{"id":2106,"date":"2012-12-17T00:07:12","date_gmt":"2012-12-17T08:07:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/?p=2106"},"modified":"2018-03-09T09:49:25","modified_gmt":"2018-03-09T17:49:25","slug":"jeffersons-robust-views-of-religious-freedom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/?p=2106","title":{"rendered":"Jefferson\u2019s Robust Views of Religious Freedom"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thepublicdiscourse.com\">Public Discourse<\/a><\/p>\n<p>17 December, 2012<\/p>\n<p class=\"author\"><a title=\"Posts by Brian Walsh\" href=\"http:\/\/www.thepublicdiscourse.com\/author\/brian-walsh\/\">Brian Walsh<\/a>, <a title=\"Posts by T.J. Whittle\" href=\"http:\/\/www.thepublicdiscourse.com\/author\/t-j-whittle\/\">T.J. Whittle<\/a>,\u00a0 and <a title=\"Posts by Garrett Bauman\" href=\"http:\/\/www.thepublicdiscourse.com\/author\/garrett-bauman\/\">Garrett Bauman<\/a> <em>within<\/em> <a title=\"View all posts in Religion and the Public Square\" href=\"http:\/\/www.thepublicdiscourse.com\/category\/religion\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Religion and the Public Square<\/a><\/p>\n<h5>Notwithstanding his unorthodox views of Christianity, Thomas Jefferson staunchly adhered to the rights of all religious believers, Christian and non-Christian alike, to free religious exercise.<\/h5>\n<p>Thomas Jefferson called the holidays the season of \u201cgreatest mirth and jollity,\u201d but as Americans gather with friends and family this month, recent threats to religious liberty might dampen some of their holiday cheer. Fortunately, Jefferson\u2019s thought also can give hope and encouragement to supporters of religious freedom. After a wearisome election year fraught with animosity and threats to religious freedom, it behooves us to reconsider Jefferson\u2019s advocacy for religious liberty as a cornerstone of our fundamental rights.<\/p>\n<p>Jefferson held deeply conflicted (some would say hostile) views of the religious beliefs of most of his fellow citizens. Despite this, he was devoted to the liberties of all religious believers. Examining his reasons for this might help even those who share his skepticism toward traditional, organized religion to appreciate the case for defending America\u2019s historically broad protections for the free exercise of religion. Jefferson advocated religious freedom not out of any strict pious devotion, but out of his insights into human nature and the nature of good government. These include the view that religious pluralism in tandem with the exercise of enlightened reason is foundational to a well-ordered society.<\/p>\n<p>But it is imperative to distinguish the long-simmering contention and disagreement over Jefferson\u2019s beliefs on religion from his clear public support for religious liberty. When it came to religious freedom and rights of conscience, Jefferson was both a strong critic of official government establishments of religion and a staunch proponent of the free exercise of religion. . . [<a href=\"http:\/\/www.thepublicdiscourse.com\/2012\/12\/7382\/\">Read on<\/a>]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Public Discourse 17 December, 2012 Brian Walsh, T.J. Whittle,\u00a0 and Garrett Bauman within Religion and the Public Square Notwithstanding his unorthodox views of Christianity, Thomas Jefferson staunchly adhered to the rights of all religious believers, Christian and non-Christian alike, to free religious exercise. Thomas Jefferson called the holidays the season of \u201cgreatest mirth and jollity,\u201d &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/?p=2106\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Jefferson\u2019s Robust Views of Religious Freedom&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5432,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,295,511,28],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-2106","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-legal-commentary","category-religious-freedom","category-society-politics","category-usa"],"yoast_head":"\r\n<title>Jefferson\u2019s Robust Views of Religious Freedom - Protection of Conscience Project News<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.consciencelaws.org\/?p=2106\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Jefferson\u2019s Robust Views of Religious Freedom - Protection of Conscience Project News\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Public Discourse 17 December, 2012 Brian Walsh, T.J. Whittle,\u00a0 and Garrett Bauman within Religion and the Public Square Notwithstanding his unorthodox views of Christianity, Thomas Jefferson staunchly adhered to the rights of all religious believers, Christian and non-Christian alike, to free religious exercise. 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