In 1773, 27-year-old Jeremiah Moore found himself in a Virginia prison. In his words:
I have felt the effects of an ecclesiastical establishment. I have been told by a judge in his seat “You shall lie in jail until you rot!” for my crime was no other than preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Moore was indeed the victim of "an ecclesiastical establishment", specifically the powerful ruling class in partnership with the Anglican Church. The latter's recognition as the official church in Virginia's Charter dated back to 1606. In the 167 years since, the interdependent relationship had cemented the belief that the mortar in a cohesive, well-run society was its religion. No matter where you were in the state, you were in an Anglican parish and were, by definition, an Anglican parishioner... until the Baptists came. The disruption they caused to the "good order" of society was seen as a significant threat.
The first of these evangelical preachers were Pennsylvanian Baptists who migrated south to the Piedmont Hills in Central Virginia in search of converts. Their passionate style of preaching and dramatic rituals of "rebirth" and baptism appealed to those lower in the social scale who had inevitably found themselves seated at the back of the traditional church.
As tens of converts became hundreds, the elite reacted by requiring non Anglicans to be licensed and restricting where they could preach. Any preacher without a license could be arrested.
As did many of the Baptist preachers, Jeremiah Moore rejected these restrictions.
God himself is the only one to whom man is accountable for his religious sentiments, nor has he erected any tribunal on earth qualified to judge whether the man worships in an acceptable manner or not.
He was arrested, tried and jailed for "Preaching without a License".
However, his congregation did not give up on him and he did not abandon them. Moore continued to preach his rousing sermons through the bars of his cell.
Hundreds of converts became thousands but rather than accepting the new movement, the ruling elite intensified their response. They sent out militia to round up and arrest every "dissident" they found.
In October 1776, Jeremiah Moore brought a petition to the Virginia Assembly, demanding the right for Baptists to be free to worship without fear of persecution. Attached to the petition were 10,000 signatures.
They were looking for an advocate who would make their case for them in court. The law at that time was against them but they did find their advocate: Thomas Jefferson. As a member of the Virginia Assembly, he had received the Baptists' petition and it had instantly ignited his interest. Just weeks before, he had drafted the Declaration of Independence and the impassioned words of Jeremiah Moore must have seemed uncannily like his own:
Liberty. Equal Liberty! That invaluable Blessing which though it be the Birthright of every good Member of the state, is what your Petitioners have been deprived of.
Jefferson's profound belief in liberty, equality and inalienable rights found themselves echoed in Moore's petition. Yet Jefferson's spiritual convictions had nothing in common with Baptist beliefs. He had even created his own version of the Bible by cutting out whole sections and combining the rest in his personal version of the Bible.
Historian of Religion at Wellesley College, Stephen Marini in God In America, episode 2:
And he takes away all the narrative, all the miracles, all of that stuff that just won't stand rational inspection. "No, Jesus didn't raise Lazarus because there is no exemption to death." But Jesus says, "Blessed are the meek, blessed are the peacemakers." This is divine wisdom, and no institution can mediate it for you, including the church, let alone a government.
[In a meeting with leading Baptists] Jefferson says, "I couldn't disagree with you more about the substance of all of this. But I will defend your right to say it." And that's exactly what he does.
Jefferson begins drafting a bill which will put an end to state-funded religion in Virginia:
“No man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place or ministry whatsoever.”
“... to compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical.”
Jefferson went further. His belief that individuals must be free to worship as they choose became the heart of the Bill:
“All men shall be free to profess and by argument to maintain their opinions in matters of religion.”
“Our civil rights have no dependence on our religious opinions.”
The War of Independence delayed presentation of the Bill until 1783. It met with fierce opposition in the Assembly, even from fellow revolutionary Patrick Henry who feared that religious institutions would wither away and die without state support. Jefferson's Bill remained on the table.
Though out of sight, it was not out of James Madison's mind. He was a strong supporter of religious freedom and a wily tactician in the field of political manoeuvring. He bided his time.
Two years later in 1785, Patrick Henry brought forth an alternate Bill which proposed levying a religious tax in order to fund not just the Anglican Church but other "approved" denominations. When the Baptists read Henry's proposed bill, they were outraged and flooded the Assembly with thousands of petitions.
In opposition to Henry's Bill, Madison wrote a statement called Memorial and Remonstrance against Religious Assessments in which he wrote:
The religion then of every man must be left to the conviction and conscience of every man; and it is the right of every man to exercise it as these may dictate. This right is in its nature an unalienable right. It is unalienable because the opinions of men, depending only on the evidence contemplated by their own minds, cannot follow the dictates of other men; it is unalienable also because what is here a right towards men is a duty towards the Creator. It is the duty of every man to render to the Creator such homage and such only as he believes to be acceptable to him.
It was a powerful statement which, in tandem with the flood of petitions, resonated with ordinary Virginians who had fought so long and so hard for America's independence. Madison recognized that the liberty and independence they had won in war were the same liberty and independence at the heart of the fight for religious freedom.
Though Jefferson was in France on state business at the time, Madison took it upon himself to reintroduce Jefferson's Bill. His timing was perfect. Patrick Henry’s Bill was defeated and Jefferson's Bill for freedom of religion finally passed on January 16, 1786.
In the intervening years, freedom of religion has been battered with attempts to redefine it to suit some narrow religious interest. But it must be preserved in its original glory of meaning and far-reaching effect. It is wrapped in an extraordinary chapter in America's history that should always be remembered and celebrated. Happy Freedom of Religion Day, America!
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