As a result of their ideas on the role of government in public and private lives, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison were two of the most influential Founding Fathers. Perhaps their greatest influence was in regard to religion and the separation of church and state. To this day, their writings are influential to how we perceive the role of government in religious matters. Two of the leading writings from Jefferson and Madison are the Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom and the Memorial and Remonstrance Against Religious Assessments, respectively.
Both writings were written in a time of great struggle against Patrick Henry and the issue of a general tax to support churches and they both share similar traits in their wording and clear influence from Lockean ideas. The clearest similarity between these two influential writings are their language structured towards a deistic notion of God. Jefferson, surprisingly, rarely uses any references to any sort of God. The only references are in the beginning and the end where he mentions the notions of “Almighty God,” “Holy Author,” and “Lord both of body and mind” for the former and “natural rights” for the latter (Jefferson 1).
Madison also uses phrases such as “Supreme Lawgiver of the Universe,” “Our Creator,” “Universal Sovereign,” and “Governour of the Universe” (Madison 1). Taken within the context of Jefferson’s and Madison’s overall beliefs in a deistic God that created the universe and its natural laws of humanity, these quotes correspond to this notion. These phrases might be interpreted today as Christian rhetoric and a sign of our Christian heritage. Although this is patently false when compared to their true beliefs, it is not without some merit.
Jefferson and Madison were keenly aware of the audience to whom they were writing, which was predominantly Christian. As a result, they used language and ideas that would appeal to the devout Christian audience to whom they were writing. This concept is prevalent in not just the words they used, but also the ideas that Jefferson and Madison described. It is quite clear that these two influential Founding Fathers drew upon the knowledge and wisdom laid out due to previous generations.
The most clear and significant influence on their ideas was John Locke and his Letter Concerning Toleration. For Jefferson, he draws upon many of the religious appeals for church-state separation that Locke highlighted a century earlier. He argues that forced conversion and punishment by the law for religious views creates a populace of hypocrites and that government compulsion goes against the Christian principles laid out in the Bible through the example of Jesus.
This is directly analogous to Locke’s argument for toleration when he states that “the toleration of those that differ from others in matters of religion is so agreeable to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and to the genuine reason of mankind, that it seems monstrous for men to be so blind as not to perceive the necessity and advantage of it in so clear a light. ” (Locke 4). For Madison, while some of his ideas are still written for the direct purpose of swaying Christians, the strength of his argument and his influence from Locke was much more based in the political rationale behind Locke’s request for toleration.
For example, his appeal to Christians is based on the reciprocal respect and value that is essential to guaranteeing everybody’s freedom of religion. He asks his audience ‘Who does not see that the same authority which can establish Christianity, in exclusion of all other Religions, may establish with the same ease any particular sect of Christians, in exclusion of all other Sects? ” (Madison 1). He implores Christians to understand that if any government has the power to propagate one religion at the expense of another, then the same government also has the ower to destroy the same religion that used to be in power. Counter-intuitively, perhaps his strongest argument when appealing to the Christian audience is his scathing critique of various religious governments throughout the centuries, where he mentions that “During almost fifteen centuries has the legal establishment of Christianity been on trial. What have been its fruits? More or less in all places, pride and indolence in the Clergy, ignorance and servility in the laity, in both, superstition, bigotry and persecution” (Madison 1).
This statement served as a shock and reminder to Christians of what ultimately happens to religion when it is enmeshed with the government, and in order to keep Christianity pure, it must remain totally separate from the state. All of the aforementioned points may have been persuasive to the religious audience, but his audience weren’t just religious leaders. They were political leaders in the General Assembly of Virginia. As a result, he argued for the separation of church and state in a more political light and these reasons were heavily drawn from Lockean principles, much like how Jefferson drew from Locke’s religious appeals.
Perhaps the biggest influence on Madison’s ideas from Locke is the idea of the social contract that is designed to guarantee everyone’s freedoms. He reiterates Locke’s point that the ultimate goal of a civil society is to protect one’s freedoms and liberty and that no majority should trespass on the rights of a minority. Another point that Madison borrows from Locke is the idea that toleration is necessary for a peaceful state.
He argues that the general assessment is detrimental for society at large “Because it will destroy that moderation and harmony which the forbearance of our laws to intermeddle with Religion has produced among its several sects” (Madison 1). When oppression happens against any minority group, unrest boils underneath which eventually breaks out into violence. Therefore, Madison and Locke argue, it is necessary to tolerate all religious practices to prevent a tumultuous state. All of these points raised by Madison are heavily drawn from Locke nearly a century earlier, much like Jefferson.
Their influences from the past are not the only comparisons between these two writings, though. Their influence on the future also define the historical significance of these two Founding Fathers. These two men helped shape the conversation held today. Rather than drawing completely on Lockean principles of Toleration, they take their language and ideas one step forward and insist that all people have an unalienable right to believe and act according to their conscience. They deviate from the idea that the majority religion should just tolerate and allow opposing views.
This idea seems to imply that the right to religion can be taken away any time by the majority. Instead of relying on this interpretation of rights, they strongly argue that every man has a right to worship freely bestowed upon them by God which can never be infringed except through an affront to God. This concept was integral to the wording of the first amendment and ultimately defines modern interpretations of the separation of church and state. In conclusion, there are many similarities between Jefferson’s Statute of Religious Freedom and Madison’s Memorial and Remonstrance Against Religious Assessments.
Both writings show a clear influence in deistic thought that pervaded the intellectual debate at the time. At the same time, they also use religious arguments and language to convince Christian listeners. Another similarity is their clear influence from seventeenth century Lockean principles about the roles of church and state. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, both Jefferson and Madison helped reshape the conversation and language around rights and tolerance for centuries to come.
