia for example was governed by the Anglican state church during the 18th century and kept Baptists and other minority denominations from running for office. The jailing of the Danbury Baptists in particular united Jefferson and Madison in opposition to laws mandating state religions.
4. Because the Bill violates that equality which ought to be the basis of every law, and which is more indispensible, in proportion as the validity or expediency of any law is more liable to be impeached. If "all men are by nature equally free and independent," [Virginia Declaration of Rights, art. 1] all men are to be considered as entering into Society on equal conditions; as relinquishing no more, and therefore retaining no less, one than another, of their natural rights. Above all are they to be considered as retaining an "equal title to the free exercise of Religion according to the dictates of Conscience." [Virginia Declaration of Rights, art. 16] Whilst we assert for ourselves a freedom to embrace, to profess and to observe the Religion which we believe to be of divine origin, we cannot deny an equal freedom to those whose minds have not yet yielded to the evidence which has convinced us. If this freedom be abused, it is an offence against God, not against man: To God, therefore, not to man, must an account of it be rendered. As the Bill violates equality by subjecting some to peculiar burdens, so it violates the same principle, by granting to others peculiar exemptions. Are the Quakers and Menonists the only sects who think a compulsive support of their Religions unnecessary and unwarrantable? Can their piety alone be entrusted with the care of public worship? Ought their Religions to be endowed above all others with extraordinary privileges by which proselytes may be enticed from all others? We think too favorably of the justice and good sense of these denominations to believe that they either covet pre-eminences over their fellow citizens or that they will be seduced by them from the common opposition to the measure.
11. Because it will destroy that moderation and harmony which the forbearance of our laws to intermeddle with Religion has produced among its several sects. Torrents of blood have been spilt in the old world, by vain attempts of the secular arm, to extinguish Religious discord, by proscribing all difference in Religious opinion. Time has at length revealed the true remedy. Every relaxation of narrow and rigorous policy, wherever it has been tried, has been found to assuage the disease. The American Theatre has exhibited proofs that equal and compleat liberty, if it does not wholly eradicate it, sufficiently destroys its malignant influence on the health and prosperity of the State. If with the salutary effects of this system under our own eyes, we begin to contract the bounds of Religious freedom, we know no name that will too severely reproach our folly. At least let warning be taken at the first fruits of the threatened innovation. The very appearance of the Bill has transformed "that Christian forbearance, love and charity," [Virginia Declaration of Rights, art. 16] which of late mutually prevailed, into animosities and jealousies, which may not soon be appeased. What mischiefs may not be dreaded, should this enemy to the public quiet be armed with the force of a law?
Rosenberger v. University of Virginia (1995) Memorial and Remonstrance Against Religious Assessments was the primary basis on which the decision was reached, with Justice Clarence Thomas determining that "The [Patrick Henry] assessment violated the 'equality' principle not because it allowed religious groups to participate in a generally available government program, but because the bill singled out religious entities for special benefits."
Everson v. Board of Education (1947): Memorial and Remonstrance was referenced, along with the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, by Justice Hugo Black, in ruling that the founders intended "strict separation" of church and state. Black declared that "Madison wrote his great Memorial and Remonstrance against the law. In it, he eloquently argued that a true religion did not need the support of law; that no person, either believer or non-believer, should be taxed to support a religious institution of any kind; that the best interest of a society required that the minds of men always be wholly free; and that cruel persecutions were the inevitable result of government-established religions."
Conservative organizations such as the Heritage Foundation argue that Madison was not expressing antipathy towards religion but attempting to defend religious liberty while basing his arguments upon the claim that God exists. Robert G. Morrison of the Family Research Council argues that Memorial and Remonstrance opposed giving the state power to determine who was Christian, and "This was exactly the principle that the fearless Baptists had been fighting against."
Liberal organizations such as Americans United for Separation of Church and State argue that Memorial and Remonstrance was a list of reasons for why church and state should be kept separate, and a rebuke to the religious right. Austin Cline of Atheism.About.com for example argues the bill "is an attack on all forms of establishment of religion, whether they are selective or general and 'nondiscriminatory.'" People for the American Way has used Memorial and Remonstrance to argue against an education voucher system.
↑ Is James Madison Still Speaking to Us About Religious Freedom?. Retrieved on January 13, 2015.
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↑ Reading Guide: 2. Thomas Jefferson and James Madison on Religious Freedom (2003). Retrieved on January 13, 2015.
Fea, John (2011). Was America Founded as a Christian Nation?. Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press. ISBN 9780664235048. Retrieved on January 13, 2015.
Patrick, John J. (1995). Founding the Republic: A Documentary History. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. ISBN 0313292264. Retrieved on January 13, 2015.
↑ Murray, Bruce T. (2008). Religious Liberty in America: The First Amendment in Historical and Contemporary Perspective. Westport, Connecticut: Foundation for American Communications. ISBN 9781558496385. Retrieved on January 13, 2015.
↑ God in America: God in the White House - James Madison 1809-1817. WTTW 11. Retrieved on January 13, 2015.
Peterson, Merrill D. (1994). "Jefferson and Religious Freedom". Atlantic Monthly (The Atlantic) 274 (6): 112–124. https://www.theatlantic.com/past/docs/issues/96oct/obrien/peterson.htm. Retrieved January 13, 2015.
↑ God In America Study Guide: A New Eden (Episode 2). WGBH Educational Foundation. Retrieved on January 13, 2015.
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↑ (2011) Politics, Taxes, and the Pulpit: Provocative First Amendment Conflicts. New York, New York: Oxford University Press, 78–82. ISBN 9780195388053. Retrieved on January 13, 2015.
James Madison: Memorial and Remonstrance against Religious Assessments - Context. Schlager Group. Retrieved on January 13, 2015.
↑ Curry, James A. (2000). The American Constitutional Experience: Selected Readings & Supreme Court Opinions. Kendall Hunt Publishing Company. ISBN 0787257605. Retrieved on January 13, 2015.
↑ The Anglican Church in Virginia. The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. Retrieved on January 13, 2015.
Madison’s Remonstrance (1785) (July 26, 2012). Retrieved on January 13, 2015.
"The Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom: The Road to the First Amendment". Bill of Rights in Action (Constitutional Rights Foundation) 26 (1). 2010. http://www.crf-usa.org/bill-of-rights-in-action/bria-26-1-the-virginia-statute-for-religious-freedom.html. Retrieved January 13, 2015.
↑ The Separation of Church and State from the American Revolution to the Early Republic. National Humanities Center. Retrieved on January 13, 2015.
↑ Amendment I Religion, Document 43: James Madison, Memorial and Remonstrance against Religious Assessments. The Founders Constitution (June 20, 1785). Retrieved on January 13, 2015.
Ketcham, Ralph (2006). Selected Writings of James Madison. Indianapolis, Indiana: Hackett Publishing Company. ISBN 0872206955. Retrieved on January 13, 2015.
↑ Pickrell, Thomas W.; Horwich, Mitchell A. (1981). "'Religion as an Engine of Civil Policy': A Comment of the First Amendment Limitations on the Church-State Partnership in the Social Welfare Field". Law and Contemporary Problems (Duke University) 44 (2). http://scholarship.law.duke.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3619&context=lcp. Retrieved January 13, 2015.
↑ Ronald W. Rosenberger, et al., Petitioners v. Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia et al.. Legal Information Institute (June 29, 1995). Retrieved on January 13, 2015.
↑ Munoz, Vincent Phillip. "The Original Meaning of the Establishment Clause and the Impossibility of its Incorporation". Journal of Constitutional Law (University of Pennsylvania) 8 (4): 588–590. http://scholarship.law.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1280&context=jcl. Retrieved January 13, 2015.
↑ Everson v. Board of Education of Ewing Tp , 330 1 (Supreme Court 1947).
↑ James Madison and Religious Liberty (March 16, 2001). Retrieved on January 13, 2015.
↑ What the Founders Really Did on Religious Liberty: 'Deeds Not Words' (2011). Retrieved on January 13, 2015.
↑ Misusing Madison: FRC Promotes Upcoming ‘Summit’ With Fake Quote From The Father Of The Constitution (September 30, 2013). Retrieved on January 13, 2015.
Boston, Robert (2003). Why the Religious Right Is Wrong About Separation of Church and State. Amherst, New York: Prometheus Books. ISBN 1591021146. Retrieved on January 13, 2015.
↑ Memorial & Remonstrance - History of James Madison's Memorial & Remonstrance. IAC/InterActiveCorp. Retrieved on January 13, 2015.
↑ The Facts About Vouchers: How Do Vouchers Affect Religious Liberty?. People for the American Way Foundation. Retrieved on January 13, 2015.
This page was last modified on 9 April 2019, at 12:25.

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